Nina Simone: "Mississippi Goddam" (A 1964 African American Jazz Protest Song That Is Still Relevant In 2023)

Aaron Overfield, Feb 26, 2013

"Mississippi Goddam" by Nina Simone 

Recording session: Live in Antibes, July 24-25, 1965.

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Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post showcases Nina Simone's 1964 protest song "Mississippi Goddam". 

A film clip about this song is included in this post along with information about this song and its lyrics.

The content of this post is presented for historical, socio-cultural, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Nina Simone for her musical and cultural legacy. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publisher of this film clip on YouTube.

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INFORMATION ABOUT THIS SONG

Complete Re-print #1
From https://www.jazziz.com/song-of-the-day-nina-simone-mississippi-goddam/#:~:text=She%20wrote%20the%20song%20in,%2C%20on%20September%2015%2C%201963. Song of the Day: Nina Simone, “Mississippi Goddam”
by Matt Micucci, Feb. 22, 2021
"This past February 21, we celebrated the birthday anniversary of the High Priestess of Soul, Nina Simone. Her legacy as one of the greatest music artists of all time and as a Civil Rights activist is long-lasting and legendary. Throughout her career, she wrote many songs that spoke out against racism and injustice and that testified to her belief that an artist’s primary role should be to reflect the times.

“Mississippi Goddam” from 1964, first released on Nina Simone in Concert, recorded during her Carnegie Hall run from earlier that year. She wrote the song in an hour, out of anger and in response to the murder of Civil Rights leader Medgar Evers in Mississippi on June 12, 1963, as well as the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, on September 15, 1963. It remains today one of her most famous, as well as one of her first protest songs."

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Complete Re-print #2
From https://genius.com/Nina-simone-mississippi-goddam-lyrics
About Nina Simone's "Mississippi Goddam"
"About" written by bad_luck_charm; Dr. Gerling
"This song was first performed and recorded at Carnegie Hall in 1964, a turbulent year in the Civil Rights struggle.

 The prominent repetition of the phrase “do it slow” in the refrain refers to political moderates encouraging the civil rights movement to move slowly, which Nina is ridiculing here.

 The song was written in under an hour and recorded live at Carnegie Hall. It was later pressed into a single, which was banned in large portions of the country, ostensibly because of the word ‘Goddam’ in the title. Boxes of records were destroyed in some places. This is documented in the biopic What Happened, Miss Simone?

 The release of Mississippi Goddam marked a point in Nina Simone’s career where she became increasingly active in the civil rights movement and her professional career suffered, likely as a direct result."

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LYRICS - MISSISSIPPI GODDAM
(written by Nina Simone)

[Spoken Introduction]

The name of this tune is Mississippi Goddam
And I mean every word of it

[Verse 1]

Alabama's gotten me so upset
Tennessee made me lose my rest
And everybody knows about Mississippi, goddamn

Alabama's gotten me so upset
Tennessee made me lose my rest
And everybody knows about Mississippi, goddamn

Can't you see it, can't you feel it
It's all in the air
I can't stand the pressure much longer
Somebody say a prayer

[Chorus]

Alabama's gotten me so upset
Tennessee made me lose my rest
And everybody knows about Mississippi, goddamn

 (This is a show tune, but the show hasn't been written for it, yet)

 [Verse 2]

Hound dogs on my trail
School children sitting in jail
Black cat cross my path
I think every day's gonna be my last

Lord have mercy on this land of mine
We all gonna get it in due time
I don't belong here, I don't belong there
I've even stopped believing in prayer

Don't tell me, I'll tell you
Me and my people just about due
I've been there so I know
They keep on saying "Go slow!"

[Refrain]

But that's just the trouble (do it slow)
Washing the windows (Too slow)
Picking the cotton (Too slow)
You're just plain rotten (Too slow)
You're too damn lazy (Too slow)
The thinking's crazy (Too slow)
Where am I going, what am I doing
I don't know, I don't know

Just try to do your very best
Stand up, be counted with all the rest
For everybody knows about Mississippi, goddamn

(I bet you thought I was kidding, didn't you)

[Verse 3]

Picket lines, school boycotts
They try to say it's a communist plot
All I want is equality
For my sister, my brother, my people, and me

Yes, you lied to me all these years
You told me to wash and clean my ears
And talk real fine just like a lady
And you'd stop calling me Sister Sadie
Oh but this whole country is full of lies
You're all gonna die and die like flies
I don't trust you any more
You keep on saying "Go slow!"
"Go slow!"

[Refrain]

But that's just the trouble (Too slow)
Desegregation (Too slow)
Mass participation (Too slow)
Reunification (Too slow)
Do things gradually (Too slow)
But bring more tragedy (Too slow)
Why don't you see it, why don't you feel it
I don't know, I don't know

[Chorus]

You don't have to live next to me
Just give me my equality
Everybody knows about Mississippi
Everybody knows about Alabama
Everybody knows about Mississippi, goddamn

[Spoken Outro]

That's it!



Online source - https://genius.com/Nina-simone-mississippi-goddam-lyrics

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