#aNTHEMS LATE NIGHTS MY FRIENDS NEW YORK

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It’s After the End of the World By Daphne A. Brooks

I remember how it ended. A bespectacled, lanky, light-skinned sister sporting two braided pigtails stepped up to the mic. She was rocking garden-green pants and a yellow spaghetti-strap tank top, and she came out late in the Black Rock Coalition Orchestra’s Nina Simone tribute set in New York on June 13, 2003. Armed with a startling mezzo-soprano that dipped into the outer limits of audible desire, she was covering “I Want a Little Sugar in My Bowl” like her life depended on it. Her crooning felt sexy and dangerous and inquisitive as she declared, “I want a little sweetness down in my soul...I want a little steam on my clothes.” The crowd swooned. We were suspended for a moment between the grief of having lost our Nina some three weeks before (April 21, the day that Prince would die 13 years later) and ecstatic remembrance as this then-unknown singer, Alice Smith, summoned the potency of our lost patron saint.

“Our Nina”—as she is sometimes called by black feminists who feel especially possessive and protective of her—was a musician whose body of work pushed us and challenged us to know more about ourselves, what we longed for, and who we were as women navigating intersectional injuries and negations of mattering in the American body politic. She was beloved as much for the emotional force of her showmanship as she was for the lyrical, instrumental, and political force of her virtuosity. That night (one I remember so vividly, perhaps, because it was the Friday before my father died), Smith was conjuring that revolutionary, climactic Nina feeling—the erotic kind, which women of color historically have rarely been able to claim for their own, and the socially transformative kind, that marginalized peoples have called upon to bring about radical change.

That revolutionary Nina feeling runs like a high-voltage current from her earliest American Songbook covers through her  Frankfurt School battle cries, folk lullabies and eulogies, blues incantations, Black Power anthems, diasporic fever chants, Euro romantic laments, and experimental classical and freestyle jazz odysseys. It is the signal she sends out to tell us that something is turning, that we may be closing in on some new way of being in the world and being with each other, or we are at least reaching the point of breaking something open, tearing down Jim Crow institutions. Often enough, it indicated that we were joining her in tearing up those unspoken rules about how a Bach-loving, Lenin- and Marx-championing, “not-about-to-be-nonviolent-no-more” musician and black freedom struggle activist should sound. 

Photo by Gilles Petard/Getty Images

Soothsayer, chastiser, conjurer, philosopher, historian, actor, politician, archivist, ethnographer, black love proselytizer: She showed up on the frontlines of people-powered mass disturbances, delivering the good word (“It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day”) or shining discomforting light on the stubborn edifice of Southern white power (“Why don’t you see it?/Why don’t you feel it?”). And even when illness set in, and exile didn’t soften her grief for fallen friends and their unfinished revolution, she faltered for a time but ultimately stayed the course. She was fastidiously focused, insouciantly exploratory, and ferociously inventive at her many legendary, marathon concerts—Montreux, Fort Dix—the ones in which her mad skills, honed during her youthful years in late-night supper club jam sessions, returned in full. She was epic, our journey woman, the one who was capable of taking us to the ineffable, joyous elsewhere in that “Feeling Good” vocal improvisation that closes out that track. 

Today, we return to her more passionately than ever before, looking to her for answers, parables, strategies—not only for how to survive, but how to end this thing called white supremacist patriarchy that some of us had naïvely believed was ever-so-excruciatingly self-destructing. Since her death, her iconicity has grown, spreading to the world of hip-hop (which, as  the scholar Salamishah Tillet has shown, frequently samples her radicalism), to academia, where studies of Simone—articles and conference papers, seminars and book projects—pile high, making inroads in a segment of university culture previously cornered by Dylanologists. We take her with us to the weekend marches. Our students cue her up, summoning her wisdom and fortitude during the rallies.  

This massive old-new love for our Nina is a way of being, and her sound encapsulates the pursuit of emotional knowledge and ethical bravery. She forges our awakening.  I said as much a few weeks before Nina passed, when I offered a conference meditation on the late Jeff Buckley’s cover of “Lilac Wine,” a song I had kept on a loop during my grad years and one that had taught me a few things about heartbreak and heroism.  Through the voice of that white, Gen X, alt-rock daring balladeer and ardent fan of Nina’s, I could hear Ms. Simone singing to me, “Leave everything on the floor, and face the end triumphantly.”

It was a message that she conveyed all on her own when I saw her in 2000 at the Hollywood Bowl—one of her rare, stateside shows in her waning years. That night, she kept a feather duster at the piano, and after each song, she raised it like a conductor’s baton, beckoning an ovation. I remember that it was a gesture that felt cold and distant at the time, a sign of her lasting, antagonistic relationship with her audience—all of which is no doubt true. But in hindsight, I think more about the lessons she was bestowing on us, yet again, that evening. At the close of every number, we were invited to recognize the wonder of her artistry and to listen with anticipation for whatever would come next, the next better world she would create for us and with us—a black space, a women’s space, a free space. All those endings which might lead to new beginnings.

Daphne A. Brooks is Professor of African American Studies, Theater Studies, American Studies, and Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies at Yale University.  

Listen to Nina Simone: Her Art and Life in 33 Songs on Spotify and Apple Music.

Photo by David Redfern/Getty Images

“I Loves You Porgy”

Little Girl Blue

1958

Nina Simone’s first album,  Little Girl Blue, was just a run-through of the material she’d been singing in clubs, in the arrangements she’d already made. They were ready to go. “I Loves You Porgy” became a Billboard Top 20 hit in 1959 and established her career in New York. To hear it is to understand how Simone’s critical consciousness began early and never turned off. She approached the ballad from George and Ira Gershwin’s “folk opera” Porgy and Bess not as a classical musician, as per her training, or as a jazz or cabaret musician, as she had been called—only as herself. Even on paper, the song is emotionally loaded: a plea for protection to a man the narrator has come to trust. In emotional terms, Billie Holiday’s 1948 version feels optimistic, guardedly bright; Simone’s feels concentrated and gravely serious, almost private, even as she adds trills and rhythmic details to every line. When she sings, “If you can keep me, I want to stay here/With you forever, and I’ll be glad,” there is no way to know what “glad” means to her. –Ben Ratliff

Listen: “I Loves You Porgy”

“My Baby Just Cares for Me”

Little Girl Blue

1958

When Nina Simone cut  Little Girl Blue, she was still smarting from her rejection from a prestigious classical conservatory. Throughout the album, she proved her chops by dropping a reference to Bach in one swinging track and improvising with a fluidity that Mozart would have admired, and also by subtly changing a tune that American listeners thought they knew. The standard “My Baby Just Cares for Me” was first made popular by the 1930 musical  Whoopee!, and through such lyrics as, “My baby don’t care for shows/My baby don’t care for clothes,” its singer takes pride in a romantic prowess that can cut across class divisions. The vaudeville star Eddie Cantor performed it onscreen in a brassy, obvious way that fit the era (up to and including his use of blackface makeup). Simone’s reading is more soulful and complex. The tempo has been slowed, but the feel for jazz swing has been powerfully increased. In the middle of the song, over a finger-popping groove, Simone delivers a solo of pellucid elegance. Her vocals draw their power both from blues grit and crisp articulations, and from the way Simone bridges those styles. The way she plays this song, those old “high-tone places” and social codes no longer seem so untouchable—in the presence of such artistry, they only seem embarrassing and ripe for redefinition. –Seth Colter Walls

Listen: “My Baby Just Cares for Me”

“Black Is the Color of My True Love’s Hair”

Nina Simone At Town Hall

1959

Recontextualizing an Appalachian folk song, Simone transposed a mournful lament with roots in the Scottish highlands to 1959 America, where “black” was imbued with far greater heft. Coming early in her career, “Black Is the Color of My True Love’s Hair” promised an increasing political consciousness in her music, the intent clear in the cascade of loving, mournful, minor-key piano in the intro and her ever-profound, trembling contralto. The line “I love the ground on where he goes” held particular meaning in 1959, as the Civil Rights Movement was hitting a fever pitch but the racist laws of the Jim Crow South still held strong. Town Hall, where the album was recorded, was in midtown New York. It was the first concert hall she ever played, a venue where she would be venerated for singing her mind. The song arrived at the beginning of her fame but, more importantly, it was an incubator of her mindset to come. –Julianne Escobedo Shepherd

Listen:“Black Is the Color of My True Love’s Hair”

Photo by Herb Snitzer/Getty Images

“Just in Time”

At the Village Gate

1962

Simone’s live albums, recorded in clubs or theaters, were fundamental to her work. All of them still feel charged. By 1957, when she was still playing in Atlantic City clubs, she had established a hard line: You paid attention or she stopped playing. By 1959, when she first played at New York’s Town Hall, she graduated in self-definition from club singer to concert-hall singer, which is to say she knew there was a sufficient amount of people who would come to hear her. And in April 1961, when she recorded  At the Village Gate, she could bring back that imperial attitude to club dimensions, leading her quartet from the piano.   

For about one full, intense minute at the start of “Just in Time,” she winds up her quartet with dissonant, percussive chord clusters. Then she settles into the first verse, sung at confidential level, drawing out her vowels into quavers. Her piano solo is as hypnotic and repetitive as what John Lewis made famous doing with the Modern Jazz Quartet, but smudgier and more emphatic. This is comprehensive skill—singing, playing, bandleading—and the song is all zone: nearing it, then staying in it. –Ben Ratliff

Listen:“Just in Time”

“The Other Woman/Cotton Eyed Joe”

At Carnegie Hall

1963

Nina Simone once dreamed of becoming the first black female classical pianist to play Carnegie Hall, but when she finally made it there on April 12, 1963, she was working in a different idiom. Her set was filled with traditional songs and standards she made her own, including this striking mashup that closes her  At Carnegie Hall live album.

A staple in Simone’s sets, “The Other Woman” is a deceptively nuanced Jessie Mae Robinson tune with immense empathy for the mistress. It was first recorded by Sarah Vaughan, but Simone elevates the song further with her ability to conjure the loneliness of womanhood better than just about anyone, particularly when her accompaniments run slow and sparse. In performances over the years, the emotional burden of “The Other Woman” seemed to weigh heavier on Simone, as she experienced infidelity from both sides. At Carnegie Hall, though, she segues into the most elegant take on “Cotton Eyed Joe” imaginable, merging folk, jazz, and a touch of her beloved classical. –Jillian Mapes

Listen:“The Other Woman/Cotton Eyed Joe”

“Mississippi Goddam”

In Concert

1964

As the Civil Rights Movement gained traction, retaliation from racist whites became more intense, reaching a terrible apex in 1963, when the KKK murdered Medgar Evers in Jackson, Mississippi, and four children in a church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama. Nina Simone’s frustration and desperation is palpable in the biting, cynical way she performed “Mississippi Goddam” at Carnegie Hall—a room full of natty whites, but the rare New York concert hall that was never segregated. Within her voice, unloosed so explicitly for the first time, a sanguine irony formed the tension between its sentiment, the very real possibility of being murdered for her race (“I think every day’s gonna be my last”).

During her set at Carnegie, which was recorded for her album In Concert, Simone referred to this song as a show tune “but the show that hasn’t been written for it yet.” Its frantic tempo reflected the urgency of the moment, a template for protest songs to follow, and the piano chords propelled the song’s existentialism with the determination of a steam engine train. It was gonna make it on time, but its destination was still unknown. –Julianne Escobedo Shepherd

Listen:“Mississippi Goddam”

“Pirate Jenny”

In Concert

1964

Nina Simone seethes the lyrics to “Pirate Jenny,” taking every ounce of delight in openly threatening her audience. The song, penned in the late 1920s by the German theatrical composer Kurt Weill, is a revenge tale in which a lowly maid fantasizes that she is the Queen of Pirates and that a black ship will soon emerge from the mist to destroy the town in which she has been treated so poorly. In Simone’s hands, it transforms from political metaphor into dark and unchained spiritual catharsis. Her performance devolves from singing to whispering, with raspy venomous verses such as, “They’re chaining up the people and bringing ‘em to me/Asking me kill them now or later.” Accompanied only by piano and timpani, she allows for long pauses, using silence as a psychological weapon. You can all but hear the audience clutching their pearls. –Carvell Wallace

Listen:“Pirate Jenny”

“Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood”

Broadway-Blues-Ballads

1964

Though the unremarkable  Broadway-Blues-Ballads followed “Mississippi Goddam”’s overwhelming reception a few months earlier, its opening number, “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood,” quickly emerged and remains a tentpole of Nina Simone’s identity. (Never mind that its lyrics were written by Bennie Benjamin, Horace Ott, and Sol Marcus.) After years of “inferior” show tunes and “musically ignorant” popular audiences, as she would later call them in her autobiography I Put a Spell on You, Simone was all too familiar with this song’s themes of lonely remorse, of seeming edgy and taking it out on the people she loved, of “[finding herself] alone regretting/Some little foolish thing...that [she’s] done.”

