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(1928) Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill
You people can watch while I'm scrubbing these floors
And I'm scrubbin' the floors while you're gawking
Maybe once ya tip me and it makes ya feel swell
In this crummy Southern town
In this crummy old hotel
But you'll never guess to who you're talkin'.
No. You couldn't ever guess to who you're talkin'.
Then one night there's a scream in the night
And you'll wonder who could that have been
And you see me kinda grinnin' while I'm scrubbin'
And you say, "What's she got to grin?"
I'll tell you.
There's a ship
The Black Freighter
with a skull on its masthead
will be coming in
You gentlemen can say, "Hey gal, finish them floors!
Get upstairs! What's wrong with you! Earn your keep here!
You toss me your tips
and look out to the ships
But I'm counting your heads
as I'm making the beds
Cuz there's nobody gonna sleep here, honey
Nobody
Nobody!
Then one night there's a scream in the night
And you say, "Who's that kicking up a row?"
And ya see me kinda starin' out the winda
And you say, "What's she got to stare at now?"
I'll tell ya.
There's a ship
The Black Freighter
turns around in the harbor
shootin' guns from her bow
Now
You gentlemen can wipe off that smile off your face
Cause every building in town is a flat one
This whole frickin' place will be down to the ground
Only this cheap hotel standing up safe and sound
And you yell, "Why do they spare that one?"
Yes.
That's what you say.
"Why do they spare that one?"
All the night through, through the noise and to-do
You wonder who is that person that lives up there?
And you see me stepping out in the morning
Looking nice with a ribbon in my hair
And the ship
The Black Freighter
runs a flag up its masthead
and a cheer rings the air
By noontime the dock
is a-swarmin' with men
comin' out from the ghostly freighter
They move in the shadows
where no one can see
And they're chainin' up people
and they're bringin' em to me
askin' me,
"Kill them NOW, or LATER?"
Askin' ME!
"Kill them now, or later?"
Noon by the clock
and so still by the dock
You can hear a foghorn miles away
And in that quiet of death
I'll say, "Right now.
Right now!"
Then they'll pile up the bodies
And I'll say,
"That'll learn ya!"
And the ship
The Black Freighter
disappears out to sea
And
on
it
is
me
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Lost in day to day,
Turned another way
With a laugh, a kind hello
And some small talk with friends I know
I forget that I'm not over you for a while.
A wave, an easy grin,
A smile to put them in,
Got other lives to listen to
And some music that I have to do
I forget that I'm not over you for a while.
Days go by with no empty feeling,
Until I touch my hair and touch my skin
And remember you're gone.
People say to me, "hey Nina do you need some company?
When you have some time to spend,
Drop around-you need your friends."
They forget that I'm not over you for a while,
They forget that I'm not over you for a while.
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You took my teeth
You took my brains
You try to drive me so insain
And now you're trying to take my eyes
But it is finished
Because I'm too wise
That is my Bob Marley died
That is my Bob Marley died
That is my Bob Marley died
You took is eyes
Boo boo boo boom
Boom
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I want a little sugar
In my bowl
I want a little sweetness
Down in my soul
I could stand some lovin'
Oh so bad
I feel so funny and I feel so sad
I want a little steam
On my clothes
Maybe I can fix things up
So they'll go
Whatsa matter Daddy
Come on, save my soul
I need some sugar in my bowl
I ain't foolin'
I want some sugar in my bowl
You been acting different
I've been told
Soothe me
I want some sugar in my bowl
I want some steam
On my clothes
Maybe I can fix things up so they'll go
Whatsa matter Daddy
Come on, save my soul
I want some sugar in my bowl
I ain't foolin'
I want some sugar hmmm
In my bowl.
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Langston Hughes, Nina Simone
Mr. Backlash, Mr. Backlash
Just who do 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
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Jimmy Webb
Do what you gotta do
Come on back see me when you can
Man I can understand how it might be
Kinda hard to love a girl like me
I don't blame you much for wanting to be free
I just wanted you to know
I've loved you better that your own kin did
From the very start it's my own fault
What happens to my heart
You see I've always known you'd go
So you just do what you gotta do
My wild sweet love
Though it may mean that I'll never kiss
Those sweet lips again
Pay that no mind
Find that dappled dream of yours
Come on back and see me when you can
Now I know it'll make you feel sad
And make you feel so bad
They say you don't treat me me like you should
They got ways to make you feels no good
I guess they got no way to know
I've had my eyes wide open from the start
And man you never lied to me
The part of you that they'll never see
Is the part you've shown to me
So you just do what you gotta do
My wild sweet love
Though it may mean that I'll never kiss
Those sweet lips again
Pay that no mind
Find that dappled dream of yours
Come on back and see me when you can
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Lyrics to Mississippi Goddam!
