Nina Simone schreef Mississippi Goddamn naar aanleiding van de racistisch gemotiveerde moorden op Emmett Till and Medgar Evers in Mississippi, en de bomaanslag door de Ku Klux Klan op de 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, waarbij vier zwarte kinderen om het leven kwamen. De song kreeg – weinig verrassend – in diverse zuidelijke staten te maken met de banhamer, officieel vanwege het gebruik van het woord “goddamn”, in werkelijkheid natuurlijk omdat Simone zich weinig vleiend uitlaat over een aantal van die staten. Het herhaalde “do it slow” verwijst naar de centristen die – tot grote ergernis van Simone – de burgerrechtenbeweging opriepen vooral niet te overdrijven en het rustig aan te doen. Je kent het wel.
(Spoken Introduction:)
The name of this tune is Mississippi Goddamn,
And I mean every word of it.
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.
Alabama’s gotten me so upset,
Tennessee made me lose my rest,
And everybody knows about Mississippi, Goddamn.
This song was originally posted on protestsonglyrics.net
(Spoken:)
This is a show tune,
But the show hasn’t been written for it, yet.
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 tell you.
Me and my people just about due,
I’ve been there so I know,
They keep on saying “Go slow!”
This song was originally posted on protestsonglyrics.net
But that’s just the trouble,
“do it slow”;
Washing the windows,
“do it slow”;
Picking the cotton,
“do it slow”;
You’re just plain rotten,
“do it slow”;
You’re too damn lazy,
“do it slow”;
You’re thinking’s crazy,
“do it 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.
This song was originally posted on protestsonglyrics.net
(Spoken:)
I made you thought I was kiddin’.
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!”
This song was originally posted on protestsonglyrics.net
But that’s just the trouble,
“do it slow”;
Desegregation,
“do it slow”;
Mass participation,
“do it slow”;
Reunification,
“do it slow”,
Do things gradually,
“do it slow”;
But bring more tragedy,
“do it slow”;
Why don’t you see it?
Why don’t you feel it?
I don’t know.
I don’t know.
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:)
That’s it!
Uitgelichte afbeelding: By O'Halloran, Thomas J., photographer – This image is available from the United States Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs divisionunder the digital ID ppmsca.04298.This tag does not indicate the copyright status of the attached work. A normal copyright tag is still required. See Commons:Licensing for more information., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3265629