Though “Goddam” began a pivotal year in which Simone would refocus her life on civil rights and black revolution, “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” would continue to reflect her  personal struggles to come, including the bipolar disorder and manic depression that went undiagnosed and self-medicated until late in life. White audiences often saw her as the benign entertainer they wanted to; Simone long struggled to be seen as her whole, complex self. –Devon Maloney

Listen: “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood”

Photo by Jack Robinson/Getty Images

“See-Line Woman”

Broadway-Blues-Ballads

1964

In the stretch between 1962 and 1967, Nina Simone was at her most prolific, releasing at least two albums per year—and three in 1964. Broadway-Blues-Ballads premiered several songs that became fixtures of Simone’s live repertoire, including the scintillating call-and-response number “See-Line Woman.” Built on the structure and rhythm of a  traditional children’s song, it tells the tale of four escorts, dressed in different colors that signify what they’re willing to do. In Simone’s rendering, the “See-Line Woman” is something of a femme fatale, who will “empty [a man’s] pockets” and “wreck his days/And she make him love her, then she sure fly away.” 

Simone’s performance showcases her voice as a powerful instrument, flirtatious and sly, backed by a stuttering hi-hat and flute arrangement that never outshines her vocals. The origins of the tune that inspired “See-Line Woman” remain uncertain, but Simone’s recording leaves little doubt that the song is hers. –Vanessa Okoth-Obbo

Listen:“See-Line Woman”

“Be My Husband”

Pastel Blues

1965

The lyrics of “Be My Husband” are attributed to Andrew Stroud, Nina Simone’s second husband and manager—a strong, guiding, sometimes violent hand in her career and her life. (Billie had one. Aretha, too.) The title seems mysterious at first: Is it a proposal, a bargain, or a command? Is she saying “marry me” or “act like a husband is supposed to act”? All of her musical and expressive genius is here. Her breath and guttural sighs seem to say, “This shit is work with an intermittent erotic respite.” Her voice dips, curves, bends, and flies, provides the melody and the rhythm. She demands, she pleads. She is all strength, then absolute vulnerability.  

The year Simone recorded “Be My Husband,” death came for both her closest friend, the playwright Lorraine Hansberry, and Malcolm X. Spring brought Selma, and Nina serenaded the marchers. In this season of mourning and wakefulness, “Be My Husband” revealed itself to have been all these things: a proposition, a bargain,  and a command.  Do right by me, Simone sings, and I’ll do right by you. Love for a man, a people, a nation is struggle—it is work. –Farah Jasmine Griffin

Listen:“Be My Husband”

“I Put a Spell on You”

I Put a Spell on You

1965

History remembers Nina Simone as nothing if not resolute, thanks in significant part to “I Put a Spell on You.” Slinky and confident, with flashes of destructive insecurity, her now-iconic cover of Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ blues lament begins matter-of-factly, informative even, then whips itself into the controlled fury of a woman who has made up her mind and is bracing for the inevitable fight. Simone refuses to be taken advantage of throughout, claiming what is rightfully hers: “I don’t care if you don’t want me/I’m yours right now.”

Personal meaning aside—in 1965, she was halfway through a marriage—“I Put a Spell on You” also evokes Simone’s relationship with her audiences over the years. Its release, after all, came just as she was finding her own magic: As she wrote in her autobiography, “It’s like I was hypnotizing an entire audience to feel a certain way….This was how I got my reputation as a live performer, because I went out from the mid-Sixties onward determined to get every audience to enjoy my concerts the way I wanted them to, and if they resisted at first, I had all the tricks to bewitch them with.” –Devon Maloney

Listen:“I Put a Spell on You”

“Feeling Good”

I Put a Spell on You

1965

Throughout her life, Nina Simone rebelled against the tendency for her music to be categorized as jazz or blues, as it gave little acknowledgement to her classical training and her fluidity in other genres. I Put a Spell on You cemented her status as a singer at ease with popular music, who could command attention even when her exceptional piano skills played a secondary role. Simone’s version of “Feeling Good” is one of the album’s masterworks, and it became a standard in its own right. From the opening notes of the strictly vocal intro, she looks to nature to describe contentment: birds flying high, the sun in the sky, a breeze drifting on by. When the big band orchestration comes in, the horns and strings transform the song into a sermon of unbridled joy, peaking with a rousing scat solo that can only emerge from the depths of a free soul. –Vanessa Okoth-Obbo

Listen:“Feeling Good”

“Ne Me Quitte Pas”

I Put a Spell on You

1965

This song finds Nina Simone’s emotions at their most indulgent, her shivering voice at its most precise. Penned by the Belgian crooner Jacques Brel and originally recorded in 1959, its cloying lyrics “Do not leave me” were meant to poke fun at men who could not keep their hearts in their shirts. On Simone’s recording, however, the work becomes something else entirely: It is an agonizing mediation on the kind of existential desolation that only a broken love can bring. Andrew Stroud, a retired NYPD lieutenant, once held her at gunpoint and raped her; she remained in this relationship for nearly 15 years, during which she recorded most of her defining albums. Here, she expands and contracts, pianissimo to fortissimo, as though the entire song were a series of sighs; when she sings, “Let me be the shadow of your shadow,” in its original French, a cosmic rumble emits from the depths of her heart. The chorus is simply the song’s title repeated, and the fourth one sounds precisely like the last flicker of a candle’s flame. –Carvell Wallace

Listen:“Ne Me Quitte Pas”

Photo by Frans Schellekens/Getty Images

“Strange Fruit”

Pastel Blues

1965

In 1965, three very important marches took place between Selma and Montgomery, Alabama, in protest of laws that prevented black citizens from exercising their right to vote. The third and most successful of these culminated in a concert organized by Harry Belafonte, at which Nina Simone performed. There, Simone—who once declared that she was “not non-violent”—used music as her weapon in the fight for liberty. 

Pastel Blues was not an overt protest record, but “Strange Fruit” was an unequivocal rebuke of the lynchings that claimed so many black lives. The song was originally popularized by Billie Holliday, who often performed it under strict conditions to avoid backlash over its severe message, but Simone was no longer held back by fear, having already put her career on the line with the similarly frank “Mississippi Goddam.” Over somber piano keys, she recounts the horror of seeing black bodies hanging from the trees like fruit, in one of the most startling metaphors ever set to wax. At the song’s apex, when describing how the bodies would be left “for the leaves to drop,” Simone wails the third word with an anguish that’s as unforgettable as the painful history that the song decries. —Vanessa Okoth-Obbo

Listen:“Strange Fruit”

“Sinnerman”

Pastel Blues

1965

One of Nina Simone’s most recognizable recordings, “Sinnerman” has been repurposed by everyone from David Lynch to Kanye West. What remains in its original form, however, is the pure punk of it. This live recording rides hard on a driving 2/4 backbeat, one that accelerates a full 10 bpm over its 10-minute run. Simone’s backing band is sharp, the rimshots and high hats insistent, the piano work both velvety and forceful. It is a song of apocalypse, of bleeding seas and boiling rivers and the inability to escape God’s wrath no matter where you turn. 

As a child, Simone learned “Sinnerman” from her mother, who sang it in revival meetings to help sinners become so overwhelmed as to confess their transgressions. Hellfire, brimstone, and damnation were the lullabies on which she was nursed, and it explains her disdain for the fearful. “Sinnerman” is an attack; its hypnotic repetition is designed to induce you to God or madness, whichever comes first. She unleashes her voice, sharp and wide, like sunlight glinting off the blade of a knife. Here, Simone—whose life was as violent and lawless as her music was transcendent—channels heaven and hell equal measure. –Carvell Wallace

Listen:“Sinnerman”

“Lilac Wine”

Wild Is the Wind

1966

“Lilac Wine,” a woozy torch song, originally appeared in James Shelton’s if-you-blinked-you-missed-it 1950 Broadway musical revue “Dance Me a Song.” In 1953, Eartha Kitt dropped a cover and the song became a standard. Nina Simone’s arch-dramatic reimagining is as exotic and dizzying as the titular intoxicant, veering drunkenly between minor and major keys. Simone slows down the tempo to a dirge-like crawl; her classically inflected piano accompaniment is spare and insistent like a metronome. But it’s her trembling singing that really delivers the devastation: The way she captures crestfallen confusion and inebriated fogginess in her vocal performance is astonishing, and no easy feat. Even more astonishing: The way she balances the song’s damaged gloom with a heaving romantic tenderness. –Jason King

Listen:“Lilac Wine”

“Wild Is the Wind”

Wild Is the Wind

1966

Nina Simone debuted her elegant take on “Wild Is the Wind” on 1959’s At Town Hall—a year after Johnny Mathis scored an Oscar nod for the standard—though it would be another seven years before Simone introduced her ominous studio version. Wild Is the Wind, one of three albums Simone released in 1966, is filled with songs that yearn for understanding and romantic resolution, but few capture the feeling with as much uneasiness as the title track. One minute she’s completely swept away by love’s rapture with classical-piano opulence; the next her vibrato purrs on its lowest setting. The music cuts out. Nina smirks sharply. “Don’t you know, you’re life itself,” she coos. Some annotations of this line end it with an exclamation point, but Simone sings it more like a question. She knows how she feels, but there’s still something uncertain about it, perhaps a reflection of her own turbulent private life at this moment. –Jillian Mapes

Listen:“Wild Is the Wind”

“Four Women”

Wild Is the Wind

1966

While most of her records featured interpretations of songs written by others,  Wild Is the Wind is special for a composition penned by Simone herself. On “Four Women,” she deconstructs the shameful dual legacies of slavery and racism in America, narrating from the perspective of four black female characters. Aunt Sarah is forced to work hard and be strong, lest a whip be cracked on her back; the biracial Saffronia exists between black and white worlds, shouldering the knowledge that her father “forced [her] mother late one night”; Sweet Thing is the little girl forced to grow up too fast, who has come to understand her body as something that has a cost. The song is set to a simple melody of bass and percussion, with Simone on the piano, but the tension builds with each vignette. By the time she gets to Peaches, the most vengeful character, Simone is yelling with the fury of many generations, and the instruments crescendo. With “Four Women,” Simone took a stand for black women, whose suffering at the nexus of race and gender discrimination is often rendered invisible. Shortly after its release, it was banned by several radio stations for supposedly incendiary content—a possibility that Simone must have anticipated. But she was a fearless fighter, and the song was her affirmation that black womanhood would remain at the heart of her activism. –Vanessa Okoth-Obbo

Listen: “Four Women”

Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Stringer

“I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free”

Silk & Soul

1967

Though urban America was unraveling in 1967, with riots exploding in Detroit and Newark, Simone was being encouraged by RCA Records to go easy on the activism and focus on her career. She released three studio albums that year, the final being  Silk & Soul, which was mostly filled with love songs and strings. However, right at the top of Side B was a track that would become an anthem of the Civil Rights Movement: “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free,” written by the jazz pianist and educator Dr. Billy Taylor.

The song’s swinging melody and finger-popping performance belies its message, summarized in the yearning ambiguity of its title. The contrast between the emotion of the lyrics (“I wish I could share all the love that’s in my heart/Remove all the bars that keep us apart”) and the upbeat, gospel-based arrangement added depth and power. Out of this tension, the song rang out as a hopeful but realistic vision of emancipation. –Alan Light

Listen:“I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free”

“Come Ye” 

High Priestess of Soul

1967

“Come Ye” is the sparest track on  High Priestess of Soul, an album produced with a fairly heavy hand by Hal Mooney. By then, Simone was seen widely as not just a musician but as a kind of power station of black consciousness, with the ability to politicize audiences—even white and American ones. In vocals and percussion alone, this is an original African-American folk song: polyrhythmic, in a single tonal center, played with hand drums. In four verses, Simone gradually raises its stakes until it all ends direly: “Ye who would have love,” she sings. “It’s time to take a stand/Don’t mind the dues that must be paid/For the love of your fellow man.” This is the intersection of cultural memory, passion, and action—medicine, warning, and alarm. –Ben Ratliff

Listen:“Come Ye”

“Backlash Blues”

Nina Simone Sings the Blues

1967

Simone’s friend Langston Hughes mailed her the lyrics to this song in poem form, and she took immediately to his indictment of “Mr. Backlash,” a personification of white oppression of black America’s small gains (and the “black, yellow, beige and brown” among them, equally oppressed). Simone delivered these promises and threats with a slinky blues rasp, forecasting that the person to receive the backlash would be the oppressor himself. Its lyrics also dovetailed with the rise of the Black Panther Party, which had begun exercising their right to open-carry in their efforts to protect the black people of Oakland from police brutality. Simone sang easily, measuredly, with the confidence that one day a score would be settled: “Do you think that all colored folks are just second class fools?” –Julianne Escobedo Shepherd

Listen:“Backlash Blues”

“I Want a Little Sugar in My Bowl”

Nina Simone Sings the Blues

1967

In the 1960s, Simone left her first label, Colpix, ended up at Phillips, and then hopped over to RCA Victor. In 1967, she recorded her debut album for RCA: Nina Simone Sings the Blues, a hard-driving, tough-talking collection of originals and covers. On “I Want a Little Sugar in My Bowl,” she borrows the basic blues progressions from “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out,” a 1920s cautionary standard originally popularized by Bessie Smith. But Simone comes up with an original lyric that bypasses social commentary and conjures up bawdy flirtatiousness and lust instead: “I want a little sugar in my bowl/I want a little sweetness down in my soul/I could stand some lovin’, oh so bad/I feel so funny, I feel so sad.” Impressive in her thematic range, Simone had no problem mixing double entendre lyrics about ribald sex and in-your-face politics on her albums: “I Want a Little Sugar in My Bowl” appears alongside her classic civil rights protest song “Backlash Blues.” Songs like this serve as a reminder that the revolutionary activist who can’t occasionally admit to being horny isn’t really the revolutionary activist we need. –Jason King

Listen:“I Want a Little Sugar in My Bowl”

“Why? (The King of Love Is Dead)”

’Nuff Said

1968

What and whom are we mourning? How will we mourn, and can we transform the depths of our despair into living in a way that honors what we’ve lost? Nina Simone turns each of these questions over and over from multiple vantage points in this nearly 13-minute performance, recorded on April 7, 1968, at Long Island’s Westbury Music Fair, three days after Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination. She and her band learned the song, written by bassist Gene Taylor, earlier in the day.

