Nina Simone: The Montreux Years

Backlash Blues (Live At Casino Montreux, 3rd July 1976)

My Song

I Woke Up Dead 3x 
Reidmoto: ALL

[Verse 1]
I dropped fast, didn’t feel a thing,
 One blink I was here, next blink I was leaving.
 Body went limp like a puppet cut loose,
 Lips turned blue, I was no damn use.

[Verse 2]
I didn’t hear the shouting, didn’t feel the floor,
 Just slipped out my body like I wasn’t mine no more.
 They tell me I fell sideways, breath just stopped—
 But the truth is, man… I just dropped.

[Pre-Chorus]
Somewhere between the heartbeat and the flatline,
 I swear I heard somebody calling me back…

[Chorus]
I woke up dead three times,
 But somebody wouldn’t let me go.
 Ice down my pants, cold water on my soul,
 Hands slappin’ my chest like “DON’T YOU FOLD!”

I woke up dead three times—
 But somehow I made it home.
 Three times gone…
 Three times back…

[Verse 3]
They dragged me to the shower, clothes still on,
 Turned that faucet full blast, “Come on, come on!”
 Walked me ‘round the room, holding up my weight,
 Prayin’ I’d breathe before it got too late.

[Verse 4]
Ice in my waistband, shock in my spine—
 Brother, that shit’ll bring you back online.
 I coughed once, gasped twice, whole world spinning,
 Came back like a reboot that ain’t finished booting.

[Pre-Chorus 2]
There’s nothing like waking up confused and alive,
 Lookin’ at the faces of the ones who kept you in the world…

[Chorus]
I woke up dead three times,
 But somebody wouldn’t let me go.
 Ice down my pants, cold water on my soul,
 Hands slappin’ my chest like “DON’T YOU FOLD!”

I woke up dead three times—
 But somehow I made it home.
 Three times gone…
 Three times back…

Texas Flood

Larry Davis