From the NY Times Obituary:
"If I had to be called something," she wrote in 1991 in her autobiography, "I Put a Spell on You," "it should have been a folk singer because there was more folk and blues than jazz in my playing."
And a set of lyrics to remember and think forward with...
(Everybody knows... goddam)
Go Limp
Alex Comfort, Nina Simone
Oh Daughter, dear Daughter,
take warning from me
and don't you go marching
with the N-A-A-C-P.
For they'll rock you and roll you
and shove you into bed.
And if they steal your nuclear secret
you'll wish you were dead.
(refrain:)
Singin too roo la, too roo la, too roo li ay.
Singin too roo la, too roo la, too roo li ay.
Oh Mother, dear Mother,
no, I'm not afraid.
For I'll go on that march
and I'll return a virgin maid.
With a brick in my handbag
and a smile on my face
and barbed wire in my underwear
to shed off disgrace.
(Refrain)
One day they were marching.
A young man came by
with a beard on his cheek
and a gleam in his eye.
And before she had time
to remember her brick...
they were holding a sit-down
on a nearby hay rig.
(Refrain)
For meeting is pleasure
and parting is pain.
And if I have a great concert
maybe I won't have to sing those folk songs again.
Oh Mother, dear Mother
I'm stiff and I'm sore
from sleeping three nights
on a hard classroom floor.
(Refrain)
One day at the briefing
she'd heard a man say,
"Go perfectly limp,
and be carried away."
So when this young man suggested
it was time she was kissed,
she remembered her brief
and did not resist.
(Refrain)
Oh Mother, dear Mother,
no need for distress,
for the young man has left me
his name and address.
And if we win
tho' a baby there be,
he won't have to march
like his da-da and me.
Backlash Blues
Langston Hughes, Nina Simone
Mr. Backlash, Mr. Backlash
Just who you think I am
You raise my taxes, freeze my wages
And send my son to Vietnam
You give me second class houses
And second class schools
Do you think that alla colored folks
Are just second class fools
Mr. Backlash, I'm gonna leave you
With the backlash blues
When I try to find a job
To earn a little cash
All you got to offer
Is your mean old white backlash
But the world is big
Big and bright and round
And it's full of folks like me
Who are black, yellow, beige and brown
Mr. Backlash, I'm gonna leave you
With the backlash blues
Mr. Backlash, Mr. Backlash
Just what do you think I got to lose
I'm gonna leave you
With the backlash blues
You're the one will have the blues
Not me, just wait and see
Mississippi Goddam
Nina Simone (1963)
The name of this tune is Mississippi Goddam
And I mean every word of it
Alabama's gotten me so upset
Tennessee made me lose my rest
And everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam
Alabama's gotten me so upset
Tennessee made me lose my rest
And everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam
Can't you see it
Can't you feel it
It's all in the air
I can't stand the pressure much longer
Somebody say a prayer
Alabama's gotten me so upset
Tennessee made me lose my rest
And everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam
This is a show tune
But the show hasn't been written for it, yet
Hound dogs on my trail
School children sitting in jail
Black cat cross my path
I think every day's gonna be my last
Lord have mercy on this land of mine
We all gonna get it in due time
I don't belong here
I don't belong there
I've even stopped believing in prayer
Don't tell me
I tell you
Me and my people just about due
I've been there so I know
They keep on saying "Go slow!"
But that's just the trouble
"do it slow"
Washing the windows
"do it slow"
Picking the cotton
"do it slow"
You're just plain rotten
"do it slow"
You're too damn lazy
"do it slow"
The thinking's crazy
"do it slow"
Where am I going
What am I doing
I don't know
I don't know
Just try to do your very best
Stand up be counted with all the rest
For everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam
I made you thought I was kiddin' didn't we
Picket lines
School boy cots
They try to say it's a communist plot
All I want is equality
for my sister my brother my people and me
Yes you lied to me all these years
You told me to wash and clean my ears
And talk real fine just like a lady
And you'd stop calling me Sister Sadie
Oh but this whole country is full of lies
You're all gonna die and die like flies
I don't trust you any more
You keep on saying "Go slow!"
"Go slow!"
But that's just the trouble
"do it slow"
Desegregation
"do it slow"
Mass participation
"do it slow"
Reunification
"do it slow"
Do things gradually
"do it slow"
But bring more tragedy
"do it slow"
Why don't you see it
Why don't you feel it
I don't know
I don't know
You don't have to live next to me
Just give me my equality
Everybody knows about Mississippi
Everybody knows about Alabama
Everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam
That's it!
Nobody's Fault but Mine (alternate from "Saga of the Good Life and Hard Times")
Nina Simone
Ah, nobody's fault but mine
Nobody's fault but mine
If I die and my soul be lost
Nobody's fault but mine
I had a mother who could pray
I said I had a mother who could pray
Nobody's fault but mine
Hey now
I had a mother who could sing
I had a mother who could sing
If I die and my sould be lost
It's nobody's fault but mine
Nobody's fault but mine.
Nobody's
If I die and my soul be lost now
If I die and my soul be lost now
If I die and my soul be lost now
If I die and my soul be lost
Nobody's fault but mine
Consummation
(1967) Nina Simone
And now we are one
Let my soul rest in peace
At last it is done
My soul has been released
For thousands of years
My soul has roamed the earth
In search for you
So that someday I could give birth
To know joy, joy, joy, joy
Joy and peace is mine
Peace divine
And now we give thanks
Give thanks for each other
At peace forever
For it is done