Shaped by the improvisational urgency and rawness of the moment, the live rendition of “Why?” captures many Ninas: the sermonizer accompanying herself on piano and leading her congregation through the wilderness; the Civil Rights dreamer delivering a delicate jazz tale of a nonviolent folk hero; the anguished pallbearer voicing a funeral hymn; and the master of the black freedom struggle jeremiad who laments, “Will the murders never cease?” before slipping fully into her militant “Mississippi” self. She mourns not just for King but for the numerous slain leaders, martyrs, fellow freedom-fighting artists, and “many thousands gone,” as her friend James Baldwin put it—the black subjugated masses who shape the epic sorrow and weariness of her subdued vocals. This dirge-turned-protest-song absorbs the weight of all these bodies but also defiantly affirms the presence of she who remains on the battlefield. “We’ve lost a lot of them in the last two years, but we have remaining Monk, Miles,” Simone reflects slowly, speaking to the audience. From the rafters, a stentorian voice finishes the list: “Nina.” –Daphne A. Brooks

Listen: “Why? (The King of Love Is Dead)”

“The Desperate Ones”

Nina Simone and Piano!

1969

Nina Simone never had the widest vocal range or the purest pitch, but she had a once-in-a-generation talent for conveying the meaning of a song through tone and phrasing. With few exceptions, once she sang a song, it was hers, and she was never afraid to make bold choices that could seem downright strange at first listen. Throughout the 1960s, that incomparable voice appeared in many settings, from huge orchestral arrangements to minimal ballads, as she moved confidently from one musical genre to the next. And at the tail end of the decade, she made an album that returned her to the milieu of her first days as a performer.

Nina Simone and Piano! closes with “The Desperate Ones,” an oblique song by Jacques Brel that depicts, with heavy romantic imagery, the weariness of the ‘60s youth trying to remake the world. It was always a quiet song, both when Brel sang it in 1965 and after it was translated into English for the 1968 off-Broadway show Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris. But Simone’s performance takes the hushed intensity to an almost frightening level, showcasing her staggering ability to convey feeling with simple elements. She just barely hints at a melody as she reframes the song’s story as something passed between strangers in a darkened alley. Singing in a raspy whisper, her voice is filled with yearning and empathy and wonder, and the starkness of the arrangement highlights its eerie magic. –Mark Richardson

Listen: “The Desperate Ones”

“To Be Young, Gifted and Black”

Black Gold

1970

Lorraine Hansberry, the first black woman to have her work produced on Broadway (A Raisin in the Sun), was a friend and mentor to Simone, and a key figure in her political awakening. When Hansberry died of pancreatic cancer in 1965, at age 34, the singer was devastated—and when Malcolm X was killed the next month, her radicalization was complete.

In 1969, Hansberry’s ex-husband adapted some of her writing into an off-Broadway play called “To Be Young, Gifted and Black.” One Sunday, Simone opened the newspaper and saw a story about the production. She called her musical director, Weldon Irvine, to help with the lyrics, and the song—which would be her final contribution to the protest canon—was finished 48 hours later. With its simple, direct message of racial and personal pride and forceful melody, the single was a Top 10 R&B hit and Simone’s biggest crossover success since “I Loves You, Porgy.” It would be covered by Aretha Franklin, Donny Hathaway, and Solange, and CORE named it the “Black National Anthem.” Simone even performed the song on “Sesame Street.” –Alan Light

Listen: “To Be Young, Gifted and Black”

“Just Like a Woman”

Here Comes the Sun

1971

In the early 1960s, as Simone’s star was rising at New York’s Village Gate club, a young Bob Dylan was scratching at the door of the folk scene brewing across the street, doing parody songs between sets by bigger names. Less than a decade later, Simone had five Dylan covers in her discography, none more necessary than “Just Like a Woman.” 

In Simone’s hands, Dylan’s half-improvised song about watching an ex-girlfriend walk away became a heartfelt paean to all women. Each once-bitter read from Dylan—“she takes just like a woman,” “she breaks just like a little girl”—was now delivered as an affirmation of female resilience and vulnerability, a human frailty that invited empathy rather than contempt.

Voiced by a woman—especially a famously forthright, tenacious one like Simone—the song got a first-person adaptation; rather than infantilizing the “woman” in question and separating her from the world, Simone’s interpretation closed the gap. Released near the height of her influence as a political artist, it’s a feminist treatment with an inversion that feels contemporary, even half a century later. –Devon Maloney

Listen: “Just Like a Woman”

“22nd Century”

Here Comes the Sun

1971

As Nina Simone tells it in her memoir, by the early 1970s, everything was coming undone for her; she had “fled to Barbados pursued by ghosts: Daddy, [sister] Lucille, the movement, Martin, Malcolm, [her] marriage, [her] hopes…” On its surface, “22nd Century” translates this personal moment of peril into big, broad, metaphorical strokes that wed the apocalyptic with cathartic possibility and radical euphoria. “There is no oxygen in the air/Men and women have lost their hair,” she prophesizes, holding steady at the center of an intoxicating swirl of flamenco guitar and calypso steel drums. “When life is taken and there are no more babies born....Tomorrow will be the 22nd century.”

In the future that is Nina’s, things fall apart so that notions of time, space, and the human can be razed and take on new shape. But in this era in which she sought out Caribbean maroonage, there is perhaps an even deeper connection forged by way of this hypnotic, nearly nine-minute odyssey. Covering Bahamian “Obeah Man” Exuma’s stirring, hybrid mix of junkanoo, carnival, and folk, she sticks close to his original recording from that same year and merges her Afrodiasporic revolutionary vision with his:  “Don’t try to sway me over to your day/On your day,” her reaching vocals insist. “Your day will go away.” –Daphne A. Brooks

Listen: “22nd Century”

Photo by David Redfern/Getty Images

Medley: “My Sweet Lord/Today Is a Killer”

“Emergency Ward!”

1972

No artist ever wielded power over an audience as deftly as Nina Simone, but the same can be said of her talent for turning covers into transcendent events. By 1972, she’d perfected—several times over—both delicate alchemies. She used her crowds’ expectations to lure them in before delivering uncomfortable yet necessary truths, all while constructing what one academic, quoting theorist William Parker, called “inside songs”—covers that dig up the song lying “in the shadows, in-between the sounds and silences and behind the words” of the original.

That creative electricity is palpable on this gargantuan, 18-minute live jam that takes up an entire side of Emergency Ward!, the record now considered Simone’s major anti-Vietnam War statement. Backed by a gospel choir, she invites the audience in with George Harrison’s then-two-year-old mega-hit, locking into a mesmerizing church sing-along before revealing the Trojans within: David Nelson’s brutal poem about the desperate, decaying hope of the Civil Rights era. Lines like "Today/Pressing his ugly face against mine/Staring at me with lifeless eyes/Crumbling away all memories of yesterday’s dreams,” dropped into the rhythm of Harrison’s exaltations, inflate the performance like a hot air balloon, making it the ultimate testament to Simone’s ability to turn even a simple interpretation into a political masterpiece. –Devon Maloney

Listen: Medley: “My Sweet Lord/Today Is a Killer,”

“Funkier Than a Mosquito’s Tweeter”

Is It Finished

1974

Nina Simone’s palate was always broad, but with this reimagining of a Tina Turner barnburner, she used minimalist funk arrangements as a platform for her unleashed vocals—mewling and crawling at alternate intervals, the disgusted cursing of a woman highly over a dusty dude. The openness of the 1970s served her more adventurous impulses well, though by the time she cut “Funkier,” she was fully spiraling into depression and alcoholism. (Who could blame her, with the serrated knife that had been the late 1960s, from Civil Rights to Vietnam?) Her edge showed in this song: Her voice cracks with exasperation, alluding that the predator she sings about might well be the good ol’ US of A. Spent, she wouldn’t record another album for four years. –Julianne Escobedo Shepherd

Listen: “Funkier Than a Mosquito’s Tweeter”

Photo by Jack Vartoogian/Getty Images

“Baltimore”

Baltimore

1978

Following the death of Freddie Gray in April 2015, Simone’s 1978 recording of Randy Newman’s “Baltimore”—“Oh, Baltimore/Ain’t it hard just to live”—was widely circulated on social media, illustrating the continuing endurance and power of her work. The song was the title track from a particularly fraught album that appeared as Simone was living in poverty in Paris and her recordings were getting increasingly rare. She fought so much with Creed Taylor, who had signed her to CTI Records, that she insisted he not only leave the studio, but the country. She finally cut all of her vocals in a single, hourlong session.

She did acknowledge, however, that she liked this song, which Newman had recorded the year before. The narrator of “Baltimore” is worn down by the American economy and malaise—“hard times in the city, in a hard town by the sea”—and finally decides to pack his family in a “big old wagon” and send them out of town. Having fled the U.S. years earlier, Simone’s reaction to the lyrics was personal. “And it refers to, I’m going to buy a fleet of Cadillacs,” she said, “and take my little sister, Frances, and my brother, and take them to the mountain and never come back here, until the day I die.” –Alan Light

Listen: “Baltimore”

“Fodder on Her Wings”

Fodder on My Wings

1982

In the early ’80s, Nina Simone was living in France and she was deeply lonely; her family life was strained, and she was suffering from encroaching mental illness. A new song on her 1982 album, Fodder on My Wings, captured with startling intimacy the pain of this period, and she returned to it frequently through the next decade, cutting another studio version three years later (the synth-heavy take on Nina’s Back!) and including it on several live albums, including an awe-inspiring performance on 1987’s Let It Be Me. The title of the song itself is titled “her” wings while the album it appears on uses “my”; the slippery point of view underscores its heavily personal nature, as Simone sings of a bird that traveled the world, from Switzerland to France and England—all places she herself had spent time—and then crashed to earth. “She had dust inside her brain” is the harrowing image the sticks with you, but Simone’s vocal makes a song of weariness and defeat carry an air of defiance, a wise word from someone who survived to tell the tale. –Mark Richardson 

Listen: “Fodder on Her Wings”

“Stars”

Let It Be Me

1987

Simone first covered Janis Ian’s searing, mordant meditation on fame during her infamous set at the 1976 Montreux Jazz Festival; suffering from bipolar disorder, she goes through something like a mental breakdown during the performance. (The scene is a highlight of Liz Garbus’ Oscar-nominated documentary What Happened, Miss Simone?) This spine-tingling 1987 version—Simone’s best, most coherent rendition—was recorded live at Hollywood’s intimate Vine Street Bar & Grill for Let It Be Me.

Written by Ian when she was just 20, “Stars” is a potent critique of star-making machinery: The narrator is both a weary observer of fame, watching faded stars who live their lives in “sad cafés and music halls,” and a tragic figure undone by fame herself. Simone’s embittered, conversational phrasing transforms the song into a cosmically exhausted, stream-of-consciousness rant. She sounds so nakedly weary and afflicted with pathos, you worry she might not even make it to the last verse. But ultimately, Simone’s piano accompaniment builds to a rousing, show-must-go-on climax: “I’ll come up singing for you even though I’m down.” Break out the Kleenex: Few other songs in Simone’s arsenal can make you truly grasp the toll she paid for being alive and giving us her music. –Jason King

Listen: “Stars”

“Papa, Can You Hear Me?”

A Single Woman

1993

In 1993, Nina Simone recorded and released her last studio album, A Single Woman. Living in Southern France, she was lured back into the booth by Elektra A&R executive Michael Alago, who brought major label marketing dollars and seasoned producers and orchestrators. Taken from the 1983 Barbra Streisand film Yentl and penned by Alan Bergman, Marilyn Bergman, and Michel Legrand, “Papa, Can You Hear Me?” is a powerhouse musical theater showstopper that no one would mistake for a conventional jazz standard. But Simone—who starts the song with an allusion to the Negro spiritual “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot”—slyly reconstructs it as an interior, howling lament for her father, who passed away in the early 1970s while they were estranged.

