Music is an art and art has its own rules.
NINA SIMONEMusic is an art and art has its own rules.
NINA SIMONESince I was three I’ve been playing the piano. I’ve been onstage.
NINA SIMONEBirds flying high you know how I feel Sun in the sky you know how I feel Breeze driftin’ on by you know how I feel And this old world is a new world And a bold world For me And I’m feeling good I’m feeling good.
NINA SIMONEI had heard blues and jazz all my life but I was never aware that it was associated with nightclubs and drinking.
NINA SIMONEDesegregation is a joke.
NINA SIMONEWhen a child is gifted, people try to help that child.
NINA SIMONEIt is difficult to retain your standards with the pressure of trying to make money, which always has its rules. It’s hard to walk the tightrope of doing what you think is your best and making money at it.
NINA SIMONEHow can you be an artist and not reflect the times?
NINA SIMONEJazz is not just music, it’s a way of life, it’s a way of being, a way of thinking.
NINA SIMONEI made wine from the lilac tree/Put my heart in its recipe/It makes me see what I want to see/And be what I want to be.
NINA SIMONEI think if I were over there in America, protest music would be more important. But I’m not going.
NINA SIMONETo be young, gifted and black!
NINA SIMONEYou can’t help it. An artist’s duty, as far as I’m concerned, is to reflect the times.
NINA SIMONEI think the rich are too rich and the poor are too poor. I don’t think the black people are going to rise at all; I think most of them are going to die.
NINA SIMONEThe worst thing about that kind of prejudice is that while you feel hurt and angry and all the rest of it, it feeds you self-doubt. You start thinking, perhaps I am not good enough.
NINA SIMONEThe allusion was that I was actually naked. I loved that. It always, kind of shocked people enough that they became mine immediately.
NINA SIMONE