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From the beginning, it has been a no-no for a black man to touch a white woman.
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
Black
Men
Racism
Touch
Beginning
Woman
White
More quotes by Nina Simone
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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To be young, gifted and black!
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I made wine from the lilac tree/Put my heart in its recipe/It makes me see what I want to see/And be what I want to be
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Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood, a song that was written for Simone, she confronted the band's lead singer, Eric Burdon. So you're the honky, she said, who stole my song and got a hit out of it?
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I had spent many years pursuing excellence, because that is what classical music is all about... Now it was dedicated to freedom, and that was far more important.
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To most white people, jazz means black and jazz means dirt, and that's not what I play. I play black classical music.
Nina Simone
Many times I feel different like a different person.
Nina Simone
I play piano, by ear. Yes, I write songs... and good ones.
Nina Simone
I only knew classical music, which to me was the only true music. The only way I could survive at the bar was to mix the classical music with popular songs, and that meant I had to sing. What happened was that I discovered I had a voice plus the talent to mix classical music together with more popular songs, which at the time I detested.
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There are all kinds of things that can be done. You can change rhythms, you can change chords, you can change whole concepts. But it will only work, on a record or in a performance, if you can make the people buy 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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Since I was three I've been playing the piano. I've been onstage.
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I do love to sing Jacques Brel songs, intensely. I get terribly excited, just by reading a couple of lines in any one of his songs.
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I think if I were over there in America, protest music would be more important. But I'm not going.
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It is difficult to retain your standards with the pressure of trying to make money, which always has its rules...It's hard to walk the tightrope of doing what you think is your best and making money at it.
Nina Simone
I love the classics but there are many new ideas to be made into reality. I'd rather be concerned with my own thing. There are many masters of classical piano so I'll leave it to them.
Nina Simone
I feel what they feel. And people who listen to me know that, and it makes them feel like they're not alone.
Nina Simone
You don't have to live next to me / Just give me my equality.
Nina Simone
Desegregation is a joke.
Nina Simone
Theory and harmony broadened my mind in music. I know what music is made of.
Nina Simone
