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"I Am Woman" is a song written by Australian-American artist Helen Reddy and singer-songwriter Ray Burton and performed by Reddy. The first recording of the song appeared on Reddy's debut album ''I Don't Know How to Love Him'', released in May 1971, and was heard during the closing credits for the 1972 film ''Stand Up and Be Counted''. A new recording of the song was released as a single in May 1972 and became a number one hit later that year, eventually selling over one million copies. The song came at the apex of the counterculture era〔Perrone, James E. (2004). ''Music of the Counterculture Era''. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 85. ISBN 0-313326-89-4.〕 and, by celebrating female empowerment, became an enduring anthem for the women’s liberation movement. ==Inspiration for the song== After securing a recording contract in 1971 with Capitol Records that yielded the hit "I Don't Know How to Love Him", Reddy – then living in Los Angeles – was asked for an album. She gave the label a set of 10 jazz-tinged pop songs. Nestled among the Leon Russell, Graham Nash and Van Morrison songs were two Reddy and Burton originals. "I Am Woman" was one of them. The composition was the result of Reddy’s search for a song that would express her growing passion for female empowerment. In a 2003 interview in Australia’s ''Sunday Magazine'' (published with the ''Sunday Herald Sun'' and ''Sunday Telegraph''),〔"The Anthem and the Angst", Sunday Magazine, Melbourne Sunday Herald Sun/Sydney Sunday Telegraph, June 15, 2003, Page 16.〕 she explained: Reddy’s own long years on stage had also fueled her contempt for men who belittled women, she said. "Women have always been objectified in showbiz. I'd be the opening act for a comic and as I was leaving the stage he'd say, 'Yeah, take your clothes off and wait for me in the dressing room, I'll be right there'. It was demeaning and humiliating for any woman to have that happen publicly." Reddy credits the song as having supernatural inspiration. She said: "I remember lying in bed one night and the words, 'I am strong, I am invincible, I am woman', kept going over and over in my head. That part I consider to be divinely inspired. I had been chosen to get a message across." Pressed on who had chosen her, she replied: "The universe." The next day she wrote the lyric and handed it to Australian guitarist Ray Burton to put it to music. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「I Am Woman」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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