Sea Lion Woman facts for kids

"Sea Lion Woman" (also "Sea-Line Woman", "See [the] Lyin' Woman", "She Lyin' Woman", "See-Line Woman", or "C-Line Woman") is a traditional African American folk song originally used as a children's playground song.

Song versions

Most versions of the song cover Nina Simone's lyrics and arrangement with syncopated hand-claps (or percussion) and more than one back-up voice for the response.

An early cover of Simone's version was recorded in 1967 by the Australian beat band The Easybeats as closing track for their album Good Friday.

In 1987 the Irish rock band Hothouse Flowers released a live recording of the song (credited only to G. H. Bass) on a 12" maxi edition of their first single "Love Don't Work This Way", a year before their first album.

Nina Simone's version of the song was prominently covered by Feist for her 2007 album The Reminder. "Sea Lion Woman" was Feist's original title for this song but on the album it was shortened to "Sealion". It charted through digital downloads on the Canadian Hot 100 under the title "Sea Lion Woman" and peaked #94 on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100 Chart.

The folk-rock group Ollabelle rearranged the song in 2006 as a rock tune for their album Riverside Battle Songs. The song was also covered by singers Katie Melua (featuring Arno) and Brooke Fraser (from New Zealand) among others.

Remixes and sampling

A remix of the seldom used original recording of the traditional song performed by the Shipp sisters was produced by Greg Hale Jones and Russell Ziecker entitled "She Began to Lie"; it became part of the soundtrack for the 1999 feature film The General's Daughter.

A house remix of the song was produced by Jerome Sydenham and Kerri Chandler, calling themselves "The Songstress", for Ibadan Records in 1997.

Nina Simone's 1964 recording was remixed by Masters at Work for a 12" single release in 2002 (coupled with the original 1964 recording), and was part of the Verve label compilation Verve//Remixed of the same year. Other remixes of the recording were produced by J.Views in 2008, and by Ogris Debris in 2012.

The song is sampled in H.C.P. by Frayser Boy from the 2003 album Gone on That Bay.

The Durutti Column sampled this on the track "Woman" on their 2003 album Someone Else's Party.

Kanye West sampled Nina Simone for the track "Bad News" on his 2008 album 808s & Heartbreak.

A house version of the song with samples of Nina Simone's recording by was produced by French DJ Bob Sinclar for his 2013 album Paris by Night.

A version is also found over the ending credits of the 2016 movie American Fable.

Wade's Remix of See Line by Dennis Cruz released by Solid Grooves Records.

Lyrics

• Full lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics