"Women" is the fourth single taken from the third album, '' Head Games'' by the band, Foreigner. It was written by Mick Jones, and released in February 1980. The song's B-side, "The Modern Day" is also sung by its writer, Jones.

Reception

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' praised the "strong vocals and hot guitar licks" but criticized the womanizing lyrics. ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' said that "slashing lead guitars...lead the way into the hardcore boogie beat, with Lou Gramm's rough 'n' tumble vocals, for another pop, AOR winner." ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of the three main music industry trade magazines in the United States, along with '' Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 under the name ''Music Vendor'', but in 1964 it was changed to ''Record Wo ...

'' said that the song "rocks hard with buzzsaw guitar and steamy vocals." ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' critic David Fricke described it as a "presumably tongue-in-cheek misogynous chant" that is "powered by guitarist-songwriter Mick Jones' jackhammer riffing and

Dennis Elliott Dennis Leslie Elliott (born 18 August 1950, in Peckham, London) is a British musician and artist, who was the original drummer for the rock band, Foreigner. He played with the band from 1976 until leaving between 1991 and 1993. He went on to ...

's ham-fisted drumming" but "free of...pomp-art, heavy-metal flourishes." ''St. Joseph News-Press'' critic Conrad Bibens identified "Women" as being a "departure from the band's style" and described the song as "a

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

y track similar to some of Steve Miller's recent works." ''Daily Republican Register'' critic Mike Bishop called "Women" the "dumbest song" on ''Head Games'', highlighting the lyrics "Women behind bars / Women in fast cars / Women in distress / Women in no dress." ''Livingston County Daily Press and Argus'' critic Scott Pohl found the lyrics of the song to be chauvinistic and unattractive as a "tale of how awful things can get when you deal with women." On the other hand, ''Democrat and Chronicle'' arts editor Jack Garner called "Women" the most interesting song on ''Head Games'', despite its seemingly simple structure. Garner wrote that it: ''Press-Enterprise'' critic Kim McNally used a similar verse to illustrate that the song's words have force, and was relieved that, unlike most other songs on ''Head Games'', the lyrics to "Women" are not simply "you-me-ooh-baby-you." She said that the music sounds like

the Cars The Cars were an American rock band formed in Boston in 1976. Emerging from the new wave scene in the late 1970s, they consisted of Ric Ocasek ( rhythm guitar), Benjamin Orr (bass guitar), Elliot Easton (lead guitar), Greg Hawkes (keyboards), ...

. ''PopMatters'' critic Evan Sawdey said that "'Women' had a strut that was absent from past two Foreigner lbums" But ''News-Journal'' critic Ralph Kisiel said that the music "sounds like your baby brother took the needle of your

stereo Stereophonic sound, or more commonly stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configuration ...

and scraped it across the record." Responding to criticism of the song's lyrics, lead singer

Lou Gramm Lou Gramm (born Louis Andrew Grammatico; 2 May 1950) is an American singer-songwriter, best known for being the lead singer of the rock band Foreigner from 1977 to 1990 and 1992 to 2003 during which time the band had numerous successful albu ...

said that the song uses female stereotypes in a way that "couldn't be more tongue-in-cheek."

Chart performance

"Women" reached No. 41 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

Band reaction

Jones said of the song:

You know, it was supposed to be a fun song, tongue-in-cheek a little bit. But yeah, it’s one of the band’s favorite songs to play. Throughout all of the years, it always comes up, you know, the fans bring it up sometimes. There’s certainly a nice little strut to it.

References

{{authority control 1980 singles Foreigner (band) songs Songs written by Mick Jones (Foreigner) Song recordings produced by Roy Thomas Baker 1979 songs Atlantic Records singles Song recordings produced by Mick Jones (Foreigner) Song recordings produced by Ian McDonald (musician)