Simone was born Eunice Kathleen Waymon on 21st February 1933 in Tryon, North Carolina, USA, one of eight children. Like a number of other black singers in the U.S., she was inspired as a child by Marian Anderson, and began singing at her local church, also showing great talent as a pianist. Her public debut, a piano recital, was made at the age of ten. Her parents, who had taken seats in the front row, were forced to move to the back of the hall to make way for white audience members. This incident contributed to her later involvement in the civil rights movement.
Simone's mother, Mary Kate Waymon (who lived into her late nineties) was a strict Methodist minister; her father, John Divine Waymon, was a handyman and sometime barber who suffered bouts of ill-health. Mrs Waymon worked as a maid, and her employer, hearing of Nina's talent, provided funds for piano lessons for the little girl. Subsequently, a local fund was set up to assist in Eunice's continued education.
At seventeen, Simone moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she taught piano and accompanied singers. She was able to begin studying piano at New York City's prestigious Juilliard School of Music but lack of funds meant that she was unable to fulfill her dream of becoming America's first Black classical pianist. She later had an interview to study piano at the Curtis Institute, but was rejected. Simone believed this rejection, which fueled her hatred of racism, was because she was black.
Simone turned to blues and jazz after getting her start at the Midtown Bar & Grill on Pacific Avenue in Atlantic City, taking the name Nina Simone in 1954; "Nina" was her boyfriend's nickname for her, and "Simone" was after the French actress Simone Signoret. She first came to public notice in 1959 with her wrenching rendition of George Gershwin's "I Loves You Porgy" (from Porgy and Bess), her only Top-Forty hit in the United States. This was soon followed by the single "My Baby Just Cares for Me" (this was also a hit in the 1980s in the United Kingdom when used for television advertisements for Chanel No 5 perfume).
Throughout the 1960s, Simone was involved in the civil rights movement and recorded a number of political songs, including "To Be Young, Gifted and Black" (later covered by Aretha Franklin and Donny Hathaway), "Backlash Blues", "Mississippi Goddam" (a response to the murder of Medgar Evers and the bombing of a church in Birmingham, Alabama killing four black children), "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free", and Kurt Weill's "Pirate Jenny", from The Threepenny Opera, re-cast in a southern town.
In 1961, Simone recorded a version of the traditional song "House of the Rising Sun", which was then covered by folk-blues artist, Dave Van Ronk, and later recorded by Bob Dylan, where it was picked up by The Animals and became their signature hit. Other songs she is famous for include "I Put a Spell on You" (originally by Screamin' Jay Hawkins), The Beatles' "Here Comes the Sun", "Four Women", Bob Dylan's "I Shall Be Released", the Bee Gees' "To Love Somebody", and "Ain't Got No (I Got Life)". The latter, from the musical Hair, was her debut in the UK charts, reaching number two in 1968, and a remixed version of the recording by Groovefinder was a UK Top Thirty hit in 2006.
Broadway musicals also supplied several hits for Simone: "My Baby Just Cares for Me", "Love Me or Leave Me", "Feeling Good", and "Ne Me Quitte Pas". Also "You Can Have Him" on the LP Live at Town Hall recorded when she was twenty-six years old; at the end of this operatic performance, which displays her great skill as an actress as well as a musician, she whoops with joy. This single recording encapsulates her extraordinary power, wit, flexibility, sensuality and occasional menace.
In 1987 Nina experienced a resurgence in popularity when "My Baby Just Cares for Me", a track from her first Bethlehem Records album (1958) became a huge hit in the UK and elsewhere. Nina's versatility as an artist was evident in all her music, which often had a folk-music simplicity.
In a single concert, she moved easily from gospel-inspired tunes to blues and jazz and, in numbers like "For All We Know", to numbers infused with European classical stylings, and counterpoint fugues.
Throughout most of her career she was accompanied by percussionist Leopoldo Flemming and guitarist and musical director Al Shackman.
In 1971, Simone left the United States following disagreements with her agents, record labels, and the tax authorities, citing racism as the reason. She returned in 1978 and was arrested for tax evasion (she had withheld several years of income tax as a protest against the Vietnam War). She lived in various countries in the Caribbean, Africa, and Europe, continuing to perform into her 60s. In the 1980s, she performed regularly at Ronnie Scott's jazz club in London. In 1995, Simone reportedly shot and wounded her neighbour's son with an air pistol after his laughing disturbed her concentration.
She had a reputation in the music industry for being volatile and sometimes difficult to deal with, a characterization with which Simone strenuously took issue.
Though her onstage style could be somewhat haughty and aloof, in later years, Simone particularly seemed to enjoy engaging her adoring audiences by recounting sometimes humorous anecdotes related to her career and music and soliciting requests. Simone's regal bearing and commanding stage presence earned her the title the "High Priestess of Soul."
In 1993, she settled near Aix-en-Provence in the south of France. She had been ill with cancer for several years before she died on 21st April 2003 in her sleep at her home in Carry-le-Rouet.
Simone was the recipient of a Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 2000 for her song "I Loves You Porgy." She has also received fifteen Grammy Award nominations. On Human Kindness Day 1974 in Washington, D.C., more than 10,000 people paid tribute to Simone. Simone received two honorary degrees in music and humanities, from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Malcolm X College. She preferred to be called "Dr. Nina Simone" after these honors were bestowed upon her. Only two days before her death, Simone was awarded an honorary degree by the Curtis Institute, the music school that had refused to admit her as a student at the beginning of her career.
