Nina Simone

For a long time I have been into Cirque du Soleil which, if you don't know, is a Canadian circus that is just the coolest thing ever (www.cirquedusoleil.com). I have a DVD of one of their shows, Varekai, and there is a comedy part where one of the clowns "sings" a song:


I always really liked this part of the show because I thought it was funny, but also I thought the song was really beautiful. I just started studying French, and the other day while doing my homework this song got stuck in my head - which was kind of out of the blue because I haven't watched Varekai in a really long time. I then got on a mission to find this song so I could listen to it on repeat for forever.

After much internetting, I found out that the singer of this particular version of Ne me quitte pas (a well-known French song) was Nina Simone, an American singer and activist who knew success through the 50s and 60s, later becoming active in the Civil Rights movement.

So, I bought an "Essentials" album by Nina Simone to check it out more. Then, upon listening to it, I heard one of my favorite Feist songs: "Sea Lion Woman". Nina's is called "See-Line Woman", and was obviously recorded way before Feist and is completely bad-ass:


See Line Woman, Sea Lion Woman, See [the] Lyin' Woman... what a cool song.

Sea Lion Woman / Sea Lion
She drank coffee / Sea Lion
She drank tea / Sea Lion
And he gamble lie / Sea Lion

Way down yonder / Sea Lion
I'm going maul / Sea Lion
And the rooster crow / Sea Lion
and he got no lie / Sea Lion

Sea lion woman / Sea Lion
she drank coffee / Sea Lion
She drank tea / Sea Lion
And she gamble lie / Sea Lion

Sea lion woman / Sea Lion
she drank coffee / Sea Lion
She drank tea / Sea Lion
And a gamble lie / Sea Lion

Nina Simone... what a woman, what an inspiration. Nontraditional and unapologetic.