"Nude as the News" is a song by the American singer/songwriter Cat Power (a.k.a. Chan Marshall). It is the fourth song on her 1996 album, What Would the Community Think. It was released as a single, and a music video shot entirely in black and white and directed by Brett Vapnek.

"Nude as the News"
Single by Cat Power
from the album What Would the Community Think
B-side"Schizophrenia's Weighted Me Down"
ReleasedDecember 12, 1996
GenreAlternative rock, punk blues, southern gothic
LabelMatador Records
OLE-240 (Europe only)
OLE-202 (Europe only)
Songwriter(s)Chan Marshall
Cat Power singles chronology
"Headlights"
(1993)
"Nude as the News"
(1996)
"He War"
(2003)

A review in Vulture called the song both eerie and propulsive, saying that "it rolls like a long snarl."[1] The song is autobiographical, telling the story of an abortion that Marshall had when she was twenty. The chorus lyric, "Jackson, Jesse, I've got a son in me", does not refer to the Reverend Jesse Jackson but rather the first names of the children of Patti Smith, one of Marshall's heroes.[2]

The B-side "Schizophrenia's Weighted Me Down" is a composite of the two songs "Schizophrenia" by Sonic Youth and "Weighted Down (The Prison Song)" by Skip Spence.

Track listing

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  1. "Nude as the News" (Chan Marshall) – 4:23
  2. "Schizophrenia's Weighted Me Down" – 2:49
"Schizophrenia" written by Thurston Moore
"Weighted Down (The Prison Song)" written by Alexander Spence

References

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  1. ^ Hockley-Smith, Sam (October 5, 2018). "10 Essential Cat Power Songs". Vulture.
  2. ^ Frere-Jones, Sasha (December 2, 2007). "Wonder Woman: Chan Marshall's transformation". The New Yorker. Retrieved March 14, 2016.