Quote

Jazz is a white term to define black people. My music is black classical music.

Nina Simone

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Nina Simone
Age: 75 †
Born: 1933
Born: February 21
Died: 2008
Died: April 21
Composer
Jazz Pianist
Recording Artist
Singer
Singer-Songwriter
Tryon
North Carolina
Eunice Kathleen Waymon
High Priestess of Soul
Music
People
Classical
Define
Racism
Jazz
Term
White
Black

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Since I was three I've been playing the piano. I've been onstage.
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How do you explain what it feels like to get on the stage and make poetry that you know sinks into the hearts and souls of people who are unable to express it
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Jazz is not just music, it's a way of life, it's a way of being, a way of thinking.
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Music has been a burden and a joy for as long as I can remember.
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I don't like rap music at all. I don't think it's music. It's just a beat and rapping.
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When I was studying... there weren't any black concert pianists. My choices were intuitive, and I had the technique to do it. People have heard my music and heard the classic in it, so I have become known as a black classical pianist.
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I don't like drug addicts and she sounds like a cat.
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Desegregation is a joke.
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I look forward to doing my own show, not someone else's. That's always been my dream.
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I feel what they feel. And people who listen to me know that, and it makes them feel like they're not alone.
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I believe the time will come when the whole definition of pop music will change. It will get to the point where a song will not be a good song until it has a high level of creativity in writing and performance. In other words, in order to be popular, songs will have to meet these high standards.
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There's no excuse for the young people not knowing who the heroes and heroines are or were.
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I think the rich are too rich and the poor are too poor. I don't think the black people are going to rise at all I think most of them are going to die.
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What is love but a prelude to sorrow...with heartache ahead for your goal.
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I was not reluctant to become a singer. Singing has been an activity I've done my whole life, without thought.
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You can't help it. An artist's duty, as far as I'm concerned, is to reflect the times.
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This may be a dream, but I'll say it anyway: I was supposed to be married last year, and I bought a gown. When I meet Nelson Mandela, I shall put on this gown and have the train of it removed and put aside, and kiss the ground that he walks on and then kiss his feet.
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Birds flying high you know how I feel Sun in the sky you know how I feel Breeze driftin' on by you know how I feel And this old world is a new world And a bold world For me And I'm feeling good I'm feeling good
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I can't stand loud guitars that make me deaf.
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I love to travel to hear different kinds of music.
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