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
I Shall Be Released
Nina Simone Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
They say every distance is not near
So I remember every face
Of every man who put me here
I see the light come shining
From the west down to the east
Any day now, any day now
They say every man needs protection
They say every man must fall
So, I swear I see my reflection
Somewhere inside these walls
I see my light come shining
From the west down to the east
Any day now, any day now
I shall be released
Yonder standing me in this lonely crowd
A man who says he's not to blame
All day long I hear him hollering so loud
Just crying out that he's not to blame
I see my light come shining
From the west down to the east
Any day now, any day now
I shall be released
In Nina Simone's song "I Shall Be Released", the first two stanzas depict the singer's understanding of life's transience and its fleeting nature. The singer says that everything can be replaced and distances are relative since she remembers every face of every man who put her here. The line "every man who put me here" implies that the singer is imprisoned, both physically and metaphorically, and feels wrongfully accused or guilty for something she did not do. The subsequent lines can be interpreted as a spiritual redemption and hope for freedom from the oppressive conditions that confine the singer.
The third stanza reveals that the singer has found solace in the belief that every man needs to be protected and that everyone must fall at some point. The singer sees her reflection in the walls surrounding her, which could be interpreted as either self-reflection or an acknowledgment that her experiences are shared by others. The line "somewhere inside these walls" is not only poignant but also suggests that her search for freedom may be an internal journey rather than a physical one.
The fourth stanza mentions a man who claims he's not to blame, but the singer hears him crying out loud all day. This man may represent the misinformed or the ignorant who remain trapped in their own cycle of guilt and sorrow. The stanza also suggests that although there may be other people trapped alongside the singer, she remains determined to find her way to freedom. The final three lines of the song carry a message of hope that the singer's light will continue to shine and that she will be free from the constraints of the walls that surround her.
Line by Line Meaning
They say everything can be replaced
Some people believe that anything can be substituted or substituted in life.
They say every distance is not near
People say that even if you're close to something, you may still be far away from it.
So I remember every face
Therefore, I keep the memory of every person who wronged me.
Of every man who put me here
I recollect the names and faces of every person who is responsible for my current situation.
I see the light come shining
I perceive a ray of hope and a brighter future.
From the west down to the east
This hope extends from the west to the east, giving me more reason to believe in a brighter day.
Any day now, any day now
Very soon, probably tomorrow, I'll be freed.
I shall be released
I will be freed from this bondage and be able to start a better life.
They say every man needs protection
People claim that every person requires protection and safety to live happily.
They say every man must fall
People assert that everyone will experience defeat and fall at some point in their life.
So, I swear I see my reflection
Therefore, I believe that I can see myself in those who were meant to protect me but didn't.
Somewhere inside these walls
My reflection is somewhere within these walls of my imprisonment.
Yonder standing me in this lonely crowd
I am standing alone in this group of people.
A man who says he's not to blame
There's a man who claims he's not responsible for his actions.
All day long I hear him hollering so loud
All day long he keeps screaming, trying to convince people of his innocence.
Just crying out that he's not to blame
He's yelling repeatedly to prove his innocence.
I see my light come shining
I can see a light of hope and freedom ahead of me.
From the west down to the east
The light extends from the west to the east, giving me hope for a brighter future.
Any day now, any day now
I know that very soon, even tomorrow, I will be freed.