Nina Simone, 1963
Mississippi Goddam (Nina Simone)
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'
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!
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See-Line Woman
yeah
yeah yeah yeah yeah
alright ye
see-line woman
she drink coffee
she drink tea
and then go home
see-line woman
see-line woman
dressed in green
wears silk stockings
with golden seams
see-line woman
see-line woman
dressed in red
make a man lose his head
see-line woman
see-line woman
black dress on
for a thousand dollars
she wail and she moan
see-line woman
wiggle wiggle
turn like a cat
wink at a man
and he wink back
now child
see-line woman
empty his pockets
and wreck his days
make him love her
and she'll fly away
see-line woman
take it on out now
empty his pockets
and she wreck his days
and she make him love her
then she sure fly away
she got a black dress on
for a thousand dollars
she wail and she moan...
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The other woman finds time to manicure her nails,
The other woman is perfect where her rival fails.
And she's never seen with pin curls in her hair - anywhere.
The other woman enchants her clothes with French perfume.
The other woman keeps fresh cut flowers in each room.
There are never toys scattered anywhere...
And when her old man comes to call,
He'll find her waiting like a lonesome queen.
'cause when she's by his side
it's such a change from her old routine.
But...
The other woman will always cry herself to sleep.
The other woman will never have his love to keep.
And, as years go by...
The other woman will spend her real life alone.
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I loves you Porgy
Don't let him take me
Don't let him handle me
And drive me mad
If you can keep me, I wants to stay here
With you forever and I'd be glad
I loves you Porgy
Don't let him take me
Don't let him handle me
With his hot hand
If you can keep me, I wants to stay here
With you forever
I got my man
Someday, I know he's comin' back
To call me...
He's gonna handle me and hold me so
It's gonna be like dyin', Porgy,
Deep inside me,
But when he calls I know I have to go
Porgy, I's your woman now
I is, I is...
And I ain't never goin' nowhere
'Less you shares the fun
Want no wrinkle on your brow,
No how
Because the sorrow of the past is all
Done, done
My Porgy,
Now the real happiness is just begun
There's no wrinkle on my brow
No how
And I ain't goin'
You hear me saying, if you ain't goin',
With you I'm stayin'
Porgy, I's yo' woman now
I's yours forever
Mornin' time and evenin' time
And summer time and winter time
Mmm
Oh my Porgy
My man Porgy
From this minute I'm tellin' you
I keep this vow
Porgy, I's yo' woman now
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My skin is black
My arms are long
My hair is woolly
My back is strong
Strong enough to take the pain
inflicted again and again
What do they call me
My name is AUNT SARAH
My name is Aunt Sarah
My skin is yellow
My hair is long
Between two worlds
I do belong
My father was rich and white
He forced my mother late one night
What do they call me
My name is SAFFRONIA
My name is Saffronia
My skin is tan
My hair is fine
My hips invite you
my mouth like wine
Whose little girl am I?
Anyone who has money to buy
What do they call me
My name is SWEET THING
My name is Sweet Thing
My skin is brown
my manner is tough
I'll kill the first mother I see
my life has been too rough
I'm awfully bitter these days
because my parents were slaves
What do they call me
My name is PEACHES
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I sing just to know that I'm alive
I play just to feel that I'll survive
And if there's a second place
Where ?????????? just the case
I sing just to know that I'm alive
Sugoose, Yeah Sugoose, Sugoose, Yeah Sugoose, Sugoose, Yeah Sugoose
Well the mountains they won't move no they don't
And the people they won't dance and they won't
I sing, I sing, I sing, I sing,
I sing just to know that I'm alive.
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(1928) Gus Kahn, Walter Donaldson
My baby don't care for shows
My baby don't care for clothes
My baby just cares for me
My baby don't care for cars and races
My baby don't care for high-tone places
Liz Taylor is not his style
And even Lana Turner's smile
Is somethin' he can't see
My baby don't care who knows
My baby just cares for me
Baby, my baby don't care for shows
And he don't even care for clothes
He cares for me
My baby don't care
For cars and races
My baby don't care for
He don't care for high-tone places
Liz Taylor is not his style
And even Liberace's smile
Is something he can't see
Is something he can't see
I wonder what's wrong with baby
My baby just cares for
My baby just cares for
My baby just cares for me
Original lyrics
My baby don't care for shows
My baby don't care for clothes
My baby just cares for me
My baby don't care for cars and races
My baby don't care for high-tone places
Liz Taylor is not his style
And even Lana Turner's smile
is somethin' he can't see
My baby don't care who knows it
My baby just cares for me
My baby don't care for shows
And he don't even care for clothes
My baby just cares for me
My baby don't care for cars and races
My baby don't care for
he don't care for high-tone places
I wonder what's wrong with baby
My baby just cares for
Just says his prayers for
My baby just cares for me
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