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
Take Me To The Water
Nina Simone Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Take me to the water
Take me to the water
To be baptized
None but the righteous
None but the righteous
None but the righteous
Shall be saved
So take me to the water
Take me to the water
Take me to the water
To be, to be baptized
I'm going back home, going back home
Gonna stay here no longer
I'm going back home, going back home
To be baptized
The lyrics to Nina Simone's song Take Me To The Water speak of the spiritual practice of baptism, which is an important ritual in Christianity, where a person is immersed in water or has water poured onto them, symbolizing a cleansing of sins and a rebirth into a new life. The repetition of the phrase "take me to the water" emphasizes the urgency within the singer's desire to be baptized, as they believe only the righteous will be saved.
The following lines, "I'm going back home, going back home, gonna stay here no longer," express a longing for a return to a place of spiritual purity and a desire to leave behind negative aspects of their past life. By being baptized, the singer is seeking a fresh start and an opportunity for redemption. The song's message can be interpreted beyond the Christian context, as it expresses a more universal desire for forgiveness and renewal.
Overall, the lyrics to Take Me To The Water deliver a powerful message of hope, redemption, and transformation through the act of baptism.
Line by Line Meaning
Take me to the water
I am asking to be taken to the water
Take me to the water
I am requesting that I be taken to the water
Take me to the water
I am asking again to be taken to the water
To be baptized
I want to be baptized in the water
None but the righteous
Only those who are morally right will be rewarded
None but the righteous
Only those who are morally upright will be saved
None but the righteous
No one besides those who are morally just will be saved
Shall be saved
Only they will be saved from their sins
So take me to the water
So I ask to be taken to the water
Take me to the water
I again request to be taken to the water
Take me to the water
I am again asking to be taken to the water
To be, to be baptized
I desire to be baptized in the water
I'm going back home, going back home
I am returning to my place of origin
Gonna stay here no longer
I will no longer remain in this current place
I'm going back home, going back home
I am returning to my place of origin
To be baptized
In order to be baptized
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: NINA SIMONE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@mikeyseo
I, even I, have seen Heaven , the Kingdom of God, before. This is our testimony.
Lo, a vision came to me in the night when my dream was sweet unto me.
And the Lord said “before I fashioned you in the womb I knew you. U are fearfully and wonderfully made. No weapon formed shall prosper against you. And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, And their righteousness is from Me,”
And said I, “ah, my Lord, I cannot speak. I am but a babe.”
And he said unto me “ say NoT that you are a babe, but speak these things unto them that I will show unto thee.”
And the heavens were rolled away as if they were a scroll. And I was cast into outer darkness. Whether in the body or out of the body , I knew not. Yet , I could hear evil voices from all directions. “Jesus is a lie.” They whispered.
Suddenly , I was lifted up. And taken to a new place, where they glorified the host of heaven, “Hallelujah , glory to the almighty King in Heaven for He is Righteous and Everlasting! And He has prepared an inheritance for his people, he is faithful and true,” they sang. . And it was as the sound of many waters and rolling thunders.
And I saw all things that were, that are, and that will be. And in the silence without speech…I saw a multitude , hundreds of thousands gathered before the most high giving praise. And as I heard, I understood. All of their voices were as the sound of trumpets, yet as I heard, I understood all that they declared unto me.
And after all these things, then I , Michael, saw a new heaven and a new earth. There was no death. For all things were made new and the former things were passed away. There was no sun. And there was no sea. But the light of God was the light and life to all things.
He that lives by the sword dies by the sword. He that takes into captivity goes into captivity. Here is the wisdom and the patience of the saints
@victoriajefferson2109
Take Me to the Water / Nina Simone
Take me to the water
Take me to the water
Take me to the water
To be baptized
None but the righteous
None but the righteous
None but the righteous
Shall be saved
So take me to the water
Take me to the water
Take me to the water
To be, to be baptized
'Cause I'm going back home
I tell you I'm going back home now
Going back home
Can you stay here no longer?
For I'm going back home
Going back home now
Going back home
To be (To be)
To be (To be)
To be baptized
@joshuateye4713
Take me to the water
Take me to the water
Take me to the water
To be baptized
None but the righteous
None but the righteous
None but the righteous
Shall be saved
So take me to the water
Take me to the water
Take me to the water
To be, to be baptized
'Cause I'm going back home
I tell you I'm going back home now
Going back home
Can you stay here no longer?
For I'm going back home
Going back home now
Going back home
To be (To be)
To be (To be)
To be baptized
@tyyo7969
Take me to the water
Take me to the water
Take me to the water
To be baptized
None but the righteous
None but the righteous
None but the righteous
Shall be saved
So take me to the water
Take me to the water
Take me to the water
To be, to be baptized
I'm going back home, going back home
Gonna stay here no longer
I'm going back home, going back home
To be baptized
@marilyntkeller
Absolutely! I remember it being sung as I was "handed" down into the pool in Our little church in New Mexico- from My Mother to My Father and Our Pastor. My eyes must have been so big! I remember the water being warm- unexpectedly so- and My Dad's hand covering My face- pinching My nose closed and holding My mouth closed- as they lay Me back in the water! My feet didn't even touch the bottom! My Mom held out a large white towel- and wrapped Me in it and carried Me back to the Deaconess' Room to dry Me and changed Me into My white dress for the Service. 🥹😇🙏🏾☝🏾☮️💟✝️☯️ Thank God for His Mercy and Grace and Love!🥰
@sugarspice7768
What a beautiful memory! 💙
@doc.fuller7010
Love❤this song.
Our church is getting ready for our old-fashioned baptism service at the end of the month.
This will be our theme song
The Rock Church of Dallas
Pastor Fuller
@veramclauchlin4005
This is one of the most beautiful renditions of this song I have ever heard. What an anointing in her voice. Take me to the Water for None but the Righteous. Amen!
@kwhitehead4500
I listen to this every year when I go to the beach. it makes me cry so. I'm old school Baptist. I remember going to the river to be baptized. nothing like it.
@jamillagcreal4325
I'm old school baptize as well and I am proud about it
@techsysengineer5135
yeah... nothing like indoctrination
@daniel30855
@@techsysengineer5135 how so?
@techsysengineer5135
@@daniel30855 come again in 10 years
@daniel30855
@@techsysengineer5135 Why? I just wanted to know the reason for your statement.