Independent Woman - Roxanne Shante

Ladies listen up, I really hope you’re ready

Cause what I’ve got to say is far from petty

We’ve come a long way, baby, so maybe

Shanté can help a sister that’s way be-

-hind, lost in the mind and can’t find

Her way to a better day, you know the kind

So wrapped up in fairy tale dreams

So naive that every male seems

Honest and loyal, ready to spoil

Buying him gifts as if the boy’s loyal

But Shanté is here just to say a few things

Some you heard before, but some are new things

So lend me your ears, dry up your tears

And let’s hear the cheers for the years

Of the independent woman

(Yeah)

(Louder)

How many runny-nose kids can you have?

How many nights can you work on the ave.

Your so-called man has a car and a Visa

He’s living large while you’re living on pizza

Unemployed while you wait for the perfect mate

Let’s get one thing straight cause it’s getting late

What you’re waiting for is really never coming

No one hears the sorry tunes that you’re humming

I’m here to bring the news, that if you’re singing the blues

Everyday, it will not change the views

That people have of you, they say you’re lost

Nobody forced you to quit, your future’s tossed

You put your faith in the guys with the hazel eyes

You thought you would get a prize, all you got was lies

Now you’re stuck in a room with a mopping broom

Did you assume that one day you will find a groom?

Are you dizzy?

Who would ever marry you?

You’re looking for a man that will carry you

And buy you nice things, like diamond rings

You’re amazed at the truth that my rhyming brings

But the truth is the only way you’ll ever see

That the life that you’re hoping for will never be

But the race isn’t over, put down the rope

Shanté is here to say there’s still hope

So lend me your ears, dry up your tears

And let’s hear the cheers for the years

Of the independent woman

(Yeah)

(Louder)

So much to live for, she wants to die

Life’s full of pitfalls, maybe that’s why

Her pops went to jail, her mother tapped her vein

City took custody and trapped her in pain

Feeling so alone in the room with a stranger

Hates her own blood and nothing’s gonna change her

Angry at the world cause it doesn’t play fair

So much despair does she feel, no one to care

Not a single family member will remember her

Smoke’s in her eyes, and the past is a blur

She’s on her own now, living with some other girls

With the same damn lives, but from a different world

These girls are lost, how the city is full of fools

So many years, no guidings, and no kinda rules

No love to give, yo, they need love to live

If not instead, they’ll ponder in a bed

Sex is the thing that makes her feel wanted

Love and care, for she’s undaunted

Because whoever is laying there won’t really matter

Such a sad song when young dreams shatter

I really don’t think glue is gonna fix it

But homegirl can walk the right path if she picks it

So lend me your ears, dry up your tears

And let’s hear the cheers for the years

Of the independent woman

(Yeah)

(Louder)

The black woman role grows larger each day

Nothing in the way so what we teach may

Somehow help those young sisters that doze

And sleepwalk through life with their eyes closed

You don’t need a man, all you need is to know you can

Then you can stand on your own two feet and

Achieve anything that you want out of life

Do for yourself, then you can be a wife

And you’ll feel so good that you wanna shout

Because you got to the top and got there without

Relying on Tom, Dick, or Billy Dee

You don’t have to turn the lights on to really see

So lend me your ears, dry up your tears

And let’s hear the cheers for the years

Of the independent woman