Original subtitles

CHEERING

Tremendous pleasure and honour to welcome

for the tenth anniversary of the Montreux International Jazz Festival

the incredible, unique and fantastic, one-and-only Nina Simone!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

CHEERING

APPLAUSE

APPLAUSE PETERS OUT

Whoo!

INTERMITTENT APPLAUSE

APPLAUSE PETERS OUT

FAINT HUBUB

FAINT MUSIC

I hear some other music.

One, two, three... It's not on.

FAINT LAUGHTER

You on, yeah?

FAINT MUSIC CONTINUES

Do you hear all those noises?

OK, that's better. Hello.

AUDIENCE MEMBER: Hi!

Hey!

LAUGHTER

INTERMITTENT APPLAUSE

NINA LAUGHS

One, two, three.

I haven't seen you for many years. Since 1968.

I have decided that I will do no more jazz festivals.

That decision has not changed.

I will sing for you, or we will do and share with you

a few moments,

after which I shall graduate to a higher class, I hope,

and I hope you will come with me.

We will start from the beginning...

..which was about a little girl...

..and her name was Blue.

MUSIC: Little Girl Blue

# Sit there

# Count your fingers

# What can you do?

# You knew

# Sit there and count your little toes and fingers

# Liberated little girl Blue

# Sit there

# Count the raindrops

# Falling on you

# It's time you knew

# All you can count on is yourself

# Little girl

# Liberated little girl Blue

# Sit down and count the snowdrops

# Falling on you

# Little girl, you knew

# All you can count on is yourself

# Little girl

# Little lady

# Miss Sadie

# Little lady

# Miss Sadie

# No longer little girl Blue

# Ain't no use to try to tell them

# They would not understand if you tried to tell them

# Why don't somebody send

# Moja

# Send moja

It's east African.

# Moja

# To cheer you up

# Somebody send

# Moja

# To cheer up

# Little girl

# Little

# Girl

# Blue. #

APPLAUSE

# A tender blue boy

# To cheer up little girl Blue

# And dance on near

# In the United States

# In Switzerland

# To cheer up little girl Blue. #

APPLAUSE

Can I... Can I please get this straight once and for all?

OK?

I would... I would like it just perfect.

But... Yes.

MICROPHONE SQUEAKS

LAUGHTER

Hey, you didn't forget me, eh?

That's what's so wild. You didn't forget me.

I didn't expect you to.

LAUGHTER

I disappeared... Oh, for God's sake.

LAUGHTER

I have witnesses all over the place.

NINA LAUGHS

Hey, you've got to do it again, man.

Everything is talking.

LAUGHTER

But true.

OK, I won't touch it, but, I mean, it's got its own life, you know.

LAUGHTER

I mean, I know...

APPLAUSE

Hey, I went... I went home, you see.

All those songs you heard all those years,

I meant them from the deepest part of my heart.

And of course I talk a lot and I couldn't give a damn, you know.

I went home. I went to Liberia and I lived for two years.

I've been with you only five days and, erm...

MAN CHUCKLES

LAUGHTER

And I went...

RAUCOUS LAUGHTER

APPLAUSE

NINA LAUGHS

And I just got looser, you see.

I swear.

I went home and I found out all the things that had been bothering me.

And I confirmed an awful lot of them.

And I found out some other things.

And I'm not going to tell you any of them.

But, erm...

Where am I anyway?

We were getting this straight and I got a witness through it, right.

Oh, the media, you see, is real.

It lives.

And I think we'll get to Backlash Blues and, erm...

APPLAUSE

Langston Hughes, a tribute, huh?

APPLAUSE

# Oh

# Mr Backlash, Mr Backlash

# Who do you think I am?

# You raise my taxes, freeze my wages

# And send my only son, son to Vietnam

# We see what happened there

# You give me second-class houses

# And second-class schools

# You know, all coloured people in this country

# Got to be second-class fools

# And it's true now

# That's the truth now

# It's true now

# Hey, but I've got something on you

# I know how to leave you with the blues

# Ha!

# Hey, hey

# When I try to find a job

# To get a little cash

# All you're going to hand me

# Is your two cent backlash

# But the world's big

# Big and bright and round and black and round

# Full of other folks like me who are black, beige and brown

# A backlash and Kissinger

# I'm going to leave you and you already got 'em

APPLAUSE

# The blues

Give the drummer some.

APPLAUSE

Like Odetta said last night,

if you don't get loose now, you better forget it.