Backed by swelling strings, Simone pulls every ounce of melancholic emotion out of the heart-wrenching lyrics. As the chords ramp up, so does her quivering voice; every time she tackles the song’s falling Middle Eastern vocals runs, it sounds like tears streaming down her face. One of her most dramatic performances captured on record, “Papa, Can You Hear Me?” finds Nina Simone working through the despair of her own orphanhood, exorcising her troubled relationship with the men who defined aspects of her complicated life. How fitting that her final album—a musical commentary on what it means to be a mature, single woman living in exile—captures such pure, unadulterated human feeling. –Jason King

Listen: “Papa, Can You Hear Me?”

[singeratlarge]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Speedy Acquaye, Hirohiko Araki, the 1969 debut of Blind Faith, Beryl Booker, Gwendolyn Brooks, Royce Campbell (Funk Brothers), THE JOHNNY CASH SHOW 1969 TV debut, Georgiana Cavendish, the great Johnny Clegg, Silas Roy Crain (Soul Stirrers), George Ezra, Tal Farlow, William Forsythe, Gordon Gano, Paul Gauguin, Nikki Giovanni, Juan Luis Guerra, Damien Hirst, Nihad Hrustanbegović, Tommy James & The Shondells 1969 “Crystal Blue Persuason” single, Mickey Jones (Man), Tom Jones (great to have met you), Paddy McAloon (Prefab Sprout), Dave Navarro, Liam Neeson, Ken Osmond, Prince, Jack Ryland (3 Dog Night), George Szell, Jessica Tandy, Karl Urban, Clarence White, and the legendary, consummate entertainer, comedian, singer, and actor, Dean Martin. In the late 1940s he broke out in a hugely successful comedy duo with Jerry Lewis, then was seared into public conciousness with Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis, Jr. in The Rat Pack. My respect for Dino grew around his musical choices and catalogue of material. I do several covers of his songs (especially in my care home set) and my original song “Somebody Loves You (Like Dino Said)” has a direct refraction on Dean’s “You’re Nobody Till Somebody Loves You.” In 1955 he had a #1 hit with the folk-doo wop song “Memories Are Made of This.” It became a theme for a book written by his daughter Deana, a singer in her own right whose career intersected with The Monkees and Davy Jones (they also dated back in the day), and there was a phase where she’d sit in on our gigs + she sang with us at Davy’s 2012 New York memorial and a Monkees Convention in 2013. Davy was also close friends with Dino Martin (of Dino Desi & Billy), and when they weren’t driving old army tanks around in the desert, they played pool with Dean at Dean’s home. Davy was quite a comedy quipster, and he often said, “It’s OK to steal my jokes. I just stole them from someone else.” One of his “someone else” sources was Dean Martin. 

“Memories Are Made of This” was written by Richard Dehr, Terry Gilkyson, and Frank Miller—as The Easy Riders, they provided the vocal harmonies on Dean’s version. After the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, the song was adapted into the "Honvágy-dal" ('The Song of Homesickness”) and used as an unofficial anthem for refugees scattered around the world. Recorded by Ida Boros, it became a cultural phenomenon and a sign of protest against the communist government. The standard English version has been covered countless times (notably by Little Richard, Johnny Cash, and Cliff Richard & The Shadows), and here’s how I do it in my assisted living home set. Meanwhile, HB Dino—thank you for the hours of humor and song you left us. 

#deanmartin #ratpack #deanamartin #davyjones #monkees #jerrylewis #lewisandmartin #comedy #entertainment #memories #johnnyjblair #singeratlarge #sanfrancisco

[pxe]

I WANT ANTHEMS LATE NIGHTS MY FRIENDS NEW YORK

[the-silver-peahen-residence]

||The mokkori's punishment and lesson 3: Within horror's grasp||

*Waving* Hi. Just writing a silly little addition drabble for a friend but it seems we are continuing with this one now. So, lets see what this story takes place for our friends hmm?

IF you wanna read the first two lessons they are under here:

Lesson one

Lesson two

||Drabble Summary||

Mineta has gone mission so the six claws are looking for him along with some help. However, what would happen when he was curious of the other fractions outside of New York that involves the horror members? Read to find out.

||Warning||

~Beatdown will happen later or in between

~scary girl moments will happen and boy scary moments too.

((~Guests in Drabble~))

The lovely horrors belong to my amazing friend @demon-blood-youths who is also the owner of the side blog @lovelyxhorrors

Willie Watt belongs to and is from Batman beyond but also me due to rping him as a muse

Some of the boys along with the girls in the fractions like The Lupins, The Demon Elite Anthem, The Upstander Campagin, Knights of Darkness, Daichi, and Demon Blood Tears belong to my friend

While The cursed vixens, Shallow Butterflies, The season demon warriors, The Elemental Phoenix feathers, and The Dark Eclipse nightshades of both boys and girls belong to me. A few of the A-1 class members are guests but I do rp as a few of them.

((Note: This drabble will have heavy grammar mistakes and errors but this was written for fun. I hope you understand but also enjoy please.))

"Damn it! Where the hell is that little idiot!? He couldn't have gotten far!" Bakugo was annoyed with the other six claws looking around since Mineta got away from them. However, they were still looking all through New York with no luck.

Even the fractions haven't seen him which was odd.

"Calm down Bakugo, I'm sure we will find him." Ren said in a calm town even with Rin having azure flames around his body. Yeah, they were all not happy finding out what he did to Ink but they just had to look for him.

"Even so, we need to find him before he does something else! Just keep looking!" Denji said as they did just that. Though, now everyone was asking the same question:

Where the heck did Mineta go?

~~~~~Meanwhile~~~~~~~

"Alright Matt that should do it for now. Everything is done and the night has gotten a lot longer." Sid, or the horror of the ghost, speaks to him seeing everyone was getting ready for bed. After a mission complete.

"Yeah, true. That was a fun night! Maybe we can go hunting again later the next night or something a bit better I think." Matt thinks to scratch his chin even seeing Pete sigh with Yumeno kyusaku sitting by him while hugging his doll Bennett. "Yeah it was!! I Hope we can do it again!" he said with Pete even petting his head.

"Maybe in the future we might. Though, it is getting late so we should just head to sleep or head home." Cobin sighed to push up his glasses.

"True, maybe we can just take this time to chill as most would say." Charlie agreed so they were heading back home now or just showing up getting inside to wash up and head to bed. However, they were not expecting a guest this night. Later on, everyone was already relaxed now or some taking showers and things.

For one, Sid was just done taking a shower but was walking out in a towel to check the time. "Hmmmm, I might have some time to do some light reading before bed...or maybe a light snack." she mutters already having her clothes set out for bed while she was drying herself to get ready for bed.

As she was going to get some pjs, she goes to get some other clothes but looks inside. She noticed a few of her panties and bras went missing. "Huh? That's strange. I could have sworn I had them in here." she mutters confused but she didn't see someone sneaking out of her room with a arm full of them with a perv like smile.

'Wow, so these are the famous horror of the ghosts panties..so soft. Even the bras fit just right.' the voice said smiling but goes to check another room. He looks seeing it was empty to be Charlie's room. It seems she was downstairs getting something but the other sneaking in goes to check seeing the motherload of undies and panties.

"Ohhhh even cuter. Their so soft and smells like flowers...I thought the horrors would be different." the other said with a smile now taking a few bras and panties to hide in a bag before going off to the last one that was Shrika. He already hit Ashley's own but he was excited to find the last one.

~~~~~~Downstairs~~~~~~~

"Oh come on! Your still mad about that!? I said I was sorry!" Cobin looks to Pete who was eating something but making sure his little brother eats.

"Uh huh, says the same one that tends to get in trouble or cause trouble during our hunts." Pete grumbled but Matt sighed seeing Lex eating quietly to himself.

"Guys guys come on, we are trying to chill for tonight. Can't you not argue about it right now?" Matt said looking to the guys but both Cobin and Pete glares at one another even hearing snickering from Jason.

"You guys are idiots at times you know. Though, at least I'm not in trouble for once!" he laughed only for Cobin to smack him upside the head. "OW! The fuck was that for?!"

"For you being too loud!" he barks back but Matt sweatdrops seeing the two shouting or arguing with one another. Yeah, just another night it seems. Yumeno just keeps eating by his big brother who was shaking his head now. While this is going on, Matt heard someone coming down to see Sid but she was quiet.

"Hey Sid! We just got dinner! Theirs plenty to eat if your hungry." he said.

"I will but just one thing...." she said but Matt blinks to stop the guys arguing.

"Huh? What's up?" he asked.

"I believe we have a thief in the building. Somehow, some of my clothing has gone missing." she said but Jason, Cobin, and Lex was confused hearing this.

"A thief? Who the heck would steal-"

"I don't know...but whoever it is I will be sure to find out who. They sneaked into my room and stole some of my clothing." she said simply.

"Uh huh.."

"Geez, who the hell would even do that??" Jason said confused.

"I don't know.." Cobin said with Lex confused.

"That explains a bit. Did you three-"

"Huh?! NO! Why would I even steal anything from you Sid?! I'm not that stupid!" Jason looks at her confused.

"Same. I'm not that low to do that.." Cobin said.

"Not me either. I was with my little brother and he knows I wouldn't." Pete said. Sid knew Matt wouldn't do that either so what was going on.

"Sid!!!" She heard another voice seeing Charlie now but she sounded upset.

"Charlie? What's the matter?"

"Someone stole my clothing! I was just about to change after washing up and saw a few of my clothes were stolen!" she said.

"........"

"Okay, that's weird. Just what the hell is going on?" Jason said but Matt thinks to wonder himself.

"Seems we got a thief here. Sid, where is Shrika and Willie?" he asked.

"They should be still upstairs I believe.." she said but as Matt was thinking, the lovely horrors seeing Willie coming out of the kitchen with some food carrying two plates for them.

"Willie!" Jason calls out to her to make him stop.

"Uhhhh what?"

"Did you know about a thief in the house!?" he said.

"......No? I didn't even notice that. Why? Were your followers trying to steal something and try putting the blame on me?" he said even seeing Jason glare.

"What?! NO! they know better than to steal from anyone! What about your pack or to say Shrika's pack!?" he said. "Did Shrika tell them to do some prank!?" He said.

"..I'm not a thief and none of the followers did any stupid prank. I don't steal anything from you or the others since I know better. Besides, what is this about a thief?" he asked having no clue but he didn't like Jason accusing him of things.

"...So you have no idea someone stole me and Charlie's clothing?" Sid said this to the male, making him more confused.

"No? I have no idea a thief was in the house! And what do you mean steal?" he said. Now the horrors were confused. "Besides, I was just returning upstairs to my mistress since she asked for some food.

"Okay...so if you didn't do anything....and your here, then who.." That's when a crash noise was heard making everyone look up along with a angry shout.

"The hell was that?"Cobin said looking up.

"Someone is upstairs! Who the hell is that!?" Jason said but it was time to figure it out as everyone runs upstairs since it sounded like it came from Shrika's room.

Upstairs, everyone got there but seeing some light but a panicked voice showing someone was here!

"OH COME ON!! IT'S NOT MY FAULT YOUR SO BEAUTIFUL-GAH! NO STOP TRYING TO STAB ME!!"

"Who the hell is that!?" the other horrors hurried along now wondering who this thief was, running to Shrika's bedroom. When they got to her room, their eyes widen at the sight. It was a total mess but it did show Shrika throwing some of her knives at the thief looking really furious right now.

"HOW DARE YOU FUCKING SNEAK IN HERE AND STEAL FROM ME, YOU LITTLE PIECE OF SHIT!!!" she said in rage trying to kill the thief.

"I'm sorry but your so cute and pretty! I always knew your panties were just as nice!" Mineta shouted ducking from the knifes. Sid and Charlie looked silent but they did notice his arm had some bras and panties.

"Huh?! HEY! THOSE ARE MINE! AND THAT'S SID'S TOO!" Charie shouted seeing Mineta look up scared. He saw he got caught to laugh nervous.

"Uhhhh...nice to meet you?" he said only for the girls to glare.

"HOW DARE YOU STEAL FROM MY MISTRESS YOU LITTLE SHIT!" Willie was angry alright from this that Mineta quickly rushes out and jumps out the window to land. He dashes off into the forest laughing.

"THEIR MINE! YOU'LL NEVER CATCH ME!" he said to see the three get to the window.

"THAT LITTLE PUNK! I'LL STRANGLE HIM!" Shrika said before jumping out and changing into her humanoid bird form with Charie and Sid jumping out to give chase.

Matt and the boys were shocked seeing them this pissed off well more than pissed as their was trees getting hit or some terrified screams from MIneta.

"Do you think we should get the followers to-" Jason started to say but Matt sighed.

"Naw, the girls got this. Besides, I'm sure they will be sure he won't do this again...you know that." he said seeing the guys look to the forest though, they saw some knifes thrown and Shrika taking the skies.

"GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE SHIT! I'LL STRANGLE YOUR NECK FOR STEALING FROM ME!!" Shirka shouted out.

They did hear Mineta's terrified screams.

"NOOOOO!! LET ME ALONE! I JUST WANTED TO HAVE SOMETHING AS A MEMORY OF YOU LOVELY-OH GOD NO!!!"

