"Four Women" is a song written by jazz singer, composer, pianist and arranger Nina Simone, released on the 1966 album Wild Is the Wind.
Thulani Davis of The Village Voice called the song "an instantly accessible analysis of the damning legacy of slavery, that made iconographic the real women we knew and would become.
The song gradually builds in intensity as it progresses, and reaches a climax during the fourth and final section.
Simone's vocal becomes more impassioned, cracking with emotion and her steady piano playing becomes frenzied and at times dissonant, possibly to reflect the angst of the character.
Much to Simone's dismay, and despite her intention to highlight the injustice in society and the suffering of African American people, some listeners interpreted the song as racist.