Nina Simone - Pirate Jenny

Nina Simone performing 'Pirate Jenny' from "The Threepenny Opera" (libretto by Bertolt Brecht and music by Kurt Weill). I think this has been, continues to be and will be the most dramatic and intense performance of this piece. There are some arguments (even in youtube) about the quality of other performances/ers, but I think Nina really took ownership of it the minute she sang the first verse!

On a random note about Nina and this song, I was recently reading an article on imaginaries of Europe that focuses on European identity and there is a very interesting reference to this song when talking about women migrants and the phenomenon of global care chains... "Popular culture also offers us glimpses into this world as Nina Simone's rendition of the Brecht/Weil classic 'Pirate Jenny' (1964) chillingly conveys as she shows just what is at stake when the domestic workers' capacity to see is denied, what she sees is disavowed and her claims for social justice and citizenship delegitimized". A very interesting reading. Full reference for the article: Lewis, G. (2006) Imaginaries of Europe: Technologies of Gender, Economies of Power, European Journal of Women's Studies, 13(2): 87-102.

Anyway, off to the lyrics...

You people can watch while I'm scrubbing these floors
And I'm scrubbing the floors while you're gawking
Maybe once you tip me and it makes you feel swell
In this crummy southern town
In this crummy old hotel
But you'll never guess to who you're talking
No, You couldn't ever guess to who you're talking

Then one night, there's a scream in the night
And you wonder who could that have been
And you see me kinda grinning while I'm scrubbing
And you say, what 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 gentlemen can say, hey gal, finish them floors!
Get upstairs! what's wrong with you? earn your keep here!
You toss me your tips and look out to the ships
But I'm counting your heads as I'm making the beds
'Cause There's nobody gonna sleep here
Tonight, nobody's gonna sleep here, honey
Nobody
Nobody!

Then one night, there's a scream in the night
And you say, who's that kicking up a row?
And you see me kinda staring out the window
And you say, what she got to stare at now?
I'll tell you...

There's a ship, the black freighter
Turns around in the harbor shoot'n' guns from her bow

Now, you gentlemen can wipe off that smile off your face
'Cause every building in town is a flat one
This whole freaking place will be down to the ground
Only this cheap hotel standing up safe and sound
And you yell, why do they spare that one?
Yes, that's what you say.
Why do they spare that one?

All the night through, through the noise and to-do
You wonder who is that person that lives up there?
And you see me stepping out in the morning
Looking nice with a ribbon in my hair

And the ship, the black freighter
Runs a flag up its masthead and a cheer rings the air

By noon time the dock is swarming with men
Coming out from the ghostly freighter
They move in the shadows, where no one can see
And they're chaining up people, and they're bringin' 'em to me
Asking me, kill them now or later?
Asking me, kill them now or later?
Noon by the clock
And so still at the dock
You can hear a foghorn miles away
And in the quiet of death
I'll say, right now, right now!

And they'll pile up the bodies
And I'll say that'll learn ya!

And the ship, the black freighter
Disappears out to sea
And on it is me

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Nina Simone
• pirate Jenny
• the threepenny opera
• Bertolt Brecht
• Kurt Weill

[rofufoja]

Everytime I hear this song it just gets me. Shivering stuff

[brodsky96]

Brecht... WAKE UP!....This is really Jenny!!!!!

[Arsalias]

That'll learn ya

[Arsalias]

everyone neglects to mention the two voices at once. It's the most beautifully scary thing I have ever heard

[Arsalias]

it just doesn't get any better. Incredible performance



[MissAnimeLover1]

Thank you, "Watchmen", for bringing me here.....

[MsSuggestions]

Wow wicked song.

[ThunderLizardsRule]

@rofufoja I know what you mean. O_o

[redwallace]

Nina also gives a political sense to it. As a Black woman working and a southern hotel exacting her revenge on racist society. Notice how she says a "southern" hotel and the sax at the end and the use of the word "gal".

[redwallace]

The best version of this song. Hands down Jazz musicians love Brecht!

[DuckmanProductions1]

I have listend to recorded, live and actually live versions of this song and Nina pulls it off perfectly. The best lyrics and the best singing, she gets the feeling of the song and makes the atmosphere actually errie and creapy, exactly what this song should be. Nina, you are a genious, well done!!!!!

[AiyanaJonesJustice]

One of favorite songs of all time.