What Happened, Miss Simone? Page #8

but she's alone.

My personal life is a shambles.

I've had a few love affairs

and I would love to be married,

but everything has had

to be sacrificed for the music.

We had to do, first in Holland,

eight concerts,

and the word spread

that Nina's doing the job well.

Then she was on the road again

and it was... poof.

The business was going.

She came onstage

and you had this overwhelming,

emotional feeling

coming from the audience

just because she was there.

Now listen to me.

I love you very much.

I think you know that

and I know that you love me.

I know that.

And we never knew too well

what was going to happen

and how the mood would be.

So this place is very hot

and it's very crowded

and it's very ugly.

But she opened

her heart and soul

at that moment.

That's this special kind of connection

she had with an audience.

This song is popular

all over France.

It's from our first album...

the very first album

we made in this world,

which is at least 25 years old.

I only wish I was as wise...

could have been as wise then

as I have become now.

I have suffered.

But there's a Bsendorfer here,

so we'll see what happens.

"My Baby Just Cares For Me."

She was helped by

"My Baby Just Cares For Me,"

that song that became a hit

because of the Chanel advertisement.

And when "My Baby

Just Cares For Me" came along, I said,

"I have to take this opportunity now

to go all over the world

because this is my last chance."

And so I worked very hard

to take advantage of my second coming

because it was my last time

as far as I was concerned.

And she was happiest doing music.

I think that was her salvation.

That's the one thing that

she didn't have to think about.

When she sat at the piano,

her fingers could fly.

She was an anomaly.

She was a genius.

She was brilliant,

and that brilliance shone through

no matter what she was going through.

Even into her old age,

she was brilliant.

She was genius.

She could do whatever she liked.

And when she didn't

have her medicine,

she, musically,

could get even further out.

In one of those little concerts,

and it's recorded,

she starts playing one song

and she sings another.

And this recording,

I made Miles Davis...

while we were on tour, we were

on the same jazz tour as Miles Davis,

and I made him listen to it,

and he said, "Gerrit...

let me listen to it again!

How is she doing this?"

He couldn't understand.

As I got older, I started

to look at her and I thought to myself,

"Wow, she's from another time!"

But she was not at odds with the times.

The times was at odds with her.

I think when a person moves

to their own kind of clock, spirit, flow,

if we were living in an environment

that allowed us to be exactly who we are,

you're always in congress with yourself.

The challenge is,

"How do we fit in in the world

that we're around, but we...

Are we allowed to be

exactly who we are?

Was Nina Simone allowed

to be exactly who she was?"

As fragile as she was strong,

as vulnerable as she was dynamic,

she was African royalty.

How does royalty

stomp around in the mud

and still walk with grace?

Most people are afraid

to be as honest as she lived.

Good night!

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