"How dare you steal our clothing you little punk! I'll be sure you strangling for that!" Charlie shouted angry while moving from tree to tree.

"NOT IF I CATCH HIM FIRST, SHIRKA!!"

That's when the two saw Sid looking to try catching him. They saw the purple hands rising up in the sky now trying to ram down catching him.

"Yeah, get them big sisters!!" Yumeno was cheering for them to get the meanie even if Jason, Pete, Cobin, and Lex said nothing from this. Yeah, they would be angry for abit. In the forest, Mineta was trapped seeing 3 horror girls ready to tear him apart.

"Found you..you little thief." Sid said with the hands almost chocking him. Shrika lands changing back with Charlie there as the three look at him seeing Mineta's face pale.

"Ummm..I..I'm sorry?" he said only for him to let out a terrified scream as the girls beat him up. Yeah, he's going to feel that in the morning.

Later the next morning, the fractions of NYC still couldn't find Mineta and it was already stressing some out.

"This is taking forever, no one has found that little pervert....where could he have gone." Jinx said but the others didn't know. However, as they were going to take another look, a dark portal shows up making them see someone get throw out looking terrible.

"Hold on, that's-"

Mineta was twitching and bleeding from his head. He looks to have gotten the beating of a life time but it made the others look showing Sid there along with Willie.

"Pardon us..but I believe this garbage idiot belongs to you." Willie said.

"Uhhhhh wait, was he-"

"He was where we were....but he should be lucky we didn't kill him. I suggest you keep that...thing on a leash...or else." she said simply but the two turn to leave through the portal showing Mineta bleeding, knocked out, his face was swollen from the kicks and punches the lovely horror girls did. They even saw he was tied up pretty tight with a letter saying; "Watch your dog better!"

Bakugo said nothing but shook his head with him twitching. Even from that Mineta cries. "W...Worth it..s..so worth it." he said laughing but winces in pain. "Owwwwwwww......"

"MIneta, you dumb ass..." Bakugo sighed but the girls keep away from him.

Well, at least they sorta know where he went and he might have not regret it even from the horrible beating. To him, it was worth it. In a way.

[anitosoul]

My Favorite Albums of 2020

3. Charli XCX, how i’m feeling now

Favorite Tracks: forever | anthems | visions

how i’m feeling now was the first major “quarantine album,” a project made entirely during and about the pandemic. A big draw of this album was following along with Charli’s transparent, DIY creative process which allowed fans to feel like they were lending a hand with the development of the album. This is pretty cool on its own and definitely speaks to the themes of digital connection and isolation, but honestly none of that mattered that much to me. I just love how this album makes me feel.

One of the major aspects of early quarantine was my rapidly developing addiction to both working out and gorging myself on sweets. My life was in a delicate balance between running five miles a day and eating ten Reese’s cups a day. This is what how i’m feeling now sounds like to me: it was like Charli decided to sprint 400 meters but injected herself with fun dip first. It was like she ripped a pixie stick in half and emptied it over her signature “bubblegum pop” for an energetic and addictive 37-minute sugar rush for the ears.

This sound is in huge part to her decision to forego more traditional lush (and arguably more accessible) pop sensibilities and the big-name features heard on her previous album Charli for a more raw, abrasive electronic soundscape. Major credit is due to the producers A.G. Cook, BJ Burton, and Dylan Brady (two of whom have albums previously in this list) who have pushed the acid-meets-poppers electronic sounds of PC music into the forefront of the zeitgeist. While not for everyone, the production lends itself well to the saccharine takes on isolation that Charli has decided to portray. This is most apparent in the bold (and brash) intro of “Pink Diamond,” which would make you think that Charli was about to drop an album for the bodybuilding.com community:

I just wanna go real hard, I just wanna go real hard Pink diamond in the dark - Charli XCX, “pink diamond”

Charli manages to combine the now-lost energy of pregaming with friends before the club with the ever-present energy of lounging at home bored out of your mind; she bides this lost energy like electricity, shooting out tasteful lightning bolts where they’ll invigorate the listener the most. This electricity was not only felt through the music, but literally through the way I accessed it: the rise of virtual concerts that took place in novel, digital spaces like 100 gecs’ Minecraft Square Garden show (that I attended using my sister’s character Chocobunnyxo) or A.G. Cook’s Appleville stream were new ways that I connected with music and artists this year. I don’t know how many times I’ve rewatched Charli’s nine minute piano performance of “visions” in her home (and pool); the trend of unique at-home-but-live performances is something I’ve really appreciated this year.

While I enjoy the middle section of chiller songs, the songs exuding a longing for the fun days of the past are the moments on the album that I really connect with. I’m particularly partial to “anthems,” which reminds me of the contrast between the nothingness of living with my parents in Oklahoma to the upward life trajectory and verging-on-problematic amounts of partying I was doing with friends in NYC:

I get existential and so strange I hear no sounds when I’m shouting I just wanna go to parties Up high, wanna feel the heat from all the bodies I want anthems Late nights, my friends, New York (yeah) I sleep, wanna wake up brand new - Charli XCX, “anthems”

All that being said, there are few songs I’ve listened to this year more than Charli’s first how i’m feeling now single, “forever.” I would play “forever” on my daily runs and smile to myself as the intro built up, drenched in sunlight as I grasped for any instance of serotonin offered to me during my blending days at home. “forever” is just pure joy for me, I have no other way to put it.

I know in the future (Love you) We won’t see each other Cold just like December But I will always love you (Love you) I’ll love you forever Yeah, I’ll love you forever - Charli XCX, “forever”

I always misheard these lyrics as “Conscious of December,” representative of the hope that maybe we would be able to see our loved ones in December. I know now that I was wrong: it is cold as I write this in December, but how I’m feeling now is much different from how I was feeling then. I’ve become, like all of us, more accustomed to the way the world works in COVID times compared to the emotional confusion of the spring. However, I’ll never forget how this album electrified me with glimmers of happiness throughout 2020, and I can’t wait for the anthems, the parties, and the late nights with my friends in New York to start again soon.

[shoehorseconstant]

I WANT... ANTHEMS... LATE NIGHT MY FRIENDS... NEW YORK... I WANNA SEE!!! WHEN IT'S OVER ... I WANNA BE!!! ON A ROVER....

[thelensofyashunews]

Danny Towers, Chow Lee & Lonny Love Connect for a Cash Cobain-Produced Sexy Drill Anthem

Orlando's Danny Towers prefers the bruising trap sound of his home state, but he's more than capable of being delicate when he wants. Today, Towers joins two of NYC's raunchiest emcees, Chow Lee and Lonny Love, for "Sexiest Soul," a debaucherous anthem for late night flings. Produced by sexy drill sensei Cash Cobain, "Sexiest Soul" is a relentless parade of out-of-pocket lines, as each emcee tries to outdo one another with over-the-top punchlines ("I f*cked 100 h*es up on a mountain," brags Lonny Love). The deep-voiced Danny Towers proves to be a natural at the sexy drill style, as he skates atop the sampledelic instrumental with aplomb. In the video, directed by Benny Flash, the one-track-minded trio takes over Miami, as they talk their smack while moving from a happening club night to a late-night convenience store rendezvous.

"Sexiest Soul" continues hot streaks for both Chow Lee and Danny Towers. Towers has been releasing a steady stream of singles since the release of Safe House, his 2023 collaborative project with DJ Scheme, including heavy-hitting collaborations with BossMan Dlow and Tony Shhnow. Chow Lee has been tearing up New York City and beyond, hosting a packed Valentine's Day celebration in Brooklyn and releasing viral singles like "Swag It," an ethereal sample drill anthem, which gained viral traction for its blunt opening line: "How do you feel about being my side b*tch?" "Swag It" recently surpassed 1 million streams on Spotify.

Danny Towers made his mark in 2023 with Safe House lead single "Florida Water" ft. Luh Tyler & Ski Mask The Slump God, which earned praise from XXL, Stereogum, HotNewHipHop, and more. "Florida Water" inspired a photo dump trend on TikTok, where creators drop the flyest selfies in their Photos app as the beat drops and Danny’s infectious hook, “Threw him in that water, I’m from Florida, but my wrist Cuban,” gives way to Luh Tyler’s croaking verse. Peaking at #1 on TikTok's trending charts, the song generated over 200k video creations on TikTok, over 35 million streams on all platforms, and reached the top spot on SoundCloud's daily chart.

Chow Lee continued his run as a sexy drill pioneer with last summer's album Hours After The Club. Hours After The Club is an addictive listen, radiating with the seductive charm that inspired Pitchfork to affectionately call Chow Lee the "horniest rapper out." Hours After The Club is chock full of infectious melodies, as Chow's natural bravado makes every X-rated flex feel natural. The tape is home to two new collaborations with his frequent running mate Cash Cobain: the quintessential "sexy drill" anthem "on behalf of the association," and "full service," a luxurious mix of drill, club, and cloud rap, featuring Chow's close friend Lonny Love. Chow followed-up Hours with singles like “team effort!” and  “ready 2 live.”

Stay tuned for more from Danny Towers and Chow Lee as the year continues.

[cyarskaren1999-blog]

kcyars19992 reblogged 

2h ago

Nov 7, 2022

Pair These 84 Taylor Swift Party Lyrics With Your Bejeweled Weekend Pics

Taylor Swift is always dancing, shaking off the haters and sipping something that shimmers. Use these 84 Taylor Swift lyrics for parties and

ELITE DAILY

84 Taylor Swift Lyrics For Parties & Your Bejeweled Insta Pics

Oct. 31, 2022

imgix.bustle.com

If Midnights by Taylor Swift has been on repeat lately, then you probably agree that the pop-superstar is a mastermind when it comes to writing hits. Even if she’s singing about gut-wrenching heartbreak or betrayal in a song, she always finds a way to make it an irresistible dance anthem with relatable lyrics to sing along to. Throughout her discography, she tells folklore about her glamorous Gatsby-esque parties, wine-influenced adventures, and even compares herself to a mirrorball at one point. Rain or shine, Swift’s always dancing — shaking off the haters and sipping something that shimmers. Grab these Taylor Swift lyrics for parties and sharing weekend polaroids of you spinning in that brand new dress.

Swift’s told us about countless late night adventures, like going to the “dive bar on the East side,” sipping cheap wine, and toasting to her “real friends.” Lines like,“Karma is the breeze in my hair on the weekend” give a Friday feeling like no other, even if you’re pouring out to dance away your “champagne problems.” Whether you’re taking squad pics with your besties on a night out or posting a fit pic featuring a “sequin smile, black lipstick,” or a“little black dress,” check out these Taylor Swift lyrics for party captions that scream “we are too busy dancing to get knocked off our feet.” 

One of the major threads (or “invisible strings”) throughout Swift’s catalogue is how she illustrates glimmering stories of fateful events that happen during the night – which is no wonder she wrote Midnights. She’s sung about hosting parties, feeling alone in a crowded room, and even meeting a few lovers at black-tie balls and galas. Whether you’re drinking Old Fashions or “drunk on something stronger than the drinks in the bar,” these weekend lyrics will perfectly paint the picture of your own midnight mayhem under the “starlight.” Sing along to these 84 Taylor Swift lyrics for party Instagram captions. 

Taylor Swift Party Lyrics From Midnights

Gotham/GC Images/Getty Images

"How'd we end up on the floor, anyway?" You say, "Your roommate's cheap-ass screw-top rosé, that's how." – “Maroon”

“And I chose you, the one I was dancing with in New York, no shoes.” – “Maroon”

“The burgundy on my t-shirt when you splashed your wine into me and how the blood rushed into my cheeks. so scarlet, it was (Maroon).” – “Maroon”

“Midnights become my afternoons.” – “Anti-Hero”

“I search the party of better bodies just to learn that you never cared.” – “You’re On Your Own, Kid.”