LAUGHTER

Cos you ain't got much time.

None of us do.

I think the Rolling Stones said we've got five years.

# When my daughter tries to find a little job to earn a little cash

# All you've got to offer her

# Is your stupid, same, stupid, old mean backlash

# But the world is big, I saw it

# Big and bright and round

# And it's full of other folks like me

# Who are Japanese, black and beige and brown

# Oh, Mr Backlash

# You are not the only one

# That's what you've been thinking, that I'm going to leave you

# I'm going to leave you

# I'm going to leave you with the blues

# Ooooh, yeah

# Get it, get it, get it, get it, get it, get it, get it, baby, yeah

# Mm-hm-hmm

# Mm-hm-hmm

# Hmm-hmm

# Hmm-hmm

# Mmm-hmm-hmm

# Mmm-hmm

# Yeah

Do another one. Mm-hm.

DIFFERENT DRUMBEAT

It's all right, it's all right.

AUDIENCE CLAP ALONG

# Mr Backlash, Mr Backlash

# I'm going to tell you now

# Langston Hughes died

# He told me many months before

# He said, "Nina, I know it's been hard for you, baby

# "I know how hard it's been for you

# "They never wanted to accept you"

# Black

# You see that brother down there looking up at the ceiling?

# And white

# They're easier

# The blacks never, never...

# I'm going to tell you the truth tonight

# He said, "Nina...

# "Keep on working

# "Till they open up the door

# "You know who you are

# "And you know

# "You've either been here or you've never been here before

# "Don't make no difference

# "And when they open up the door

# "Make sure you tell them where it's at

# "So they'll have no other place to hide behind all them strange hats"

# So I'm going to leave you with the blues. #

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

RHYTHMIC CLAPPING

RHYTHMIC CLAPPING CONTINUES

# Be my husband and I be your wife

# Be my husband and I be your wife

# Be my husband and I be your wife

# Love and honour you the rest of your life

# If you promise me you'll be my man

# If you promise me you'll be my man

# If you promise me you'll be my man

# I'm gonna love you the best I can... #

Take your time, man.

# Stick to the promise that you made me

# Stick to the promise that... # You remember this one?

Yeah?

You know, I made 35 albums. They bootlegged 70.

Oh, everybody took a chunk of me.

And yesterday I went to see Janis Joplin's film here.

And what distressed me the most... And I started to write

a song about it, but I decided you weren't worthy,

because I figured that most of you were here for the festival

and you just really...

Anyway, the point is it pained me

to see how hard she worked....

..because she got hooked into a thing, and it wasn't on drugs.

She got hooked into a feeling...

..and she played to corpses.

SHE TUTS

You know what I mean?

SHE CHUCKLES

SHE LAUGHS

But true!

# If you promise me you'll be my man

# If you promise me you'll be my man

# If you promise me you'll be my man

# I'm gonna love you the best I can

# Stick to the promise that you made me

# That you'll stay away from Rosalie

# Oh, baby

# Yeah, moja

# Oh, moja

# Where are you, baby?

# Ah, don't leave me

# Ah, baby

# Oh, baby

# I said stick to the promise that you made me, now

# Stick to the promise that you made me, now

# Stick to the promise that you made me

# That you'd stay away from Rosalie

# Oh, daddy

# Oh, baby

# Oh, daddy

# Oh, baby

# Oh, daddy

# Oh, baby

# Mm, daddy

# Oh, baby

# Shhh. #

APPLAUSE

MUSIC: I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free

# Wish

# I knew how

# It would feel to be free

# I wish I could break

# All the chains still binding me, yeah

# Wish I could say

# All the things that I can say when I'm relaxed

# I'd be starting anew

# I wish

# I could be like a bird in the sky

# Don't leave me

# How sweet it would be

# To find that I could fly

# I'd soar to the sun

# And look down at the sea

# Then I'd sing

# Cos I'd know

# How it feels to be free

# And then I'd sing

# Cos I'd know

# How it feels to be free

# I wish I could share

# All the love that's in my heart

# Wish I could break

# All things that bind us apart

# Wish you could know

# What it means to be me

# Then you'd see

# You'd agree

# Everybody should be free

# Cos if we ain't, we're murderous

# Wish

# I could be like a bird in the sky

# How sweet it would be

# If I could find that I could fly

# I'd soar to the sun

# Look down at the sea

# And then I'd know

# Yes, I'd know... #

Oh, yeah, spirit's moving now.

