Sometimes I sound like gravel, and sometimes I sound like coffee and cream.
Nina SimoneRead
It's an artist's duty to reflect the times in which we live.
Interpretation
Artists have a responsibility to express the societal and cultural issues of their time.
Nina Simone's quote emphasizes the important role artists play in society. Through their work, artists capture and comment on the realities of the world around them, reflecting the struggles, triumphs, and complexities of the human experience as shaped by contemporary events and social issues. This engagement not only holds a mirror to society but also encourages dialogue and reflection among audiences.
In practice
This quote can be used in a discussion about the role of artists in social movements.
Sometimes I sound like gravel, and sometimes I sound like coffee and cream.
Jazz is a white term to define black people. My music is black classical music.
I only knew classical music, which to me was the only true music. The only way I could survive at the bar was to mix the classical music with popular songs, and that meant I had to sing. What happened was that I discovered I had a voice plus the talent to mix classical music together with more popular songs, which at the time I detested.
Everything that happened to me as a child involved music. It was part of everyday life, as automatic as breathing.
I didn't get interested in music. It was a gift from God.
This may be a dream, but I'll say it anyway: I was supposed to be married last year, and I bought a gown. When I meet Nelson Mandela, I shall put on this gown and have the train of it removed and put aside, and kiss the ground that he walks on and then kiss his feet.
Even if a story has nothing to do with my life, if I can recognise something of myself in the character and think, 'Oh yeah, that's what I'd do...' Yeah, that's what I look for.
I decided very early that I wanted to write. But I didn't think of it as a career. I didn't even think of it as a profession... It was the most exciting thing, the most powerful thing, the most wonderful thing to do with my life.
There was a German philosopher who is very well known, his name was Immanuel Kant, and he said there are two things that donβt have to mean anything, one is music and the other is laughter. Donβt have to mean anything that is, in order to give us deep pleasure.
There are only 3 colors, 10 digits, and 7 notes; its what we do with them that's important.
About no subject are poets tempted to lie so much as about their own lives.
Every poem breaks a silence that had to be overcome.
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