Nina Simone Album

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

Earl S. Burroughs

Plain gold ring on his finger he wore
It was where everyone could see
He belonged to someone, but not me
On his hand was a plain gold band

Plain gold ring has a story to tell
It was one that I knew too well
In my heart it will never be spring
Long as he wears a plain gold ring
Oh, oh

When nighttime comes a' callin' on me
I know why I will never be free
I can't stop these teardrops of mine
I'm gonna love him till the end of time

Plain gold ring has but one thing to say
I'll remember till my dying day
In my heart it will never be spring
Long as he wears a plain gold ring
Plain gold ring on his finger he wore
Plain gold ring on his finger he wore
Plain gold ring on his finger he wore

(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

Ron Vander Groef, Jackie Alper, Nina Simone

Old Jim Crow
Where you been baby
Down Mississippi and back again
Old Jim Crow don't you know
It's all over now

Old Jim Crow
What's wrong with you
It ain't your name
It's the things you do
Old Jim Crow don't you know
It's all over now

Old Jim Crow
You've been around too long
Gotta work the devil
'Til your dead and gone
Old Jim Crow
Yes, don't you know
It's all over now
It's all over now

Old Jim Crow
You know it's true
When you hurt my brother
You hurt me too
Old Jim Crow don't you know
It's all over now

Old Jim Crow
I thought I had you beat
Now I see you walkin'
And talkin' up and down my street
Old Jim Crow don't you know
It's all over now

Old Jim Crow
You've been around too long
Gotta work the devil
'Til your dead and gone
Old Jim Crow don't you know
It's all over
All over
Oh Lord, it's all over
All over
It's all over
It's all over
It's all over now.

I left a note on his dresser
And my old wedding ring
With these few goodbye words
How can I sing
Goodbye old sleepy head
I'm packing you in like I said

Take care of everything
I'm leaving my wedding ring
Don't look for me
I'll get ahead
Remember darling
Don't smoke in bed

Don't look for me
I'll get ahead
Remember darling
Don't smoke in bed

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.

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!