SHE HUMS THE MELODY

# I'd know

# Got news for you

# I already know

# Jonathan Livingston Seagull

# Ain't got nothing on me

# Free

# I'm free

# And I know it

# Don't want to be a...

# And I show it

# But I'm still free

# I believe in me

# It's all right

# Then I'd sing

# Sing

# Sing

# Cos I would know

# I already know

# I already know

# I found out

# How it feels

# Not to be chained

# To anything

# To any race

# To any faith

# To anybody

# To any creed

# To any hopes

# To any...

# Anything

# I know how it feels

# To be free. #

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

RHYTHMIC CLAPPING

CHEERING

Nina Simone!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

I'm quite aware that I've left you hanging.

And I really didn't want to do that.

Really didn't. I never do.

But I'm tired.

You don't know what I mean.

So I think I will sing...

Well, before we sing the last thing for you...

..and hope that you will see me, see this spirit in another sphere,

on another plane pretty soon now,

let me thank the Montreux Jazz Festival.

I do speak French, you know.

I am not like all those black musicians who come over here

and get locked into their own thing and never speak one word.

APPLAUSE

I swear.

You know, they really do that.

They come over here for ten, 15 years

and they don't speak one word.

I love your language.

It is very lyrical, it is very beautiful,

and I try very hard to learn.

APPLAUSE

At least I can get around by myself. As a matter of fact,

I am very good at it. And my daughter goes to your school

in...

After I took her out of Africa,

she goes to La Chataigneraie.

And she will be a linguist, and I hope by then there'll be jobs.

And again, I don't want to let you down. And I get this feeling,

so I think the only way to tell you who I am these days

is to sing a song by Janis Ian.

APPLAUSE

Erm, my thanks to Claude Nobs

and...the Laser Beam - he knows who he is...

..to you and your terrible, wonderful peacefulness.

HESITANT APPLAUSE

It permeates everything that is here.

It attracts me and holds me,

and I hope that I'm permitted to stay amongst you for a little while.

All of the fairy tales and things that I heard

when I was small are real and true, I know,

when I come to Switzerland.

Aha!

LAUGHTER

Yes. I know your little secrets now.

And I insist upon being...

..not one of your...

..clowns, but one of you.

And I shall stay with you, if I'm permitted to, for a little while.

That's up to you, of course.

APPLAUSE

And there are many people in show business who said,

"Oh, you know, she used to be a star -

"she's gone all the way to the bottom,"

and all kinds of crap which means nothing to me. But, er...

David Bowie, are you here, man?

LAUGHTER

Is he here?

Dave, are you here?

Is he here? I'm serious.

AUDIENCE MEMBER: Yes. David is here? Where is he?

Where is he?

Nina, the girls are all here!

I didn't say anything about no damned girls. I said David Bowie.

Ziggy Star, man!

Yeah!

Is David Bowie here?

SHOUTS FROM AUDIENCE

MURMURING IN AUDIENCE

David Bowie is my dear friend, and he lives with you,

and I wanted to know if he was here!

That's all.

He's not here, obviously. He's still driving from some damn place...

..cos if David was here, he would... he would tell me he was here.

And what you talking about ain't got nothing to do with nothing

except show business, and I'm not about show business.

Now! OK. We leave you with this, and, erm...

..it's sad, but that's what you expected, anyway.

Isn't my necklace beautiful?

LAUGHTER

Well, isn't it? APPLAUSE

It is from Greece, and Claude gave it to me.

It is antique and over 200 years old and is meant for a queen,

and I am a queen.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

I know you are jolted,

because suddenly it occurs to you that it might be true!

# Stars, they come and go

# They come fast, they come slow

# They go like the last light of the sun, all in a blaze

# They go... #

Sit down.

Sit down!

A LITTLE LAUGHTER

Sit down.

