S'il est un seul documentaire que vous devez voir ce mois-ci, c'est peut-être What Happened, Miss Simone ?, une biographie produite par Netflix l'année dernière et que je découvre seulement aujourd'hui. Nina Simone, cette immense reine, cette âme à jamais tourmentée qui a donné au monde tellement d'elle-même méritait au moins ce portrait fidèle, juste et souvent poignant. Le film s'attache à montrer que Miss Simone a poursuivi toute sa vie le rêve de devenir la première pianiste classique afro-américaine, en dépit d'un cadre privé instable, d'une notoriété pesante et d'un esprit rongé à petit feu par des troubles psychologiques. Que de chef d’œuvres cependant laissés derrière elle ! Combien de moments purs ! Preuve parmi tant d'autres, cette reprise de "Stars" au festival de Montreux en 1976 : au bout de quelques notes, Nina Simone s'interrompt et ordonne à une spectatrice de s'asseoir, le bras tendu et l'index menaçant. Puis elle reprend et livre son cœur à chaque mesure. Vraie. Sans fard.
Stars, composée par Janis Ian
Stars, they come and go, they come fast, they come slow
They go like the last light of the sun, all in a blaze
And all you see is glory
Hey but it gets lonely there when there's no one there to share
We can shake it away, if you'll hear a story
People lust for fame like athletes in a game
They break their collarbones and come up swinging
Some of them are crowned
Some of them are downed, and some are lost and never found
But most have seen it all
They live their lives in sad cafés and music halls
And they always have a story
Some make it when they're young
Before the world has done its dirty job
And later on someone will say
"You've had your day, now you must make way"
(Don't they always?)
But you'll never know the pain of using a name you never owned
Years of forgetting what you know too well
That you who gave the crown have been let down
You try to make amends without defending
Perhaps pretending you never saw the eyes of young men at twenty-five
That followed as you walk and asked for autographs
Or kissed you on the cheek and you never can believe they really loved you
Some make it when they're old
Perhaps they have a soul they aren't afraid to bare
Perhaps there's nothing there
But anyway that isn't what I meant to say, I meant to tell about a story
Because we all have stories
I can't remember it anyway
So I'll tell about the mood that's in the United States today
And permeating even Switzerland
It goes
But I continue away until I get it together
Some women have a body men will want to see
And so they put it on display
Some people play a fine guitar, I could listen to them play all day
But anyway, I'm trying to tell my story
Janis Ian told it very well
Janis Joplin told it even better
Billie Holiday even told it even better
We always, we always, we always have a story
The latest story that I know is the one that I'm supposed to go out with
