Jazz poets: Nina Simone – Ain’t Got No, I Got Life: Lyrics, Photos, Videos

This song is actually called African Mailman but the video is entitled as Sinner Man because I found it very similar, even I think the melodic base is the same.

Apologies if someone landed here looking for the song called Sinnerman which has lyrics, etc. In any case, did you found a great song / version here, it is not true?

Nina Simone – Montreaux 1976 JAZZ Festival

I think it’s telling that this track, a song about a man who can not escape God’s judgement, first appeared on Pastel Blues right after Blood on the Leaves, a song about the lynchings of African Americans. Nina was not afraid to tell people they were going to hell. Rolling Stone published a book titled Top 100 Artists.. and Nina was not in it. Boils my blood every time I hear her music.

I ain’t got no home, ain’t got no shoes
Ain’t got no money, ain’t got no class
Ain’t got no skirts, ain’t got no sweater
Ain’t got no perfume, ain’t got no bed
Ain’t got no man

Ain’t got no mother, ain’t got no culture
Ain’t got no friends, ain’t got no schoolin’
Ain’t got no love, ain’t got no name
Ain’t got no ticket, ain’t got no token
Ain’t got no god

Hey, what have I got?
Why am I alive, anyway?
Yeah, what have I got
Nobody can take away?

Got my hair, got my head
Got my brains, got my ears
Got my eyes, got my nose
Got my mouth, I got my smile
I got my tongue, got my chin
Got my neck, got my boobies
Got my heart, got my soul
Got my back, I got my sex

I got my arms, got my hands
Got my fingers, got my legs
Got my feet, got my toes
Got my liver, got my blood

I’ve got life, I’ve got my freedom
I’ve got life
I’ve got the life
And I’m going to keep it
I’ve got the life

Produced by Joe René, Album Nuff Said!

Songwriter(s) James Rado, Gerome Ragni, Galt MacDermot
“Ain’t Got No/I Got Life” is a 1968 single by American singer-songwriter Nina Simone, from her album ‘Nuff Said. It is a medley of two songs, “Ain’t Got No” and “I Got Life”, from the musical Hair, with lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni and music by Galt MacDermot. The song peaked at number 2 in the UK and at number 1 in the Netherlands. It also charted on the Billboard Hot 100, where it reached number 94. The song helped Simone gain popularity under a new, younger audience, and became a standard in her repertoire.