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I play piano, by ear. Yes, I write songs... and good ones.

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
Good
Piano
Ears
Songs
Ones
Song
Write
Play
Writing

More quotes by Nina Simone

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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.
Nina Simone
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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.
Nina Simone
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The Beatles are lucky, very lucky. But what has happened to them has nothing to do with them, in a sense. They came along at the right time. Attention was focused on them. They've had the chance to grow in almost any direction they wanted. Very lucky. They are not exceptionally talented.
Nina Simone
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Desegregation is a joke.
Nina Simone
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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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You can't help it. An artist's duty, as far as I'm concerned, is to reflect the times.
Nina Simone
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You can't be different if you look at it. Being gifted is different. I had that in my piano playing. I'm very thankful for that. I'm very aware of that. The style and what I fed is just me. I never worked at it. It just happened.
Nina Simone
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This is the world you have made yourself, now you have to live in it.
Nina Simone
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I look forward to doing my own show, not someone else's. That's always been my dream.
Nina Simone
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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
Nina Simone
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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?
Nina Simone
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Music has been a burden and a joy for as long as I can remember.
Nina Simone
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My job is not done. I address my songs now to the third world. I am popular all over Asia and Africa and the Middle East, not to speak of South Africa, where I'm trying to go to see Nelson Mandela.
Nina Simone
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There's no excuse for the young people not knowing who the heroes and heroines are or were.
Nina Simone
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I do not believe in mixing of the races. You can quote me. I don't believe in it, and I never have. I've never changed. I've never changed my hair. I've never changed my color, I have always been proud of myself, and my fans are proud of me for remaining the way I've always been. I married a white man one time, but he was a creep
Nina Simone
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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
Nina Simone
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I'm sorry that I did not become the world's first black classic pianist. I think I would have been happier.
Nina Simone
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I tell you what freedom is to me: no fear.
Nina Simone
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It's a good time for black people to be alive.
Nina Simone
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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.
Nina Simone