Genius Lyrics
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Nina Simone – Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood
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One of the songwriters, Horace Ott, who is not listed in the credits, recalls how this song came about:
We (pointing to his wife – whose maiden name was Gloria Caldwell) had a bit
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Nina Simone – Mississippi Goddam
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This song was first performed and recorded at Carnegie Hall in 1964, a turbulent year in the Civil Rights struggle.
The prominent repetition of the phrase “do it slow” in the
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Nina Simone – Stars
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Nina Simone’s cover of Janis Ian’s 1974 song “Stars”. In her usual way, Simone puts her own stamp on the song and mixes up the original a bit. The song first appeared at her 1976
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Nina Simone – Sinnerman
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“Sinnerman” is a traditional African-American spiritual song whose roots in music history go back to the turn of the century.
Simone’s version is often considered the most famous
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Nina Simone – Ain't Got No, I Got Life
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I ain't got no home, ain't got no shoes / Ain't got no money, ain't got no class / Ain't got no skirts, ain't got no sweater / Ain't got no perfume, ain't got no bed / Ain't got no
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Nina Simone – Summertime
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Summertime and the livin's easy / Fish are jumpin', and the cotton is high / Oh, yo' daddy's rich and yo' ma is good lookin' / So hush, little baby, don' yo' cry / One of these
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Nina Simone – Strange Fruit
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“Strange Fruit”, written by teacher Abel Meeropol as a poem and published in 1937, was performed by many artists, such as Billie Holiday and Nina Simone. It’s a dark and profound
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Nina Simone – Blackbird
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The Blackbird that Simone is referring to is a black woman. Throughout the 60s, Nina penned songs about black struggles in America.
In 1963, she wrote about the assassination of
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Nina Simone – Nobody
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[Verse 1] / When life seems full of clouds and rain / I am filled with an awkward pain / Who soothes my achin', thumpin' brain? / Nobody / When winter comes with snow and sleet / I
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Nina Simone – Baltimore
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Beat-up little seagull / On a marble stair / Tryin' to find the ocean / Lookin' everywhere / Hard times in the city / In a hard town by the sea / Ain't nowhere to run to / There
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Nina Simone – O-o-h Child
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Ooh child things are gonna get easier / Ooh child things'll get brighter / Ooh child things are gonna get easier / Ooh child things'll get brighter / Someday we'll get it toghether
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Nina Simone – My Way
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And now, the end is near and so I’ve got to face / The final curtain / Friends I’ll say clear and state my case of which I'm certain / I've lived a life that's full / I’ve
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Nina Simone – Gin House Blues
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Stay away from me / 'Cause I'm in my sin / Stay away from me everybody / 'Cause I'm in my sin / If this joint is raided / Somebody give me my gin / Don't try me nobody / 'Cause you
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Nina Simone – Cherish
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[Verse 1] / Cherish is the word I use to describe / All the feeling that I have hiding here for you inside / You don't know how many times I've wished that I had told you (Told you
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Nina Simone – Revolution
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[Part 1:] / And now we got a revolution / 'Cause I see the face of things to come / Yeah, your Constitution / Well, my friend, it's gonna have to bend / I'm here to tell you 'bout
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Nina Simone – Feelings (Live At Montreux)
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Feelings / Nothing more than feelings / Feelings / Nothing more than feelings / Feelings of love-- / [Vocal Improvisation] / You know that? Okay, as a robot gets itself together
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Nina Simone – My Baby Just Cares for Me
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A 1958 single by Nina Simone, released as the 2nd track of her debut album To Be Free from the soundtrack for the 1930 musical comedy film Whoopie!, becoming Eddie Cantor’s
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Nina Simone – Save Me
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[Intro] / Save me, somebody save me / Save me, somebody save me / [Verse 1] / I promised myself after the last romance / That I wouldn't give it a second chance / They say to you
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Nina Simone – I Put a Spell on You
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[Verse] / I put a spell on you, 'cause you're mine / Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo ah / You better stop the things you do / I ain't lyin' / No, I ain't lyin
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Nina Simone – The Other Woman (Live 1959)
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[Verse 1] / 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 / [Verse 2] / The
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Nina Simone – Mood Indigo
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[Instrumental] / [Verse] / You ain't never been blue, no, no, no / You ain't never been blue / 'Til you've had that mood indigo / That feeling goes stealing down to my shoes
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Nina Simone – Trouble in Mind
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Trouble In Mind is an anthem to those who feel like they can’t escape the blues of their mind. In the tune, Nina contemplates suicide as the only way out of her depression, assured
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Nina Simone – Blues for Mama
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[Verse 1] / Hey, Lordy, mama / I heard you wasn't feelin' good / They're spreadin' dirty rumors / All around the neighborhood / They say you're mean and evil / And don't know what
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Nina Simone – To Be Young, Gifted and Black
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Young, gifted and black / Oh, what a lovely precious dream / To be young, gifted and black / Open your heart to what I mean / In the whole world you know / There's a million boys
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Nina Simone – Be My Husband
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The opening track of Pastel Blues.
