Thursday 15 January 2009

The poor of the earth - Nina Simone

Her song "Aint got no...I've got life" celebrates the pride of the poor.

Ain't got no home, ain't got no shoes
Ain't got no money, ain't got no class
Ain't got no friends, ain't got no schoolin'
Ain't got no work, ain't got no job
Ain't got no money, no place to stay...

Ain't got no father, ain't got no mother
Ain't got no children, ain't got no sisters or brothers
Ain't got no earth, no faith, no touch, no God,
Ain't got no love...

Ain't got no wine, ain't got no cigarettes...
Ain't got no earth... no water... no food... no home,
Ain't got no clothes, no job, no nothin'...
And I ain't got no love...

And what have I got?
What have I got that nobody can take away?

I got my hair, on my head, my brains, and my ears
My eyes, my nose, and my mouth,
I got my smile

I got my tongue, my chin, my neck, my boobies
My heart, my soul and my back
I got my sex

I got my arms, my hands, my fingers,
My legs, my feet, my toes, and my liver
I got my blood.

I've got life...
I've got headaches and toothaches and bad times too like you...

I've got life -- I've got my freedom and my heart -- I've got life!
*****
For her variations on these lyrics see LyricsMode and Nina Simone Web. See also Nina Simone's life in Wikipedia.

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