I shall be released
I know that I will be freed and it will be a new start for me.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Bob Dylan
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@thomasmiguel209
Lyrics :
They say everything can be replaced
They say every distance is not near
So I remember every face
Of every man who put me here
I see my light come shining
From the west down to the east
Any day now, any day now
I shall be released
They say every man needs protection
They say that every man must fall
So I see my reflection
Somewhere inside this walls
I see my light come shining
From the west down to the east
Any day now, any day now
I shall be released
Now, yonder stands a man in this lonely crowd
A man who swears he's not to blame
All day long I hear him shouting so loud
Just crying out that he was framed
I see my light come shining
From the west down to the east
Any day now, any day now
I shall be released
@gcsusetyo
They say everything can be replaced
They say every distance we've not lived
So I remember every face
Of every man who put me here
I seen my life come shining
From the west down to the east
Any day now
Any day now
I shall be released
They say every man needs protection
They say every man must fall
So I swear I see my reflection
Somewhere in the south of the walls
I see my life come shining
From the west down to the east
Any day now
Any day now
I shall be released
You understand the man makes his lonely crowd
Man who says he's not to blame
All day long I hear him hollering so loud
Just crying out that he's not to blame
I see my life come shining
From the west down to the east
Any day now
Any day now
I shall be released
@lealhomme8762
Ils disent que tout peut être remplacé
They say everything can be replaced
Ils disent que chaque distance n'est pas proche
They say every distance is not near
Alors je me souviens de chaque visage
So I remember every face
De chaque homme qui m'a mis ici
Of every man who put me here
Je vois ma lumière briller
I see my light come shining
De l'ouest vers l'est
From the west down to the east
N'importe quel jour maintenant, n'importe quel jour maintenant
Any day now, any day now
Je serai libéré
I shall be released
Ils disent que chaque homme a besoin de protection
They say every man needs protection
Ils disent que chaque homme doit tomber
They say every man must fall
Alors je jure que je vois mon reflet
So I swear I see my reflection
Quelque part à l'intérieur de ces murs
Somewhere inside these walls
Je vois ma lumière briller
I see my light come shining
De l'ouest vers l'est
From the west out to the east
N'importe quel jour maintenant, n'importe quel jour maintenant
Any day now, any day now
Je serai libéré
I shall be released
Là-bas se tient un homme dans cette foule solitaire
Yonder stands a man in this lonely crowd
L'homme qui dit qu'il n'est pas à blâmer
Man who says he's not to blame
Toute la journée je l'entends hurler si fort
All day long I hear him hollering so loud
Crier juste qu'il n'est pas à blâmer
Just crying out that he's not to blame
Je vois ma lumière briller
I see my light come shining
De l'ouest vers l'est
From the west down to the east
N'importe quel jour maintenant, n'importe quel jour maintenant
Any day now, any day now
Je serai libéré
I shall be released
@danball3421
When Dylan was a nobody in the process of becoming somebody and Suzi Rizolo was his girlfriend who was employed as a stage setter in a New York theatre,
One evening Dylan was waiting for her to finish her shift
and while he was waiting he heared a female artist warming up for her gig.
singing a song thst would pierce dylans soul and be the template for all his non linear works
like:
'mr tambourine man
Hard rains a gonna fall' etc..
Songs that have lines and rhythms that extend past the expected time and length
Profoundly affecting Dylan to the point of him having to dissect the song in his room to find out why it was affecting him so deeply
That song was PIRATE JENNY
And that woman was
NINA SIMONE
@baglady2652
Her interpretation is precious. Saving lives, giving energy and speaking freedom
@larryraco7829
Wonderful song with an even more wonderful rendition by Nina Simone.
@JuneBee9606
This soothes my hurt soul 🙏🏾
@marcoshenriquegabrie
This song sounds just like freedom to me!
@censusgary
It’s hard to do a bad version of this wonderful Bob Dylan song. But Nina Simone makes it simply sublime. This is perfection.
@maggieb6631
I’ve needed this today like no other..
Thank you and God bless you all stopping here to listen and reflect in some way or other ✨💖💫
@barbiejake4801
Great song👍🏽😊this month on the 21st April is 20yrs since this amazing woman passed May Nina continue to rest in beautiful peace & fly with the Angels🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
@marlenyestradatoribio5286
What beautiful music ❤️
@kevinmclain6741
It's a gospel tune. Not sure that's how Dylan envisioned it. But that's EXACTLY what it is.
@tinacampbell8539
I was playing in a bluegrass jam yesterday/last night , we did this. I’ve been listening to the original and various covers, Bob Dylan, Zac Brown Band, The Band, Joe Cocker and others but this version is smooth like silk.