“If You Were a Woman (And I Was a Man)” by Bonnie Tyler

Bonnie Tyler’s “If You Were a Woman (And I Was a Man)” is primarily based on a fantasy. A kind of fantasy in which Bonnie basically wishes to switch gender roles with her male lover. And the reason being that something akin to a communication barrier exists in their relationship. Or more specifically, she feels that certain issues between the two of them may be resolved through mutual understanding. 

And such understanding could be achieved if they were able to switch bodies, if you will. She apparently is attributing certain issues which plague their union as being attributable to their respective sexes. Moreover her partner has seemingly asserted that particular dissimilarities cannot be done away with due to fundamental differences they possess based on their genders. So once again, she imagines that such disputes could potentially be eradicated through a mutual, internal knowledge of each other’s gender-based dispositions.

But that being said, she is also clearly under the impression that truly achieving such an awareness is fundamentally impossible given the overall fantastical nature of her idea.

Facts about “If You Were a Woman (And I Was a Man”

This song was released, by Columbia Records, during May of 1986. And it served as the third single from Bonnie Tyler’s album entitled “Secret Dreams and Forbidden Fire”.

And fans of the track can thank Jim Steinman – Bonnie Tyler’s steady collaborator – for its production.

This song went on to be an international hit, charting in 10 countries and being certified Silver in France. 

However, it should be noted that “If You Were a Woman (And I Was a Man)” also served as the basis for an even bigger song, “You Give Love a Bad Name” by Bon Jovi. In fact Desmond Child, who wrote the former and co-wrote the latter, basically said the difference between the two is that the Bon Jovi track was promoted while Bonnie Tyler’s was not.

The directors of the music video, which came in three different edits, to this song were Jim Steinman and Stuart Orme.

This cinematic visual went on to garner six nominations at the 1986 edition of the Billboard Video Awards.

A live rendition of this song, which was recorded in 1995, is also featured on 2007’s “Bonnie Tyler Live” and “Bonnie on Tour”. Miss Tyler also re-recorded the song a number of times throughout the years. Owing to this, the track is also featured on a number of her other records, including 2004’s “Simply Believe”.