Nina Simone - Pirate Jenny Lyrics
(1928) bertolt brecht, kurt weillYou people can watch while Im scrubbing these floorsAnd Im scrubbin the floors while youre gawkingMaybe once ya tip me and it makes ya feel swellIn this crummy southern townIn this crummy old hotelBut youll never guess to who youre talkin.No. you couldnt ever guess to who youre talkin.Then one night theres a scream in the nightAnd youll wonder who could that have beenAnd you see me kinda grinnin while Im scrubbinAnd you say, whats she got to grin?Ill tell you.Theres a shipThe black freighterWith a skull on its mastheadWill be coming inYou gentlemen can say, hey gal, finish them floors!Get upstairs! whats wrong with you! earn your keep here!You toss me your tipsAnd look out to the shipsBut Im counting your headsAs Im making the bedsCuz theres nobody gonna sleep here, honeyNobodyNobody!Then one night theres a scream in the nightAnd you say, whos that kicking up a row?And ya see me kinda starin out the windaAnd you say, whats she got to stare at now?Ill tell ya.Theres a shipThe black freighterTurns around in the harborShootin guns from her bowNowYou gentlemen can wipe off that smile off your faceCause every building in town is a flat oneThis whole frickin place will be down to the groundOnly this cheap hotel standing up safe and soundAnd you yell, why do they spare that one?Yes.Thats what you say.Why do they spare that one?All the night through, through the noise and to-doYou wonder who is that person that lives up there?And you see me stepping out in the morningLooking nice with a ribbon in my hairAnd the shipThe black freighterRuns a flag up its mastheadAnd a cheer rings the airBy noontime the dockIs a-swarmin with menComin out from the ghostly freighterThey move in the shadowsWhere no one can seeAnd theyre chainin up peopleAnd theyre bringin em to meAskin me,Kill them now, or later?Askin me!Kill them now, or later?Noon by the clockAnd so still by the dockYou can hear a foghorn miles awayAnd in that quiet of deathIll say, right now.Right now!Then theyll pile up the bodiesAnd Ill say,Thatll learn ya!And the shipThe black freighterDisappears out to seaAndOnItIsMe
