After noticing a lot of covers on all the Nina Simone albums I've come across I decided to search out which were originals. I came across one song that I hadn't taken enough notice of. Clearly, not enough notice of because it damn near broke my heart when I listened to lyrics. Nina Simone was a passionate activist of Civil Rights and this passion was easily thrown into her music. In fact, at one concert, Nina Simone refused to play as her parents were not allowed to sit in the front, the front being for white people only. She refused to play until they were moved to the front. (I LOVE THAT STORY) Songs like To Be Young, Gifted and Black an inspiring song emphasising the beauty of the young, gifted and black people. And Why The King Of Love Is Dead written in memory of Dr Martin Luther King, and was first performed 3 days after he died.
However, Mississippi Goddam, is a little different to other civil rights songs. For starters, it is easy to overlook (or overhear?) because the music itself is a happier tune than the lyrics let on. You find yourself tapping your toe and joining in with 'go slow!' but when hear Simone's cry 'goddam!' you can hear the pain and exasperation behind the word. Even the line 'everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam' is so true, we all know it, the inequality and degradation we all know about it. And yet, these opinions still exist because inequality and degradation still exists. And don't think I'm just throwing stones at the USA because there is plenty in Australia too. In fact, just this week, an assistant coach from one of a major state football teams was fired over racist remarks, the incident has forced a player to resign from one of the year's biggest games and the press have been all over it.
Anyway, I've gone off on a tangent, sorry. But honestly, have a read through the lyrics below, they are well worth the read. They are so heavy and so heart breaking when you actually put yourself into the situation of being forced to feel it.
Mississippi Goddam (Nina Simone):
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