“On the weekends, I don't dress for friends, lately, I've been dressin' for revenge.” – “Vigilante Sh*t”

“Best believe I'm still bejeweled, when I walk in the room, I can still make the whole place shimmer.” – “Bejeweled”

“And we're dancin' all night, and you can try to change my mind, but you might have to wait in line.” – “Bejeweled”

“Karma is the breeze in my hair on the weekend.” – “Karma”

“Once upon a time, the planets and the fates and all the stars aligned, you and I ended up in the same room at the same time.” – “Mastermind”

“Cheap wine, make believe it's champagne.” – “Paris”

“I was dancing around, dancing around it.” – “High Infidelity”

“I'm not even sorry, nights are so starry.” – “Glitch”

“So I wander through these nights, I prefer hiding in plain sight, my fourth drink in my hand.” – “Dear Reader”

Taylor Swift Party Lyrics From Evermore

“Your heart was glass, I dropped it, champagne problems” – “champagne problems”

“You could call me ‘babe’ for the weekend.” – “‘tis the damn season”

“If the shoe fits, walk in it 'til your high heels break.” – “long story short”

Taylor Swift Party Lyrics From Folklore

“Roaring twenties, tossing pennies in the pool.”– “the 1”

“Rosé flowing with your chosen family.”– “the 1”

“High heels on cobblestones.” – “cardigan”

“Sequin smile, black lipstick.” – “cardigan”

“Dancin' in your Levi's, drunk under a streetlight.” – “cardigan”

“Their parties were tasteful, if a little loud.” – “the last great American dynasty”

“I'll get you out on the floor, shimmering beautiful.” – “mirrorball”

“You'll find me on my tallest tiptoes, spinning in my highest heels, love, shining just for you.”– “mirrorball”

“August sipped away like a bottle of wine.” – “august”

“Pouring out my heart to a stranger, but I didn't pour the whiskey” – “this is me trying”

“It's hard to be at a party when I feel like an open wound.” – “this is me trying”

“If I just showed up at your party, would you have me? Would you want me?” – “betty”

Taylor Swift Party Lyrics From Lover

“I'm drunk in the back of the car and I cried like a baby coming home from the bar.” – “Cruel Summer”

“‘So where we gonna go?’ I whisper in the dark.” – “I Think He Knows”

“We were in the backseat, drunk on something stronger than the drinks in the bar.” – “Cornelia Street”

“Chandelier's still flickering here.” – “Death By A Thousand Cuts”

“I dress to kill my time, I take the long way home, I ask the traffic lights if it'll be alright.”– “Death By A Thousand Cuts”

“Gave up on me like I was a bad drug, now I'm searching for signs in a haunted club.” – “Death By A Thousand Cuts”

“You are somebody that I don't know, but you're takin' shots at me like it's Patrón” – “You Need To Calm Down”

“Sun sinks down, no curfew.” – “It’s Nice To Have A Friend”

Taylor Swift Party Lyrics From Reputation

“Drinking on a beach with you all over me.” – “End Game”

“It's like your eyes are liquor, it's like your body is gold.” – “End Game”

“Most fun I ever had, and I'd do it over and over and over again if I could.” – “I Did Something Bad”

“We can't make any promises now, can we, babe? But you can make me a drink.” – “Delicate”

“Dive bar on the East Side, where you at?” – “Delicate”

“See you in the dark, all eyes on you, my magician.” – “So It Goes...”

“Met you in a bar, all eyes on me, your illusionist.” – “So It Goes...”

“You should take it as a compliment that I got drunk and made fun of the way you talk.” – “Gorgeous”

“And I got a boyfriend, he's older than us. He's in the club doin' I don't know what.” – “Gorgeous”

“I knew it from the first Old Fashioned, we were cursed.” – “Getaway Car”

“Late in the night, the city's asleep.” – “King Of My Heart”

“Up on the roof with a school girl crush, drinking beer out of plastic cups.” – “King Of My Heart”

“Yeah, we were dancing, dancing with our hands tied, hands tied.” – “Dancing with Our Hands Tied”

“I'd kiss you as the lights went out, swaying as the room burned down.” – “Dancing with Our Hands Tied”

“I’m spilling wine in the bathtub, you kiss my face and we're both drunk.” – “Dress”

“It was so nice throwing big parties, jump into the pool from the balcony, everyone swimming in a champagne sea.” – “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things”

“Feeling so Gatsby for that whole year.” – “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things”

“Here's a toast to my real friends.” – “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things”

“There's glitter on the floor after the party.” – “New Year’s Day”

“I'll be cleaning up bottles with you on New Year's Day.” – “New Year’s Day”

Taylor Swift Party Lyrics From 1989

Graham Denholm/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

“It's a new soundtrack, I could dance to this beat, beat, forevermore.” – “Welcome To New York”

“I can make the bad guys good for a weekend.” – “Blank Space”

“I stay out too late, got nothin' in my brain.” – “Shake It Off”

“I never miss a beat, I'm lightnin' on my feet.” – “Shake It Off”

“I'm dancin' on my own, I make the moves up as I go.” – “Shake It Off”

“It's like I got this music in my mind, sayin', ‘It's gonna be alright.’ – “Shake It Off”

“It's a scene and we're out here in plain sight.”– “I Know Places”

“You're still all over me like a wine-stained dress I can't wear anymore.” – Clean”

“We cry tears of mascara in the bathroom, honey, life is just a classroom.” – “New Romantics”

“Every night with us is like a dream, baby, we're the new romantics.” – “New Romantics”

“We are too busy dancing to get knocked off our feet.”– “New Romantics”

“Please, take my hand and please, take me dancing and please, leave me stranded. It's so romantic.” – “New Romantics”

Taylor Swift Party Lyrics From Red (Taylor’s Version)

“Tonight's the night when we forget about the deadlines.” – “22”

“Everything will bе alright if we just keep dancin' like we'rе twenty-two.” – “22”

“It seems like one of those nights we ditch the whole scene and end up dreamin' instead of sleepin'.” – “22”

“Spinning like a girl in a brand new dress, we had this big, wide city all to ourselves.” – “Holy Ground”

“I said, "oh my, what a marvelous tune, it was the best night, never would forget how we moved.” – “Starlight”

“And we were dancing, dancing, like we're made of starlight.” – “Starlight”

“And it was like slow motion, standing there in my party dress.” – “The Moment I Knew”

“Every weekend, this same party, I never go alone.” – “The Very First Night”

Taylor Swift Party Lyrics From Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)

Larry Busacca/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

“This night is sparkling, don't you let it go.” – “Enchanted”

“The night you danced like you knew our lives would never be the same.” – “Long Live”

Taylor Swift Party Lyrics From Fearless (Taylor’s Version)

“And I don't know why but with you I'd dance, in a storm in my best dress, fеarless.” – “Fearless”

“See the lights, see the party, the ball gowns.”– “Love Story

Taylor Swift Party Lyrics From Taylor Swift

“I hope you think my favorite song, the one we danced to all night long.” – “Tim McGraw”

“When you think happiness, I hope you think that little black dress.” – “Tim McGraw”

“Friday night beneath the stars.” – “I’m Only Me When I’m With You”

[steph-lutz]

I want anthems Late nights, my friends, New York I sleep, wanna wake up brand new I sleep, wanna wake up with you

- Charli XCX, “Anthems”

[angelslant]

anthems by charli xcx. yeah.

[carryonthroughtheages]

Hello everyone!

Another year of Carry On Through The Ages is over and done! We have emotions and exhaustion, but we're so happy that this year had the hype and excitement that it did.

Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, to all of the AMAZING creators who spent the last several months working away at their historical content!

Thank you also to the hard-working mods: @bazzybelle, @giishu, @palimpsessed, and @xivz . This fest would not have been as successful as it has been without you!

We encourage everyone to look under the page break for all the fics and art. They're all fantastic!

Here is the link to the AO3 Collection: Carry On Through The Ages 2021!

Thank you all, and until next year! 🧡🧡🧡

MONDAY:

1) sun on the sea (T) - @trenchcoat-moth : AO3 // Tumblr

Tensions run high in England, and Malcolm decides it's for the best he sends Baz to live with Fiona, where he'll be safer.

That is, until Baz's ship is attacked.

2) The Words I Long To Say (M) - @bazzybelle : AO3 // Tumblr

Simon Snow was dead.

Baz Pitch was sure of it. Simon had gone away seven years ago to fight a war in the jungle and he hadn't come home.

So, when Simon shows up in Baz's club, investigating a string of brutal murders, all Baz wants to do is hold him close and never let him go.

But these aren't the same boys from 1960 and Baz has a lot of processing to do before he's ready to believe in Simon again.

3) we are slaves to gods, whatever gods are (M) - @wellbelesbian : AO3 // Tumblr

I don’t fully understand what plagues him, but I know it’s bad, and I know it goes deeper than guilt. He didn’t want to kill his father, not really, but we were instructed to do so by Apollo. Cleanse the house of its sins, dispose of a murderer to set things right. It was only right that I join him; he was avenging my mother as much as his. Clearly, Apollo didn’t seem to consider that such an act would make Simon a murderer in his father’s place. It seems I got off fine, but as far as Simon is concerned, the vengeful spirits that once spun and danced on the roof of the palace now hunt him down, determined not to stop until he rids the world of himself.

4) World War II Era Art - @stardustasincocaine : Tumblr

TUESDAY:

1) the art of loving you (E) - @one-more-offbeat-anthem : AO3 // Tumblr

1955. London. Young love.

Forbidden love.

A year ago, starving artist Simon Snow met Baz Pitch, son of a wealthy art patron, at a party, and their days (and nights) together have been a wonderful secret.

But Simon is tired of being a secret and knows it's time for things to end.

(Baz has other ideas.)

2) Reliquary of an Arsonist (T) - @tea-brigade : AO3 // Tumblr

Simon Snow grew up a ward of Watford Abbey, but when his magic manifested in an explosive accident as a child, he became the Abbey’s anchorite—never to leave Watford’s walls, for his own protection. That is, until Abbot David sends him on an important errand…

Basilton Pitch paints portraits for his patron, Lord Grimm. But he’s never forgotten the magic he learned from his mother—nor the men who condemned her to death as a heretic. When Simon arrives and offers Baz a commission from Watford Abbey, he sees his chance to avenge his mother once and for all...and he’s willing to burn down everything in his path to that end.

But it was no coincidence that pulled these two unlikely souls together. Something more sinister is underway at Watford Abbey, and only Simon and Baz can uncover the truth before everything goes up in flames.

3) Westward Son (E) - @aristocratic-otter : AO3 // Tumblr

Simon and Baz have found each other again, but there's nowhere in Brooklyn or Virginia where they can safely be together. So now, they venture the hazards and struggles of the Oregon trail, to perhaps find a little homestead in Oregon of their own.

4) A Way Out (T) - @lying-on-the-sofa : AO3

I frown at him..“You don’t know me.”

He offers his hand. “Simon.”

Simon. I feel the name around in my mind and assign it to his face. Simon. I don’t shake his hand. They’ve still got my arms pinned. “Basilton.”

Simon nods at me. “Now we know each other. Let him go.” Very casually, he takes his other hand from behind his back. A sword, flashing. He leans on it and smiles invitingly. “Let him go.”

This time, they listen.

--

Simon Snow has been trained for years to become a tribute—one of the fighters Athens sends every ninth year into the Minotaur’s labyrinth. He wants to know the way out, if only for Penny’s sake. Luckily for him, Prince Basilton of Crete also wants a way out—off the island, where no one will know he’s the half-brother of the Minotaur.

Unluckily for both of them, they don’t exactly form the most agreeable pair.

WEDNESDAY

1) long is the road the leads me home (G) - @wellbelesbian : AO3 (Version 1) (Version 2) // Tumblr

Baz has a rather unremarkable life, and he's fine with that. Running his late mother's beloved inn with his temperamental aunt, estranged from his father and step-siblings, he's successfully convinced himself that he's better off without attachments.

Then Simon barrels into his life, guns blazing and rapier drawn, and Baz is swept up in dramatic plot he never bargained for.

Worse still, he finds he quite likes the thrill.

2) New Romantics (T) - @ninemagicks : AO3 // Tumblr

Basilton Pitch, twenty-two years old and a famed poet of the Romantic era, has fled to the countryside. In Mummers House, the fabled haunt of literary greats, he sulks himself into oblivion and awaits a sad, disappointing end to his brief years of brilliance. The cause of his downfall? None other than Simon Snow, the so-called “bad boy of English poetry”, breaker of rules and eternal thorn in his side. Baz hopes that Mummers House might mean an escape from London, from Snow and his increasingly virulent popularity... but the rain that comes has other ideas.

3) thnétos (T) - @snowybank : AO3 // Tumblr

thnétos: subject to death, mortal

a retelling of Apollo and Hyacinthus

4) A Medieval AU art piece - @thewriterxj : Tumblr

THURSDAY

1) From Eden (E) - @orange-peony : AO3 // Tumblr

I wonder if his skin is warm or cold to the touch. I tell myself it’s simple curiosity, that I’m an artist and capturing things on paper or canvas is my way to make sense of the world. That drawing him feels so natural, so I should just follow my instincts. Ebb used to say it all the time. Follow your heart. It knows where you’re supposed to go.

I wish I could. I wish I had enough money and freedom to just draw what I want. To paint him in his unattainable beauty. To draw him the way I want to. Naked and vulnerable, raw. Without frills and expensive suits.

Just Baz on paper, my fingers tracing his delicate and beautiful lines with simple charcoal.

2) Slings and Eros (M) - @palimpsessed : AO3 // Tumblr

Young god of love Simonides is tasked by his father, the god of war, to bring about the ruin of a mortal prince to punish his blasphemy. However, once Simonides sees his intended victim, he begins to have misgivings. Prince Tyrannus might have offended the gods with his very existence, but all Simonides can see is how beautiful and lonely he is.

Or, a very loose interpretation of the Eros and Psyche myth.

3) I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire (M) - @knitbelove : AO3 // Tumblr

September 1940: Going back to Watford feels different this year, and not just because England is at the brink of war with Germany and Italy. Penelope seems unsettled by everything, and Agatha is distant, and Baz is … simply not here.

What if Carry On but during the Blitz?? Yeah.

