What better way to give a nod to Juneteenth this year than to listen to Nina Simone perform poems-turned-songs by Bertold Brecht, Paul Laurence Dunbar, and Harlem Renaissance poet Waring Cuney.
Nina Simone (born Eunice Kathleen Waymon; February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003) was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, composer, arranger and civil rights activist, ranked as No. 21 on Rolling Stones list of 200 Greatest Singers of all time.
The sixth of eight children born into a poor North Carolina family, Simone initially aspired to be a concert pianist, and managed to gather support to study at Juilliard. Denied entry into the world of classical music, Simone started playing piano at a nightclub in Atlantic City, and changed her name to “Nina Simone” to disguise herself from family members, having chosen to play “the devil’s music” or so-called “cocktail piano”. She was told in the nightclub that she would have to sing to her own accompaniment which effectively launched her career as a jazz vocalist. She went on to record more than 40 albums between 1958 and 1974.
NO IMAGES, Waring Cuney
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cO6trkI47s8
Waring Cuney (1906 – 1976) was a poet of the Harlem Renaissance, best known for his poem “No Images,” which has been widely anthologized. The poem was written while Cuney was a 26 year-old student at Lincoln University and friend of Langston Hughes, and poignantly portrays a black woman’s internalization of European beauty standards.
She does not know her beauty
She thinks her brown glory
She thinks her brown body has no glory
If she could dance naked under palm trees
And see her image in the river she would know
Yes she would know
But there are no palm trees in the street
No palm trees in the street
And dishwater gives back no images
She does not know her beauty
She thinks her brown body has no glory
WHEN MALINDY SINGS, Paul Laurence Dunbar
www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFEAKvireUw
A poem that celebrates the natural talent and beauty of a black woman’s voice. The poem contrasts the voices of Malindy, singing in a kitchen, and Miss Lucy, presumably a proper young girl, who is being formally schooled in singing. Using dialect and imagery the poem is a tribute to the power and joy of music that comes from the heart and soul.
G’way an’ quit dat noise, Miss Lucy—
Put dat music book away;
What’s de use to keep on tryin’?
Ef you practise twell you ‘re gray,
You cain’t sta’t no notes a–flyin’
Lak de ones dat rants and rings
F’om de kitchen to be big woods
When Malindy sings.
You ain’t got de nachel o’gans
Fu’ to make de soun’ come right,
You ain’t got de tu’ns an’ twistin’s
Fu’ to make it sweet an’ light.
Tell you one thing now, Miss Lucy,
An’ I ‘m tellin’ you fu’ true,
When hit comes to raal right singin’,
‘T ain’t no easy thing to do
Easy ‘nough fu’ folks to hollah,
Lookin’ at de lines an’ dots,
When dey ain’t no one kin sence it,
An’ de chune comes in, in spots;
But fu’ real melojous music,
Dat jes’ strikes yo’ hea’t and clings,
Jes’ you stan’ an’ listen wif me
When Malindy sings
PIRATE JENNY, Bertold Brecht/Mark Blitstein
www.youtube.com/watch?v=49g8QJ2-6f4
Pirate Jenny” is a well-known song from The Threepenny Opera by Kurt Weill, with lyrics by Bertolt Brecht. The English lyrics are by Marc Blitzstein. It is one of the best known songs in the opera, after “Mack the Knife”. 1928 musical The Threepenny Opera about a prostitute who has been bribed to turn her former lover MacHeath (aka Mack the Knife) in to the police. Jenny’s relationship with Mack is incredibly toxic and abusive. She struggles to find any control over her life. This song is her daydream, where she imagines herself as a secret pirate queen, able to kill all of those who belittle her.
You people can watch while I’m scrubbing these floors
And I’m scrubbin’ the floors while you’re gawking
Maybe once ya tip me and it makes ya feel swell
In this crummy Southern town
In this crummy old hotel
But you’ll never guess to who you’re talkin’.
No. You couldn’t ever guess to who you’re talkin’.
Then one night there’s a scream in the night
And you’ll wonder who could that have been
And you see me kinda grinnin’ while I’m scrubbin’
And you say, “What’s she got to grin?”
I’ll tell you.
There’s a ship
The Black Freighter
with a skull on its masthead
will be coming in
You toss me your tips
and look out to the ships
But I’m counting your heads
as I’m making the beds
Cuz there’s nobody gonna sleep here, honey
Nobody
Nobody!
RADIO POET!QUE: A Spoken Word Radio Review 