LAUGHTER

APPLAUSE

# Stars, they come and go

# They come fast, they come slow

# They go like the last light of the sun, all in a blaze

# All you see is glory

# But it gets lonely there

# When there's no-one there to share

# You can shake it away

# And you hear stories

# People lust for fame

# Like athletes in a game

# Oh, they break their collarbones

# And come up swinging

# Some of them are crowned

# Some of them are downed

# Some are lost and never found

# But most have seen it all

# They live their lives in sad cafes and music halls

# And they always have a story

# Some make it when they're young

# Before the world is done as a dirty job

# And later on, someone will say, "You've had your day

# "Now you must make way"

# Don't they always?

# But you never know the pain

# Of using a name you never owned

# The years of forgetting

# What you know too well

# But you, who gave the crown

# Have been let down

# You try to make amends

# Without defending

# Perhaps...

# ..pretending

# You never saw the eyes

# Of young men at 25

# Who followed as you walked

# Asked for autographs

# Kissed you on the cheek

# You never could believe they really loved you

# Never

# Some make it when they're old

# Perhaps they have a soul

# They aren't afraid to bear

# Perhaps there's nothing there

# But anyway that isn't what I meant to say

# I meant to tell about a story

# Since we all have stories

# But I can't remember it anyway

# So I'll tell about the mood

# That's in the United States today

# And permeating even Switzerland

# It goes... #

SHE SIGHS

# But I'll continue anyway until I get it together

# Some women have a body men will want to see

# And so they put it on display

# Some people play a fine guitar

# I could listen to them play all day

# But anyway

# I'm trying to tell my story

# Janis Ian told it very well

# Janis Joplin told it even better

# Billie Holiday even told it even better

# We always

# We always

# We always have a story

# The latest story that I know

# Is the one that I'm supposed to go out with

# And the latest story that I know

# Is the one that I'm supposed to go out with

# And the latest story that I know

# Is the one that I'm supposed to go out with

# And the latest story that I know

# Is the one that I'm supposed to go out with. #

# Feelings

# Nothing more than feelings

# Feelings

# Nothing more than feelings

# Feelings of love... #

You know that? APPLAUSE

OK. As the robot gets herself together...

ROBOTIC VOICE: ..and we do it and we get to the mi-ddle,

where we have for-gotten our fee-lings of love,

you will help me, huh?

SHE CLEARS HER THROAT

# Teardrops

# Falling down on my face

# Trying to forget all my

# Feelings of love... #

Goddamn.

And you know what? What a shame to have to write a song like that.

Hm!

# Feelings... # I'm not making fun of the man.

I do not believe the conditions that produced a situation

that demanded a song like that!

A LITTLE LAUGHTER

ONE PERSON APPLAUDS

Well, come on, clap! Damn it! What's wrong with you?

APPLAUSE

# For all my life I feel it

# I wish I'd never seen it

# It can't possibly come again

# Feelings

# Come on

# Whoa, oh, oh, oh, feelings

# Whoa, oh, oh, feelings

# Again in my heart

# OK

# Feelings

# Feelings that I never met you

# Feelings that I never even saw you

# Again in my heart

# Trying to forget my

# Feelings of love

# Feelings

# I swear all my life I've feelings

# Oh, Lord!

# I wish I'd never lived this long

# I hope this feeling never comes again

# Feelings

# Feelings like I never lost you

# And feelings like I never really had you

# Here in my arms... #

Come on. Let's hit the climax.

# Feelings... #

You know this song. Come on!

# Oh, oh, oh, oh, feelings

# Whoa, oh, oh, oh-oh, feelings

# Again in my arms... #

Moja.

# Feelings

# Oh, Lord, feelings... #

So I'm not going to let you go so soon

and so embarrassingly soft.

So let's, please...

..do the chorus.

# Feelings

AUDIENCE JOINS IN SOFTLY # Oh, oh, oh...

# ..feelings

SOFTLY: # Whoa, oh, oh, feelings

# Again in my arms

WHISPERS: Come on.

AUDIENCE, QUIETLY: # Feelings

# Oh, oh, oh

# Feelings... #

Feed me, feed me, feed me!

# Oh, oh, oh, feelings

# Again... ..in my arms... #

No.

# Here in my heart

# You'll always stay

# Here in my heart

# No matter what the words may say

# You will stay here in my heart

# No matter what the day

# You will stay here in my heart

# No matter what they say

# No matter what they compose or do

# No matter what the drugs may do

# Or songs may do

# What people may do

# Or machines will do

# To you

# I will always have my feelings

# Nothing can be started

# Cos I know that that is all

# That that is it, the base...

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

# For...

# ..you. #

Good night!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Nina Simone!

Nina Simone!

RHYTHMIC CLAPPING

Once again for Nina Simone! Nina Simone!

CHEERING

RHYTHMIC CLAPPING

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE CONTINUE

RHYTHMIC CLAPPING

I hear... Well...

I swear...

We... We were going to do...

Hey, how many of you have been to Africa?

Come on, come on, come on.

