MISSISSIPPI GODDAM
By Nina Simone from the album Nina
Simone in Concert, 1964
Recorded in New York City, live at Carnegie Hall
The name of this tune is Mississippi Goddam and I mean every word of it!
Alabama's[1] gotten me so upset
Tennessee made me lose my rest
And everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam
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…
This is a show tune but the show hasn't been written for it, yet!
Hound dogs[2] on my trail[3], school children sitting in jail
Black cat cross my path, I think every day's gonna[4] be my last
Lord have mercy on this land of mine, we all gonna get it in due time[5]
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[6]
I've been there so I know: they keep on saying "go slow!"
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 [7]rotten: do it slow
You're too damn lazy: do it slow
The 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 Goddam!
I made you thought [8]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[9] stop calling me “Sister Sadie[10]”
Oh but this whole country is full of lies, you're all gonna die and die like flies
I don't trust you anymore, you keep on saying "go slow, go slow!"
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 Goddam!
Alabama's[1] gotten me so upset
Tennessee made me lose my rest
And everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam
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…
This is a show tune but the show hasn't been written for it, yet!
Hound dogs[2] on my trail[3], school children sitting in jail
Black cat cross my path, I think every day's gonna[4] be my last
Lord have mercy on this land of mine, we all gonna get it in due time[5]
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[6]
I've been there so I know: they keep on saying "go slow!"
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 [7]rotten: do it slow
You're too damn lazy: do it slow
The 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 Goddam!
I made you thought [8]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[9] stop calling me “Sister Sadie[10]”
Oh but this whole country is full of lies, you're all gonna die and die like flies
I don't trust you anymore, you keep on saying "go slow, go slow!"
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 Goddam!
That's it!
___________________________________________________
PERGUNTAS SOBRE O TEXTO
1. Na frase “The name of this tune
is Mississippi Goddam and I mean every word of it!”, o pronome objeto it se
refere à qual palavra?
2. No
trecho “somebody say a prayer”, Nina Simone pede para que alguém faça algo. O
quê? Como você sabe que isso é um pedido?
3. Ao
dizer que “This is a show tune but the show
hasn't been written for it, yet!”, pode-se entender que a cantora se refere
a alguma coisa que ainda não está feita. O quê?
4. Qual
seria a conjugação correta do verbo “cross” no trecho “Black cat cross my path”?
5. O que a compositora quis dizer no trecho “Just try to do your very best, stand up, be counted with all the rest”?
6. Retire
do texto o trecho que indica o objetivo desta canção.
[1] Abreviação de “Alabama has“
[2] Cães de caça
[3] Na minha cola, me perseguindo
[4] Abreviação de “every day is
going to…” = todo dia vai…
[5] Tempo devido
[6] No limite
[7] Tradução
literal: plano, mas neste caso, pode ser traduzido como ”completamente“
[8] Passado do verbo “think“
[9]
Forma contraída de “you would” = condicional
[10] Alguma
referência que não conheço, provavelmente inspirada na canção homônima de
Horace Silver Quintet
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