Lyrics to
Mr. Bojangles

This version of Mr. Bojangles was released by Nina Simone in 1971.

Our Decade Lyrics Nina Simone profile has all of the Mr. Bojangles lyrics from 1971 and many more songs from the Nina Simone discography that we have on file.

Here's more interesting things in songs and lyrics tied to Nina Simone or about the 1970s in general.

I knew a man Bojangles
And he danced for you
In worn out shoes
With silver hair, a ragged shirt
And baggy pants, the old soft shoe
He jumped so high, he jumped so high
Then he lightly touched down

I met him in a cell in New Orleans
I was down and out
He looked at me to be the eyes of age
As he spoke right out
He talked of life, he talked of life
He laughed, slapped his leg a step

He said his name, Bojangles
And he danced a lick across the cell
He grabbed his pants
in fettered stance
Oh, he jumped up high
Then he clicked his heels
He let go a laugh, he let go a laugh
Shook back his clothes all around

Mr. Bojangles, Mr. Bojangles
Mr. Bojangles, dance!

He danced for those
At minstrel shows and county fairs
Throughout the south
He spoke with tears of 15 years
How his dog and him traveled about
His dog up and died, he up and died
After 20 years he still grieves

He said I dance now
At every chance in honky tonks
For drink and tips
But most of the time
I spend behind these county bars
Cause I drinks a bit

He shook his head
And as he shook his head
I heard someone ask him
Please, please

Mr. Bojangles, Mr. Bojangles
Mr. Bojangles, dance!

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Want more lyrics and songs by Nina Simone?

Nina Simone has released many songs over the years besides Mr. Bojangles. Nina Simone released songs from 1958 to 1987 spanning across albums like Little Girl Blue, At Town Hall, The Amazing Nina Simone, At Newport, Forbidden Fruit, At The Village Gate, Nina Simone Sings Ellington, At Carnegie Hall, Broadway Blues Ballads, Folksy Nina, Nina Simone In Concert, Pastel Blues, I Put A Spell On You, Nina Simone With Strings, Wild Is The Wind, Let It All Out, Nina Simone Sings The Blues, High Priestess Of Soul, Silk And Soul, Nuff Said!, Nina Simone And Piano!, To Love Somebody, Black Gold, Here Comes The Sun, Emergency Ward, It Is Finished, Baltimore, Fodder On My Wings, Nina's Back, Let It Be Me, and Live At Ronnie Scott's. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by Nina Simone.

If you're a fan of 1970s music looking for more songs from 1971 or the 1970s overall, you've come to the right place!

About Lyrics and Mr. Bojangles by Nina Simone

The lyrics for Mr. Bojangles are defined as the words making up the song released by Nina Simone in 1971. It also includes the verses and words used by the background chorus in the song. Like many hit songs, the lyrics to Mr. Bojangles have different meanings to different people. While it is clear in some of the lyrics what the artist is trying to really say, only Nina Simone and those working with them know all of the meanings behind all of the lyrics to their songs.

Some folks are interested in word and phrase etymology. It is easy to understand the lyrics to Mr. Bojangles by Nina Simone if you think through it. The word "lyric" itself derives from the Latin word lyricus, with the actual English word lyrics applied to the definition "words set to music" listed in Stainer and Barrett's 1876 Dictionary of Musical Terms. Continuing the chain, the Latin word lyricus derives from the Greek word λυρικός or lyrikós. This somewhat means "poetry accompanied by the lyre" or "words set to music." You can easily see that by looking at the background of the word lyric, that the "lyrics to Mr. Bojangles" means the words set to the music of Mr. Bojangles, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by Nina Simone. The singular form "lyric" is still used to mean the complete words to a song. However, the singular form lyric is also commonly used to refer to a specific line (or phrase) within a song's lyrics. Hence, by this analysis of word structure, you could say that the lyric to Mr. Bojangles and the lyrics to Mr. Bojangles are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of Nina Simone who came here looking just for the lyrics to Mr. Bojangles, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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