4) A Fool's Oath (M) - @thewriterxj : AO3 // Tumblr

A simple soldier is invited to join the ranks of the royal guard. He and his appointed mage arrive at the royal city to find themselves at the mercy of an unmerciful court. As he struggles to find his place in this foreign environment, he also finds himself entranced by music that only he seems to hear that floats out about the city. He makes an oath to wed whoever makes such beautiful music.

Too bad that person is the crown prince.

FRIDAY

1) Stranger Tides (T) - @tea-brigade & @xivz : AO3 // Tumblr

“If some god shall wreck me in the wine-dark deep, even so I will endure…” Captain Simon Snow of the Chosen One is many things—cunning, handsome, ruthless. Greedy. It’s no surprise that Snow finds a way to piss off the God of the Sea, he always manages to get himself into some type of trouble. This time, however, he’s not the only one who will suffer the consequences. Poseidon promises to not stop his pursuit until Snow and all of his men are dead.

Enter Basilton Pitch—rich, beautiful, mysterious. Suspicious. He offers the crew of the Chosen One a hefty sum to take him back to Europe from the Caribbean. And who is Captain Snow to refuse so much coin? After all, Greek gods aren’t real.

Right?

2) The wayward heir [comic] (M) - @letraspal : AO3 // Tumblr

Like a folk song, our love will be passed on. Simon Snow wants to be an artist. He used to live in Fiesole where he worked in the wool shop of his good friend Ebeneza Petty. He has now chosen to return to his native Florence in order to participate in an art contest hosted by the Pitch family, the most important bankers in all the three continents and Simon’s last chance for an art patronage. No matter how much he hates them.

But being back in Florence also brings back the memories Simon wanted to leave behind : his days as an orphan, the mystery about his mother, and once more being under the inquisitive eyes of his godfather, the new archbishop Davy. The archbishop is very same man who would never forgive him for dropping out the priesthood and ruining his secret plans against the Pitches.

The last thing Simon needed was an unbearably handsome jerk getting him into trouble on his very first day in Florence. How can focus when this man is the most annoying person he has ever met and yet his major source of inspiration.

3) Prohibition Blues (T) - @heyyyandrea : AO3

Simon Snow is a baker and aspiring playwright in Prohibition Era New York City. When he meets a handsome man at Shepherd's speakeasy who is interested in his work, he can't help but think it feels too good to be true.

4) Earth Below & Sky Above (M) - @phoxphyre : AO3 // Tumblr

In the depth of the palace of King Minos of Crete lurks a creature known as the Minotaur.

Baz, prince of Athens and chosen of the god Poseidon, has heard the stories. And now he’s volunteered to come to Crete as one of the annual tributes—to dance with the king’s bulls and fulfill his destiny. He just wants to survive the bulls, protect his people, and go home.

But what if the Minotaur isn’t a monster—but just a boy? And what if instead of slaying him, Baz fell in love with him?

A Carry On retelling of the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur, set in Bronze Age Crete.

5) A 1980s AU Art piece by @stardustasincocaine : Tumblr // Instagram (Slightly NSFW)

[swiftieinlove91]

thank u taylor

hey taylor. hey tumblr.

this is my first tumblr account, and I made it because I know Taylor Swift lurks on here sometimes, and I hope this message finds her.

Taylor, I want to say thank you, and I didn't know of any way you might see it better than tumblr. You have been such a huge influence in my life - sometimes in ways I haven't always realized until years later. I remember the first time I heard one of your songs, and connected it to you, and realized I loved it. It was "Love Story," and my mom was driving me to Friendly's before school started that day to meet up with a bunch of fellow drama kids the morning of opening night of one of our plays (it was a tradition for us to meet for breakfast). I remember that the sky was a steely blue-grey, and that I was full of anticipation and nerves and hope for that night. I'd been homeschooled most of my life, and it was my first time joining in on this breakfast tradition. I hoped some of the other kids liked me. I had a crush on one of the stage crew boys. and Love Story came on the radio and something about it hit me in that moment - I was young, I was in love, I had hopes and fears and parents who I couldn't always count on to support me. your song affirmed and soothed all of that, and added to the young, naive, fragile, intense beauty of that moment.

later, i was in grad school and 1989 had just come out. i had the cd and it was the only thing i ever played in my car, just on repeat. from the joyfulness of "welcome to new york" (which i would play without fail every time i drove from grad school in maine to home to buffalo, NY, making sure to have it blasting at exactly the moment when I crossed into NY), the no-f's-given attitude of "shake it off," to the devastating, wrenching, cleansing sadness of "clean." I played that album so much that friends i carpooled with regularly inadvertently became swifties as a result of me driving them around xD

then, later, i was a young woman who had just ended an engagement, after a 6-year-long relationship that started when i was 19, in my mid-20s and feeling hot and vibrant and sexy and strong and powerful and untouchable for the first time ever. Reputation came out and i felt all the strong, sensual energy in every single song. It became the anthem to my being. you helped me, you showed me that it was possible and beautiful and completely okay to step into my power. i was single and i was living alone for the first time ever and i was so unsure and so scared but you helped me feel like i had power, and I would figure all those things out.

lover buoyed me as i tried to re-navigate love again after ending such a long and serious commitment. it provided both salve for the wounds, in terms of beautiful songs like "death by a thousand cuts," as well as hope for more and better, in songs like, of course, "lover."

and then the pandemic hit, and you literally saved my life. "folklore" and "evermore" were incredible, precious gifts. they felt so authentic - like less-planned, just loving gifts to your fans and the people who love you. they are what got me through 2020. i was living in Dakar, Senegal at the time the pandemic started, and in late march i was mandatorily evacuated by the US govt back to buffalo. i had nowhere to live, no car, no savings, no health insurance, no plan (my plan had been to continue to live and work abroad for a few years, then pursue a doctorate degree abroad). i watched everything i'd planned and worked so hard for fall apart in the matter of a week. and then folklore came along, and it helped soothe me, and helped me feel connected to everyone else in the world who was going through similar things - our lives and plans and dreams coming derailed by something none of us had planned for, could have possibly planned for.

this was also when i started to really reflect on myself and who i am (i had a lot of time lol). i finally felt free and strong and ready enough to step into my queer identity. i don't know if it was intentional or not, and i don't want to assume anything about your personal life, but songs like "seven" and "betty" and "august" helped me come into that truth about myself. again, i don't want to assume anything about you personally, but your songs helped me find and be okay with myself, and i want to thank you.

and then evermore was just icing on a gift-cake ;) i went through another really bad breakup in 2021, one that shook my perception of reality to its core. your songs kept me grounded.

and now, here we are, post-midnights. i met you there at midnight. i stayed up til 4 am on a worknight to listen to the full album, several times through, and then the bonus tracks. i SCREECHED at the beginning of "vigilante shit." i danced along to the full album. i cried during "question...?" and "sweet nothing."

in between all of this, for the last several years, I watch your "artist of the decade" performance and your live in paris performances from lover and your performance of "false god" on snl and your tiny desk concert and your interviews.

i don't know how you've managed to do it, but i feel like i've grown up with you, and i feel like every album you release is exactly what my heart needs at that moment in time. you've taught me so much about how to find oneself, how to overcome adversity with class and grace, how to tune out the haters, how to believe in myself and my power. thank you. thank you thank you thank you. your music and your words have been here with me throughout my life, buoying and affirming and teaching and loving and powerful. i am so incredibly grateful to be alive in a time and space where i've gotten to grow up alongside you, and so incredibly grateful that you have pushed through everything you have to be the shining light you are.

thank you, taylor <3

[90363462]

84 Taylor Swift Lyrics For Parties & Your Bejeweled Insta Pics

Oct. 31, 2022

If Midnights by Taylor Swift has been on repeat lately, then you probably agree that the pop-superstar is a mastermind when it comes to writing hits. Even if she’s singing about gut-wrenching heartbreak or betrayal in a song, she always finds a way to make it an irresistible dance anthem with relatable lyrics to sing along to. Throughout her discography, she tells folklore about her glamorous Gatsby-esque parties, wine-influenced adventures, and even compares herself to a mirrorball at one point. Rain or shine, Swift’s always dancing — shaking off the haters and sipping something that shimmers. Grab these Taylor Swift lyrics for parties and sharing weekend polaroids of you spinning in that brand new dress.

Swift’s told us about countless late night adventures, like going to the “dive bar on the East side,” sipping cheap wine, and toasting to her “real friends.” Lines like,“Karma is the breeze in my hair on the weekend” give a Friday feeling like no other, even if you’re pouring out to dance away your “champagne problems.” Whether you’re taking squad pics with your besties on a night out or posting a fit pic featuring a “sequin smile, black lipstick,” or a“little black dress,” check out these Taylor Swift lyrics for party captions that scream “we are too busy dancing to get knocked off our feet.” 

One of the major threads (or “invisible strings”) throughout Swift’s catalogue is how she illustrates glimmering stories of fateful events that happen during the night – which is no wonder she wrote Midnights. She’s sung about hosting parties, feeling alone in a crowded room, and even meeting a few lovers at black-tie balls and galas. Whether you’re drinking Old Fashions or “drunk on something stronger than the drinks in the bar,” these weekend lyrics will perfectly paint the picture of your own midnight mayhem under the “starlight.” Sing along to these 84 Taylor Swift lyrics for party Instagram captions. 

Taylor Swift Party Lyrics From Midnights

Gotham/GC Images/Getty Images

"How'd we end up on the floor, anyway?" You say, "Your roommate's cheap-ass screw-top rosé, that's how." – “Maroon”

“And I chose you, the one I was dancing with in New York, no shoes.” – “Maroon”

“The burgundy on my t-shirt when you splashed your wine into me and how the blood rushed into my cheeks. so scarlet, it was (Maroon).” – “Maroon”

“Midnights become my afternoons.” – “Anti-Hero”

“I search the party of better bodies just to learn that you never cared.” – “You’re On Your Own, Kid.”

“On the weekends, I don't dress for friends, lately, I've been dressin' for revenge.” – “Vigilante Sh*t”

“Best believe I'm still bejeweled, when I walk in the room, I can still make the whole place shimmer.” – “Bejeweled”

“And we're dancin' all night, and you can try to change my mind, but you might have to wait in line.” – “Bejeweled”

“Karma is the breeze in my hair on the weekend.” – “Karma”

“Once upon a time, the planets and the fates and all the stars aligned, you and I ended up in the same room at the same time.” – “Mastermind”

“Cheap wine, make believe it's champagne.” – “Paris”

“I was dancing around, dancing around it.” – “High Infidelity”

“I'm not even sorry, nights are so starry.” – “Glitch”

“So I wander through these nights, I prefer hiding in plain sight, my fourth drink in my hand.” – “Dear Reader”

Taylor Swift Party Lyrics From Evermore

“Your heart was glass, I dropped it, champagne problems” – “champagne problems”

“You could call me ‘babe’ for the weekend.” – “‘tis the damn season”

“If the shoe fits, walk in it 'til your high heels break.” – “long story short”

Taylor Swift Party Lyrics From Folklore

“Roaring twenties, tossing pennies in the pool.”– “the 1”

“Rosé flowing with your chosen family.”– “the 1”

“High heels on cobblestones.” – “cardigan”

“Sequin smile, black lipstick.” – “cardigan”

“Dancin' in your Levi's, drunk under a streetlight.” – “cardigan”

“Their parties were tasteful, if a little loud.” – “the last great American dynasty”

“I'll get you out on the floor, shimmering beautiful.” – “mirrorball”

“You'll find me on my tallest tiptoes, spinning in my highest heels, love, shining just for you.”– “mirrorball”

“August sipped away like a bottle of wine.” – “august”

“Pouring out my heart to a stranger, but I didn't pour the whiskey” – “this is me trying”

“It's hard to be at a party when I feel like an open wound.” – “this is me trying”

“If I just showed up at your party, would you have me? Would you want me?” – “betty”

Taylor Swift Party Lyrics From Lover

“I'm drunk in the back of the car and I cried like a baby coming home from the bar.” – “Cruel Summer”

“‘So where we gonna go?’ I whisper in the dark.” – “I Think He Knows”

“We were in the backseat, drunk on something stronger than the drinks in the bar.” – “Cornelia Street”

“Chandelier's still flickering here.” – “Death By A Thousand Cuts”

“I dress to kill my time, I take the long way home, I ask the traffic lights if it'll be alright.”– “Death By A Thousand Cuts”

“Gave up on me like I was a bad drug, now I'm searching for signs in a haunted club.” – “Death By A Thousand Cuts”

“You are somebody that I don't know, but you're takin' shots at me like it's Patrón” – “You Need To Calm Down”

“Sun sinks down, no curfew.” – “It’s Nice To Have A Friend”

Taylor Swift Party Lyrics From Reputation

“Drinking on a beach with you all over me.” – “End Game”

“It's like your eyes are liquor, it's like your body is gold.” – “End Game”

“Most fun I ever had, and I'd do it over and over and over again if I could.” – “I Did Something Bad”

“We can't make any promises now, can we, babe? But you can make me a drink.” – “Delicate”

“Dive bar on the East Side, where you at?” – “Delicate”

“See you in the dark, all eyes on you, my magician.” – “So It Goes...”

