The five best songs written by Nina Simone

Like many others during the 1960s, Simone became deeply involved in the civil rights movement and used her art to challenge anything she deemed unjust. She has directed her artistry in ways that others might have considered risky or career-ending, instead positioning herself as a leading voice in the charge for an anti-racist society, against all imposed odds. by foreigners and labels.

At her truest, Simone addressed America’s racist history with unrelenting honesty, resulting in songs that will forever resonate within the walls of the world’s darkest secrets. With naked emotion and a breathtaking voice, Simone has become a true tour de force of an entire era and will forever remain attached to the sound of a generation who, deep in the trenches, believed in love, hope and fair restoration.

Nina Simone’s best songs:

“Four women” (The wind is wild1966)

Perhaps one of Simone’s best songs of all time, “Four Women” is a thrilling ballad about the different types of women who have endured suffering at the hands of society’s prejudices. This is a completely stripped-down affair that takes four distinct stories and presents them with complete honesty. The song itself is unconventional yet impactful, making it one of the most disturbing yet necessary songs ever written.

Beyond that, “Four Women” is also an exceptional example of Simone’s ability to weave real themes of angst into fictional storytelling. The four women – Aunt Sarah, Safronia, Sweet Thing and Peaches – are each attached to their own world of unsolicited punishment. “My father was rich and white / he forced my mother late at night,” Simone sings, presenting each subject as a broader mirror of the intricacies of the pain that afflicts black women across the country.

“Damn Mississippi” (Nina Simone in concert1964)

In response to a series of racially motivated killings in and around Mississippi, Simone wrote what she later considered her “first civil rights song”, which also turned out to be a fueled protest song by the anger that challenged the more passive approach of some of its activists. contemporaries of the time. Instead of approaching the subject delicately, “Mississippi Goddamn” saw a desperate Simone screaming about the unjust nature of racist crimes.

Unlike many of the civil rights movement’s more diplomatic speakers, the song seemed controversial, mainly because it approached the subject with anger rather than passive rhetoric. “Don’t you see it? Can’t you feel it? Simone begged, her inability to break away from the turmoil evident in the next line: “It’s all in the air / I can’t take the pressure any longer / Somebody say a prayer.” »

‘Revolution’ (love someone1969)

According to various sources, when Simone first heard The Beatles’ “Revolution,” she found it “interesting.” She had nothing against the Liverpudlian quartet, but predictions suggest she might have seen it as a considerably upbeat affair from a group of white men who knew very little about the subject they were singing about. After all, is it really enough to list a series of unjust institutions and top it all off with the simplistic conclusion: “Don’t you know everything will be fine?”

Clearly, Simone didn’t think so, which earned her “Revolution” response. It was an opportunity for her to criticize the original song while specifically pointing the finger at John Lennon, directly advising him to stand up and do something. This is evidenced by the line: “Well you know you gotta clean your brain/The only way we’ll stand upright/Is when you take our foot off our backs.” »

‘Blackbird’ (Nina Simone with ropes1966)

Simone always knew how to embrace her experiences in a way that made others feel less alone in their struggles, even if that meant pulling back the curtain to reveal injustices in their truest and most disturbing forms. “Blackbird” was released during the heart of the civil rights movement and showed the one thing Simone could do that many others could not: present racism as a weapon of oppression rather than as an unspeakable entity that most people wanted to ignore.

Rather than looking at it as a whole, the song addresses the dangers of feeling small in the face of such vehement darkness. “Why do you want to fly Blackbird?” Simone sings darkly: “You will never fly. » Although defeatist in nature, the song presents a harsh reality about the bitter nature of inequality and how often, even in the midst of struggle, it can leave you completely trapped and hopeless.

“Being young, gifted and black” (Black gold1970)

When Simone’s friend Lorraine Hansberry died in 1965 at the age of 34, the singer faced an onslaught of everything she had taught her. Not only was Hansberry the first black writer to direct a successful Broadway show, but her accomplishments and mindset also pushed Simone to build on her activism and contribute to the civil rights movement in a way that she already knew was the right one.

With a title that directly references Hansberry’s play, the song infuses gospel sounds to create something that feels light, but its lyrics tap into something very real, making it resonate on a grand scale. “All over the world you know / There are a billion boys and girls / Who are young, gifted and black / And that’s a fact! ” She sings, highlighting the countless black people who are often overlooked in broader structures of racial inequality.

Related topics