This version of Pirate Jenny was released by Nina Simone in 1964.
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You people can watch while I’m scrubbing these floors
And I’m scrubbin’ the floors while you’re gawking
Maybe once ya tip me and it makes ya feel swell
In this crummy Southern town
In this crummy old hotel
But you’ll never guess to who you’re talkin’.
No. You couldn’t ever guess to who you’re talkin’.
Then one night there’s a scream in the night
And you’ll wonder who could that have been
And you see me kinda grinnin’ while I’m scrubbin’
And you say, “What’s 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
Cuz there’s nobody gonna sleep here,
Tonight, nobodys 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 ya see me kinda starin’ out the winda
And you say, “What’s she got to stare at now?”
I’ll tell ya.
There’s a ship
The Black Freighter
Turns around in the harbor
Shootin’ 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 frickin’ 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 noontime the dock
Is a-swarmin’ with men
Comin’ out from the ghostly freighter
They move in the shadows
Where no one can see
And they’re chainin’ up people
And they’re bringin’ em to me
Askin’ me,
“Kill them NOW, or LATER?”
Askin’ 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 that quiet of death
I’ll say, “Right now.
Right now!”
Then they 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
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More Songs & Lyrics by Nina Simone
- Don’t Smoke In Bed (1958)
- For All We Know (1958)
- He Needs Me (1958)
- He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands (1958)
- I Loves You, Porgy (1958)
- Little Girl Blue (1958)
- Love Me Or Leave Me (1958)
- Mood Indigo (1958)
- My Baby Just Cares For Me (1958)
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- Plain Gold Ring (1958)
- Black Is The Color Of My True Love’s Hair (1959)
- Blue Prelude (1959)
- Can’t Get Out Of This Mood (1959)
- Children Go Where I Send You (1959)
- Chilly Winds Don’t Blow (1959)
- Cotton Eyed Joe (1959)
- Exactly Like You (1959)
- Fine And Mellow (1959)
- It Might As Well Be Spring (1959)
- Solitaire (1959)
- Stompin’ At The Savoy (1959)
- Summertime (1959)
- That’s Him Over There (1959)
- The Other Woman (1959)
- Theme From “Middle Of The Night” (1959)
- Tomorrow (We Will Meet Once More) (1959)
- Wild Is The Wind (1959)
- Willow Weep For Me (1959)
- You Can Have Him (1959)
- You’ve Been Gone Too Long (1959)
- In The Evening By The Moonlight (1960)
- Little Liza Jane (1960)
- Porgy (1960)
- Trouble In The Mind (1960)
- You’d Be So Nice To Come Home To (1960)
- Forbidden Fruit (1961)
- Gin House Blues (1961)
- I Love To Love (1961)
- I’ll Look Around (1961)
- Just Say I Love Him (1961)
- Memphis In June (1961)
- No Good Man (1961)
- Rags And Old Iron (1961)
- Where Can I Go Without You (1961)
- Work Song (1961)
- Brown Baby (1962)
- Bye Bye Blackbird (1962)
- Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me (1962)
- He Was Too Good To Me (1962)
- Hey, Buddy Bolden (1962)
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