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
Marriage Is for Old Folks
Nina Simone Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Crazy romancing
Fellas advancing constantly
Marriage is for old folks
Old folks, not for me!
One husband
One wife
Two people sentenced for life!
I love singing
Good healthy clinging
Quietly bringing on a spree
Marriage is for old folks
Cold folks!
One married he
One married she
Whaddya got?
Two people watchin' tv!
I'm not ready
To quit bein' free
And I'm not willing
To stop being me
I've gotta sing my song
Why should I belong
To some guy who says
That I'm wrong?
Doo doo dooo
De doo de doo
De-doo de-doo
Doo doo doo
Dooo
Cookin' dinner
Lookin' no thinner
Gray elbows and
A sudsy sea
Marriage is for old folks
Cold folks,
And it's not for me!
One husband
One wife
Whaddya got?
Two people sentenced for life!
I'm exploding
With youth and with zest
Who needs corroding
In some vulture's nest?
I've gotta fly my wings
Go places, do things
My freedom bell's really
Gonna ring!
Doo doo dooo....(etc.)
I've been through years
Too many blue years
Now I want New Year's every eve
Marriage is for old folks
Marriage is for cold folks
One husband
One wife
Whaddya got?
Two people sentenced for life
Marriage is for old folks
Marriage is for cold folks
Not for me
Can't you see
Marriage ain't for me
In the song "Marriage Is For Old Folks," Nina Simone expresses her disdain for the institution of marriage, claiming it to be outdated and unsuitable for her. Through the use of clever wordplay, light-hearted melody, and infectious rhythm, the musician conveys her message effectively. Simone's declaration of love for dancing, crazy romancing, singing, and good healthy clinging illustrates the outward expression of femininity and love. These activities are things society would deem a woman too old to participate in once they marry, which is why Simone deems marriage for old folks. In fact, she opines that being sentenced to one partner for life is not what she desires; rather, she wants to remain free and true to herself.
Simone's words suggest that marriage is not for everyone as some prefer to remain single. Throughout the song, she emphasizes that not everyone should be confined to the institution of marriage, and there is nothing wrong with that. She reiterates this point by stating that she is not ready to give up personal freedom or individuality to make someone else happy. Simone's views on being single may link to her own struggles with marriage and relationships throughout her life. This song's lyrics capture the restless spirit of a woman unwilling to conform to society's expectations, particularly about the role of women in a marriage.
Line by Line Meaning
I love dancing
I enjoy dancing and having fun
Crazy romancing
Being in love can be exciting and unpredictable
Fellas advancing constantly
Men are always trying to make advances and pursue relationships
Marriage is for old folks
Getting married is for older people, and not something I'm interested in
Old folks, not for me!
I am not interested in getting married, especially when it's something that's associated with older people
One husband
Being married would mean having one male partner
One wife
Being married would mean having one female partner
Whaddya got?
What do you really gain from being married?
Two people sentenced for life!
Being married might feel like a sentence, trapping two people together until they die
I love singing
Singing brings me joy and fulfillment
Good healthy clinging
Intimacy and affection can be good for our well-being
Quietly bringing on a spree
Having a good time without being too obvious about it
Cold folks!
People who get married can become detached and unemotional
One married he
Being married would mean having a male partner who's already taken
One married she
Being married would mean having a female partner who's already taken
Two people watchin' tv!
Being married might mean settling down into a routine and spending your time watching TV together
I'm not ready
I don't feel prepared or willing to commit to a long-term relationship
To quit bein' free
I value my independence and don't want to give it up
And I'm not willing
I'm not interested in giving up my autonomy or sense of self
To stop being me
I don't want to lose my identity or sense of self in a relationship
I've gotta sing my song
I feel compelled to live my life on my own terms
Why should I belong
I question the need to conform to societal norms or expectations
To some guy who says
I don't want to be with a man who expects me to follow his lead or do things a certain way
That I'm wrong?
I don't want to be with someone who tries to make me feel bad for making my own choices
Cookin' dinner
Preparing meals can be a time-consuming task
Lookin' no thinner
Cooking and eating can lead to weight gain or feeling sluggish
Gray elbows and a sudsy sea
Washing dishes can be a tedious and mundane task
I'm exploding
I'm bursting with energy and enthusiasm for life
With youth and with zest
I feel young and vibrant, and I want to embrace this energy
Who needs corroding
I don't want to be weighed down or held back by someone else's expectations or needs
In some vulture's nest?
I don't want to live in a place where I feel trapped or stifled
I've gotta fly my wings
I need to spread my wings and explore new opportunities
Go places, do things
I want to travel and experience new places and things
My freedom bell's really
My sense of independence is very important to me
Gonna ring!
I'm excited to be able to live my life without feeling constrained or restricted
Marriage is for old folks
I don't believe that marriage is necessary or desirable for my lifestyle or goals
Marriage is for cold folks
Marriage can lead to feelings of detachment or lack of intimacy
Not for me!
I'm not interested in getting married, even if it's something that society expects of me
Can't you see
I wish people could understand my perspective on this issue
Marriage ain't for me
I firmly believe that getting married is not the lifestyle or path that's right for me
Lyrics © MUSIC SALES CORPORATION
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Harry strings
on Blackbird
This is one of the inspired song have ever heard, it's touches my soul..
Daniel
on Feeling Good
Just unbelievable, I dig it. Great music & artists.
Nikolaos Souroufis
on Sinnerman
amazing !!!!!!!!