In 2002, the city of Nijmegen (The Netherlands) named a street after her, the Nina Simonestraat. Simone lived in Nijmegen between 1988 and 1990.
Simone was inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame in 2009.
In 2010 a statue in her honor was erected in Trade Street, Tryon, North Carolina, her place of birth.
*Official site
For A While
Nina Simone Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Turned another way
With a laugh, a kind hello
Some small talk with those I know
I forget that I'm not over you
For a while
A wave an easy grin
With other lives to listen to
And some work I've got to do
I forget that I'm not over you
For a while
Days go by with no empty feeling
Until I remember you're gone
People say to me, you need company
When you have some time to spend
Drop around and meet a friend
They forget that I'm not over you
For a while
They forget that I'm not over you
For a while
The lyrics of Nina Simone's "For A While" reveal the inner thoughts of a person who appears to have moved on from a past lover, but suddenly becomes aware of the unresolved feelings still present within them. The singer seems to be going through everyday motions and small talk with people they know, but subconsciously, they cannot forget their ex-lover. The song begins with the lyrics "Lost in day to day, turned another way", which suggests that the singer is busy with their life, but still appears to be searching for something.
The lyrics also reveal the singer's coping mechanism for dealing with the loss of their lover - the ability to put on a smile and make small talk with people they know. However, despite this, the singer admits to forgetting that they are not over their former partner. Towards the end of the song, the singer's facade begins to crumble as they reminisce about the memories they shared with their lover. The lyrics "Days go by with no empty feeling, until I remember you're gone" suggest that the singer is struggling to come to terms with their separation, despite trying to move on.
Overall, Nina Simone's "For A While" is a poignant portrayal of the internal conflict one goes through in recovering from a past relationship. It highlights the importance of time and how there is no fixed timeline to recovery. Eventually, the singer acknowledges that despite what people around them say, they are not ready to move on fully.
Line by Line Meaning
Lost in day to day
Being caught up in the routine of everyday life.
Turned another way
Finding ways to distract oneself from the pain of heartbreak.
With a laugh, a kind hello
Trying to put on a happy face and be friendly despite internal struggles.
Some small talk with those I know
Engaging in casual conversation with familiar people to pass the time.
I forget that I'm not over you
Despite attempts to move on, the heartbreak is still present.
For a while
This feeling of being stuck in heartbreak is temporary.
A wave an easy grin
Putting on a casual front to others to avoid revealing true feelings.
A smile to put them in
Pretending to be happy for the sake of others.
With other lives to listen to
Focusing on other people's stories to avoid thinking about one's own pain.
And some work I've got to do
Keeping busy with tasks and responsibilities to avoid dwelling on the heartbreak.
Days go by with no empty feeling
There are moments where the pain of the heartbreak is not felt.
Until I remember you're gone
But eventually the pain resurfaces when faced with the reality of the breakup.
People say to me, you need company
Others suggest spending time with friends to help with the heartbreak.
When you have some time to spend
When there is an opportunity to do so.
Drop around and meet a friend
Inviting someone to come and hang out casually.
They forget that I'm not over you
But even in social situations, the pain of heartbreak can still be present.
For a while
But it is a temporary state that will eventually pass with time and healing.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: BOB GAUDIO, JAKE HOLMES, ROBERT GAUDIO
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Harry Banks Productions
she sings as if each word and note has to happen - and at a cost. She is right in the still vortex of the song. She sings as if it needs to be sung. She's not performing - she bears witness to it. In her mind the audience happens to be there - if they get what she's doing all the better but that's not why she's doing it. She needs to.
Keith Yearwood
This. Moves. Me. Every. Single. Time. This reminds me to never forget to love. In all that you do, never forget to take that chance and love someone!
mrsoulish
She can capture the most inexplicable feelings in her songs- this woman is so amazing, so blessed, and unfortunately her pain becomes such a gift to us.
ChicChicken
I come here when I need to cry. Love you, Nina.
Zanele Ngubane
This song describes a deep and dark hurt that once left me numb and drained. Salute Ms Nina Simone!
saintcruzin
I’m glad Nina saw the beauty in Sinatra’s Watertown LP, underrated classic. She does a beautiful job interpreting a truly touching song..
Rebecca WBLund
i love Nina Simone. no other artist i know of can express love and loss as convincingly and beautifully. thanks for sharing this video.
JayneDoe23
One of the only other artists who possesses the same type of natural ability to imbue any song with that soul aching tragic beauty is Jeff Buckley.
In fact, he was a HUGE Nina fan and is(imo) the only one who has ever performed one of her songs I've found impressive, making it is own, and every beautiful note of every word has that agonizing vulnerable pain.
Check him out if you aren't familiar with him, well when you have a chance; I'm more than certain, that you'll be happy you did. 🤩
PIE WONDERS
You can tell she struggled to get through these two songs. SO EMOTIONAL. They kill each time I heard them even years later.
Eddie Carter Jr
When she came back in with “If You Knew” , I just knew she was about to burst into tears ! Such a strong woman who bares all ♥️