How many of you have been to Africa? Come on!

A FEW SHOUTS FROM AUDIENCE Yeah. How many of you

stayed for more than five days? MAN IN AUDIENCE: Yeah!

OK.

Well, wait a minute. What?! How many?

Did you like it? Yeah! Yeah!

Where did you go?

Uh-huh.

Did it blow your mind?

I know it! Ain't no way not to.

Both ways, right? SHE LAUGHS

Listen, um...

..everybody should go to Africa,

not for the reasons that I told you before...

Um... I used to sing on... Oh, God, I talk so much.

But you said you liked me, eh? APPLAUSE

And I'm not going to see you no more...

..for a while. I would like to do...

I really, really wanted to do an African dance for you tonight.

I've lived there, you know. CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

I cannot.

Yeah, I cannot.

I'm aching! You got no idea.

I have been fighting with Claude

and everybody for two days to get this done, because I needed...

Well, anyway, I can share with you. I needed a white mask.

You know, you women, the things we put on our faces? Or beauty queens?

In Africa, they use these masks for days,

and they are white or beige, and they put them...

And their breasts are bare, and they put these masks on,

then we only wear beads here.

AUDIENCE LAUGH, SOMEONE WOLF WHISTLES

SHE LAUGHS And there's dancing

that is going on for many hours.

And I wanted to share some of that,

mostly for myself,

because I needed a catharsis

and fulfilment of some sort

because my old man is in Liberia, you understand?

AUDIENCE LAUGH

SHE LAUGHS

Now you got me in a strange position, because I'm back up here

and I'm half high, and I'm not sure exactly where I'm at.

And where's my guy from Senegal? Where are you?

Where is he? Where are you?! I told you that if the moment came,

to please come up and get your drums.

You remember? I told him that.

He's not even here. Here.

Well, good God, get your...!

AUDIENCE LAUGH

Where are you, man? Come on!

All I want to do is share with you, if I can,

a little bit of a feeling, if we can get it going.

If we can't get it going, forgive us.

First of all, my left hand gets past the point of endurance.

And I'm a pianist, I'm not a singer. I never was.

That's an accident.

And I love you for it, I love you for appreciation of it.

How strange to be a pianist. Come on, baby, you too kinda slow now.

APPLAUSE

But if I can get a little loose and the police does not arrest me...

..I'll show you a little bit, if you will just be like the way you were.

I love you people.

You are really peaceful. A LITTLE APPLAUSE

You truly are! You don't even have to try.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's right. APPLAUSE

Keep it going!

Now... No... SHE LAUGHS

MAN IN AUDIENCE: Do it! Shut up!

LAUGHTER

I don't know. I met my drummer yesterday,

and I met this lovely man from Senegal yesterday,

and you all know him.

And things haven't gelled too well,

because what you did was you brought him in, you siphoned off his energy!

Don't tell me you don't know what I'm talking about,

cos you do.

I know you do.

And if you're going to siphon off his energy, give him something back.

Eh?

Clap for that, please.

APPLAUSE

Hm.

Cos when we practised, he didn't know where I was coming from!

And I said, "Hey, baby, how long you been away from home?"

SHE LAUGHS

Oh, yeah, I'm going to do it tonight.

They cut me back. That's it! Forget about it!

Forget about the rest of the performance, I don't care. No. What?

I have nothing to prove to anybody.

And I have nothing to share with anybody except you.

What? What did you say?

Uh-huh.

Cos I'm stone ready for you, baby.

I swear! SHE LAUGHS

APPLAUSE

You would not believe it! We will just try and do...

I don't even know what we're going to try and do,

because it's getting kinda weird in here right now.

Let's do, um... Let's just give them

some rhythm of what it feels like to be in the bush.

LAUGHTER

And maybe it will work, maybe it will not. At least after that...

..um, you will know where I'm trying to come from

and where my soul has gone.

And thank God it has gone there.

It is clean. It was always clean, but I did not know...

..things that I should have known about the business and...

..the reports and hell and...

..the drugs and all that stuff.

I don't like that.

MUSIC: African Mailman

Yeah!

All right!

Let's go!

DRUMS DROWN HER OUT

Whoa!

APPLAUSE

Let's go!

LAUGHTER

APPLAUSE

APPLAUSE

Yeah!

AUDIENCE CLAPS ALONG

Let go!

Let go, yeah!

APPLAUSE

A tout a l'heure!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

And again for Nina Simone! Nina Simone!