“Met you in a bar, all eyes on me, your illusionist.” – “So It Goes...”

“You should take it as a compliment that I got drunk and made fun of the way you talk.” – “Gorgeous”

“And I got a boyfriend, he's older than us. He's in the club doin' I don't know what.” – “Gorgeous”

“I knew it from the first Old Fashioned, we were cursed.” – “Getaway Car”

“Late in the night, the city's asleep.” – “King Of My Heart”

“Up on the roof with a school girl crush, drinking beer out of plastic cups.” – “King Of My Heart”

“Yeah, we were dancing, dancing with our hands tied, hands tied.” – “Dancing with Our Hands Tied”

“I'd kiss you as the lights went out, swaying as the room burned down.” – “Dancing with Our Hands Tied”

“I’m spilling wine in the bathtub, you kiss my face and we're both drunk.” – “Dress”

“It was so nice throwing big parties, jump into the pool from the balcony, everyone swimming in a champagne sea.” – “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things”

“Feeling so Gatsby for that whole year.” – “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things”

“Here's a toast to my real friends.” – “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things”

“There's glitter on the floor after the party.” – “New Year’s Day”

“I'll be cleaning up bottles with you on New Year's Day.” – “New Year’s Day”

Taylor Swift Party Lyrics From 1989

Graham Denholm/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

“It's a new soundtrack, I could dance to this beat, beat, forevermore.” – “Welcome To New York”

“I can make the bad guys good for a weekend.” – “Blank Space”

“I stay out too late, got nothin' in my brain.” – “Shake It Off”

“I never miss a beat, I'm lightnin' on my feet.” – “Shake It Off”

“I'm dancin' on my own, I make the moves up as I go.” – “Shake It Off”

“It's like I got this music in my mind, sayin', ‘It's gonna be alright.’ – “Shake It Off”

“It's a scene and we're out here in plain sight.”– “I Know Places”

“You're still all over me like a wine-stained dress I can't wear anymore.” – Clean”

“We cry tears of mascara in the bathroom, honey, life is just a classroom.” – “New Romantics”

“Every night with us is like a dream, baby, we're the new romantics.” – “New Romantics”

“We are too busy dancing to get knocked off our feet.”– “New Romantics”

“Please, take my hand and please, take me dancing and please, leave me stranded. It's so romantic.” – “New Romantics”

Taylor Swift Party Lyrics From Red (Taylor’s Version)

“Tonight's the night when we forget about the deadlines.” – “22”

“Everything will bе alright if we just keep dancin' like we'rе twenty-two.” – “22”

“It seems like one of those nights we ditch the whole scene and end up dreamin' instead of sleepin'.” – “22”

“Spinning like a girl in a brand new dress, we had this big, wide city all to ourselves.” – “Holy Ground”

“I said, "oh my, what a marvelous tune, it was the best night, never would forget how we moved.” – “Starlight”

“And we were dancing, dancing, like we're made of starlight.” – “Starlight”

“And it was like slow motion, standing there in my party dress.” – “The Moment I Knew”

“Every weekend, this same party, I never go alone.” – “The Very First Night”

Taylor Swift Party Lyrics From Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)

Larry Busacca/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

“This night is sparkling, don't you let it go.” – “Enchanted”

“The night you danced like you knew our lives would never be the same.” – “Long Live”

Taylor Swift Party Lyrics From Fearless (Taylor’s Version)

“And I don't know why but with you I'd dance, in a storm in my best dress, fеarless.” – “Fearless”

“See the lights, see the party, the ball gowns.”– “Love Story

Taylor Swift Party Lyrics From Taylor Swift

“I hope you think my favorite song, the one we danced to all night long.” – “Tim McGraw”

“When you think happiness, I hope you think that little black dress.” – “Tim McGraw”

“Friday night beneath the stars.” – “I’m Only Me When I’m With You”

[lindsaywesker]

Good morning! I hope you slept well and feel rested? Currently sitting at my desk, in my study, attired only in my blue towelling robe, enjoying my first cuppa of the day. Welcome to Too Much Information Tuesday!

To help sex workers get more business during the 16th century, officials in Venice designated a bridge where women could stand and display their breasts. The bridge still stands to this day and is called 'Ponte delle Tette' or 'the bridge of tits'.

Clinomania is the excessive desire to lay in bed all day.

The word ‘friends’ is said in every episode of ‘Friends’.

Women burn more calories during sex if they reach orgasm. If.

The expiration date on water bottles is for the bottle, not the water.

‘Suckabob’ was a 19th-century variant of ‘lollipop’.

One billion people speak English. That's one in every seven on Earth.

According to her last wishes, Elizabeth Taylor arrived late for her own funeral.

There are more phone calls placed on Mother's Day than any other day of the year.

Ford has a robot called Robutt that simulates a large man sitting on its car seats.

Great news! Just got a job as senior director at Old MacDonald's Farm. I'm the CIEIO.

People who enjoy helping others and/or spending money on others tend to be less stressed and happier.

A waterside restaurant in Perth, Australia, hands out water pistols so that diners can repel the seagulls.

A study from the University of Warwick has determined that Britons are genetically predisposed to be grumpy.

4,000 children under the age of two are listed as owners of British companies.

Senior citizens in New Zealand can join ‘coffin clubs’, where they meet up once a week to make and decorate their own coffins.

In Japan, there is a hotel where you can stay for just $1 a night. The catch is you must agree to live stream your entire stay on YouTube.

There’s a caterpillar that eats coca leaves and vomits cocaine onto its predators.

In 2013, a man bought a house next to his ex-wife just to install a giant middle finger statue for her to see every day.

If you keep smelling something that is not really there, you may be experiencing the earliest symptoms of schizophrenia.

Mosquito repellents don't repel, they hide you. The spray blocks the mosquito's sensors so they don't know you are there.

The birth rate in Japan is so low that adult nappy sales are rapidly overtaking those of babies’ nappies.

37% of Britons think their jobs are meaningless and don’t contribute to the world.

The human anus can expand up to eight inches. A raccoon can fit through a four-inch hole.

If you commit a crime in North Korea, it's not just you that goes to prison, your children and your grandchildren get sent to prison too.

02.10.22: Boy George signs up for ‘I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here’ after landing the show’s biggest-ever pay check (rumoured to be a million dollars!)

A Californian couple named Helen & Les Brown were both born on December 31st, 1918. They married for 75 years and both lived to the age of 94 until they both died in 2013, one day apart.

Over thinking is a special form of fear. This fear becomes worse when adding anticipation, memory, imagination, and emotion together.

The first recorded use of the word ‘woke’ to mean well informed, was in a New York Times glossary of ‘words you might hear in Harlem’ from 1962.

Aretha Franklin was tracked for 40 years by the FBI, which used false phone calls, surveillance, infiltration and highly placed sources in an attempt to tie her to ‘extremists’.

At the 1967 South African Grand Prix, the Mexican national anthem couldn’t be found, so the organisers played the ‘Mexican Hat Dance’ instead.

“Stupidity is knowing the truth, seeing the truth but still believing the lies. And that is more infectious than any other disease.” (Professor Richard Feynman)

The rate of unexpected winter deaths in the UK is twice that of Finland, yet London’s January temperature is 10C higher than Helsinki. At least one death every 52 minutes caused by living in a cold house.

The script for award-winning series ‘Squid Game’ was originally completed by creator Hwang Dong-hyuk back in 2009, but was rejected by studios for 10 years for being "too violent" and "too unrealistic". Now, in 2022, it sits at No. 1 as the most-watched show in Netflix history.

In 1915, a woman arrived late at her sister's funeral. When she arrived, she demanded that her sister's coffin be raised so she could see her one last time. Upon opening the coffin, her sister, Essie Dunbar, sat up and smiled at her. She went on to live another 47 years.

Okay, that’s enough information for one day. Have a tremendous and tumultuous Tuesday! I love you all.

[rjpen]

My father came to me in a dream in New York City one day. 

I was walking down a busy street at the time, so it was something of an inconvenience; but I hadn’t seen him in years, so I kept calm and carried on. I kept the rhythm of my steps, and I continued to avoid the fast moving obstacles of people and traffic. I began to hum to myself. It’s a thing I do to manage stress, or distress - which is an odd thing to identify upon re-uniting with your own dad, but it was present none the less - we hadn’t seen each other in over 15 years, and this was a waking dream after all. 

I hum to myself in the dentist’s chair when they get the drill out. Or anything else that buzzes menacingly, but they told me they don’t mind, and I think they and the assistants are quite amused by it. It beats screams.

Though he did not buzz menacingly, I hummed to my father, there on 2nd Avenue, and he hummed back. He kind of resonated. Words rang out with great eloquence, but the consonants never formed. The words simply vibrated, and I tried to find harmony with them. Sometimes perfect 5ths, sometimes clashing 7ths and 4ths - sometimes in a uniform lockstep beat, in time with my heart or the steady pulse of unrelenting Empire State footsteps - ever forward and constant; other times in challenging cross rhythms and alternate timings that teeter on the brink of chaos, the very edge of loosing all apparent form before suddenly completing their cycle and resolving again into a perfect fractal image.

In this way, we talked.

I couldn’t tell you exactly what he said, and I wouldn’t, it was a private conversation after all - but he left me with a song.

****

Soon after, a close friend, Jack Brown, had just gotten married, and text me a series of tender chords he’d strummed out on his honeymoon (he apologized for his playing in the voice note, explaining that he was unaccustomed to the ring on his finger, and it was making him stumble over the frets. I thought that was just about the most adorable thing I’d ever heard.) He wondered if I could do something unexpected with them.

I kept humming around the streets of New York.

******

A month before the death of George Floyd, I was in London and I reached out to an old colleague, Lanre Malaolu suggesting we finally got round to connecting in the way we’d put off for years and collaborate while I was grounded on a rare trip back in the UK. I had just finished this complicated sort of anthemic lullaby about love, legacy, loss - and how men particularly, deal with such vulnerabilities - with my brother (together we go by the musical pseudonym ‘TUNYA’). Lanre’s recent work exploring tenderness within Black masculinity seemed a perfect, unexpected, and exciting match to explore the themes of the music visually.

By the time of filming in August, the world had been brought to a screaming halt by the rawest, largest, and most powerful display of Black community, pain and activism since the Civil Rights movement of the 60s. A palpable sense of communal grief had dominated every conversation, on a global scale, magnified and brought to boil by the losses and fear of a world brought to its knees by COVID-19. John Lewis had died. Colston was dumped in the sea, and confederate monuments were armed battle grounds - defended by white militias and conquered by Black ballerinas. Chadwick Boseman died. I missed my dad. A world full of uncertainty lacked leadership and compassion, and each new week brought new, unresolvable heartbreak. The core team involved in the film had been privately trying to learn how to be grieving, vulnerable, Black and publicly on display for months, and the piece grew to reflect that. The responsibility as artists to share what light and answers we’d found and contribute that back into a community fractured and isolated by social distance, thrust not only a sense of purpose on the project, but a guiding momentum. It could now only be this.

Joshua Nash is an extraordinarily sensitive performer, and his unique blend of abrasive power and overwhelming vulnerability guides the piece through a physical embodiment of his own personal journey through a universal grief. The battle for control and suppression, the desire to tidy away a past too painful to confront, and the ultimate realisation that the only escape from the trappings of an eternal fight - is to allow oneself to feel it. To accept the pain of past battles, honour it, and through that knowledge, gain the peace necessary to thrive and progress beyond it.

To a world seemingly divided into two camps, both struggling to address a painful history, a cancerous personal and public legacy, I hope the piece’s foreword (unpublished in the end, written late one night between rehearsals, trying to pin down our direction) offers a guiding light toward its redemptive resolution:

“Those who fell before you fought,

For you

Not to be bound in mourning

But to free your life’s celebration”

In the end, like them all, Don’t Wait is simply a love song. It is about finding the path through life’s necessary, good trouble, to life’s intrinsic celebration.

More love, always

R

x

Watch the video here

(Photographs by Helen Murray)

————

DON’T WAIT

Sweet, sweet sun

Shine!

I couldn’t wait

Darling

To hold you in these arms

I couldn’t wait

I couldn’t wait

Darling

To keep you

Quite as warm,

Warm as I would have liked

But I’ll soft speak

On the wind

And I

Won’t let you fall apart

If you hold me

Inside

Sweet sweet sun

Please

Shine

The first time I met you

I felt that I could fall into the sun

And still feel the light

Of your eyes

To guide me home

The first time.

The first time I met you

I felt like my life had just begun

Born again,

A better man, a better man

For you

And I’ll be around

On the wind

And I’ll guide you through the night

If you

You call me out

I will hold your hand

I never meant for you to

Stumble

Stumble

and fall

Without me

Oh, there’s a song in you

All that I never taught

I never thought

I’d have to

I wish I could

More than anything

I want to hear

Oh,

What a song you are

And don’t sing

Like you let me down

You couldn’t

Let me down

And don’t feel

Like you let me down

You could never

Let me down

Don’t ever feel

Like a fool

In those blessed moments

When you fall into the truth

Sweet sweet sun

Of mine

Shine.