“Be My Husband” was written by Andrew Stroud, Simone’s husband and manager at the time.
The song is sung a cappella with handclapping from Nina
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Nina Simone – Exactly Like You
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I know why I waited / Know why I've been blue / I've been waiting each day / For someone exactly like you / Why should I spend some money / On a show or two / When nobody sings
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Nina Simone – Alone Again (Naturally)
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I remember this afternoon / When my sister came into the room / She refused to say how my father was / But I knew he'd be dying soon / And I was oh so glad, and it was oh so sad
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Nina Simone – Suzanne
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[Verse 1] / Suzanne takes you down to her place by the river / You can hear the boats go by / You can spend the night forever / And you know that she's half crazy / And that's why
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Nina Simone – Pirate Jenny
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This haunting number originated as a song from the first act of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill’s 1928 musical The Threepenny Opera about a prostitute who has been bribed to turn her
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Nina Simone – Go Limp
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_Limp
Framed as a dialogue between a mother and daughter, “Go Limp” ostensibly warns against the sexual consequences of a young woman’s involvement
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Nina Simone – You Don't Know What Love Is
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You don't know what love is / 'Till you've learned the meaning of the blues / 'Till you've loved a love you've had to lose / You don't know what love is / How could you know how
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Nina Simone – Wild Is the Wind
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“Wild Is The Wind” is the eighth track on Nina Simone’s sixth studio album of the same name.
The song was written by Dimitri Tiomkin and Ned Washington for the 1957 film, Wild is
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Nina Simone – Solitude
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[Verse 1] / In my solitude you haunt me / With reveries of days gone by / In my solitude you taunt me / With memories that never die / [Bridge] / I sit in my chair / Filled with
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Nina Simone – Isn't it a Pity
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[Intro] / Isn't it a pity / You don't know what I'm talking about yet / But I'm gon' tell you soon / It's a pity / [Verse 1] / Isn't it a pity / Isn't it a shame / Yes, how we
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Nina Simone – Cotton-Eyed Joe
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If it hadn't been for cotton-eye joe / I'd been married long time ago / Where did you come from. Where did you go? / Where did you come from cotton-eye joe? / (repeat) / He came to
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Nina Simone – The Ballad of Hollis Brown
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Hollis Brown / He lived on the outside of town / Hollis Brown / He lived on the outside of town / With his wife and five children / And his cabin fallin' down / You looked for work
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Nina Simone – Four Women
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Written by Nina Simone, “Four Women” was released in 1966 on her album Wild is the Wind. In the song, she creates a genealogy of black women through slavery to the present. Four
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Nina Simone – He Needs Me
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He needs me / He doesn't know it / But he needs me / And so no matter where he goes / Though he doesn't care / He knows that I'm there / He needs me / I oughta leave him / But he
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Nina Simone – Buck
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[Verse 1] / Buck / You're a whole lot of man / Just take a look at your great, big hands / You know you can crush poor me in two / But gentle, oh so gentle, are the things you do
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