Nina Simone: Top 5 Songs

Our sister company, Might Productions, recently released the first episode of a podcast called Has This Changed Anything? to which I am a cohost alongside founder Memphis Merk. In that episode (click here to listen), we discussed the legendary Nina Simone and touched on a few of her most popular songs as they related to her life story. I wasn’t able to thoroughly dive into my critical opinion and break down her musical integrity so I thought that here is the perfect place to fully flesh out those thoughts! So, let’s commemorate the gorgeous Nina Simone with my Top 5 picks!

5. Ain’t Got No, I Got Life

This track begins with a golden, simple piano melody that rides on rhythm. It’s soon accompanied by the drums, working in total cooperation all throughout the track. Nina’s voice rings out for the first time, sorrowful, as she begins her list: “Ain’t got no home/Ain’t got no shoes/Ain’t got no class…” But as she endures, her cadences rise and falls, pushes and pulls, emphasizing all the things she wants to say she is without. Her vocal melody is effortless, conversational, captivating and engrossing, and makes you want to move despite the bitter lyrics. Then there’s a break as she belts out one final time, “Ain’t got no love” and we’re moved from a poem to a journal as Nina asks, “And what have I got/Why am I alive anyway?” What appears to be a turn for the worse, surprisingly, becomes a flip in perspective as the beat once again picks up, even livelier than before, and Nina stops telling us what she doesn’t have, but what she does: “I’ve got my/I’ve got myself.” It’s refreshing, hopeful, and enlightening. An attitude of defeat and nothingness turns into a celebratory mantra, with rhythm and repetition conquering all throughout the song without being confining, making it a truly inspiring musical piece.

4. Young, Gifted and Black

Upon first listen, this song was not what I had expected from Nina after initially getting a feel for her style and songwriting patterns. As always, she has the rhythm, melody, and repetition that carries her tunes like a steady backbone. But the addition of other vocalists and an accompanying choir sets it apart from the others in her discography and, to me, makes it that much more memorable. That repeated hook, “You are young, gifted, and black” is all Nina though, and it’s brilliantly grand. Lyrically, it’s almost comforting. Reassuring. “You are young, gifted and black/We must begin to tell our youth/There’s a world waiting for you/Yours is the quest that’s just begun.” It tells a story of a brighter future, and the same choir that sets this song apart in my mind is the one I imagine beckoning all the youth they sing to to join them in their reverie. I feel it’s a song of togetherness, strength (both individually and collectively) and pride. Undeniably straight from Nina’s heart…what a perfect song to gift to the young.

3. I Loves You, Porgy

This was the first song that launched Nina into the public eye, a cover of a track from the opera Porgy and Bess composed by George Gershwin. Now, while it’s not an original, and there’s a certain newness to the recording that I think gives it away as being one of her firsts, I understand completely why it was the track to land her the first inklings of deserved attention from the masses. Her vision for the song made it her own, and there are hints of Nina as an artist that would soon be cultivated and presented newly perfected as a vocalist. It was the feeling, the heart and soul, she expressed in her voice, emphasizing the lyrics, that would make anyone ignorant of the backstory believe they was her words. Her story. I feel that demonstrates a great deal of empathy; to adopt the feelings, or to relate to such an extent to make those feelings your own, and express that artistically, is very special. The way she croons, “I loves you, Porgy/Don’t let him take me/Don’t let him handle me” holds such palpable tones of fear, sadness, and desperation, that feels so authentic it’s hard to believe there isn’t some of Nina’s truth in there somewhere too. Regardless of whether there is or isn’t, however, it’s still safe to say that Miss Simone was a true vessel that carried the life of all the art she chose to bear.

2. Mississippi Goddamn

I’d like to preface the deconstruction of this particular song with a quote from Nina: “I had spent many years pursuing excellence, because that is what classical music is about…Now, it was dedicated to freedom, and that was far more important.” As a classical musician myself, there have been some moments, like in her rendition of I Loves You, Porgy, where I could hear that classical influence (although it could be argued that in that particular track, it was Gershwin’s imprint I was picking up on). But leaving the technical aside and stemming solely from feeling, I think Mississippi Goddamn is the musical embodiment of that quote. From the structure, to the performance of the recording itself, to the uplift at the end of each,“And everybody knows about Mississippi Goddamn,” this song is as free as I have ever heard Nina be. Rhythmically and melodically, the quality of the song becomes quite momentous, almost as if there’s something to celebrate despite the solemnity of the subject matter. But it’s the lyrics that really call to a certain liberation, and it strays so far from the rigidly structured format of her other compositions that it’s extreme enough to notice. In the first half of the song, the only framework the listener may feel is the repetition of the brief chorus. The lines of the verses, on the other hand, look visually disjointed and if there wasn’t a concentrated melody to tie them together, they probably would be. Even the spoken lines Nina throws into the official recordings are careless (in a good way). With that being said, this isn’t meant to be detailed in such a way as to give the impression this is a poorly executed song, but rather to demonstrate just how severely all notions or habits of a classical musician have been thrown out the window in favour of the freedom to express emotion. That’s what Nina said she wanted. And she did it, most joyously throughout the climax of the song, repeating, “Do it slow” and triumphantly crying out, one last time, “Everybody knows about Mississippi Goddamn/That’s it!”

1. Four Women

I’ll say right off the bat that this song is not one to break apart; that’d be a disservice to it. This is one of those songs you just listen to, and appreciate, because it on its own is enough. It doesn’t need its story to be unravelled, it doesn’t even need to be praised, because it stands on its own two feet steadily and proudly all by itself. Nevertheless, I’m going to comment on it, because it is my absolute favourite of Nina’s and I’d say it’s one of the most brilliant songs to have ever been written. As has been consistent time and time again, she has that hypnotic rhythm in both her vocal melody and the piano backing her. But the star of this song, and what is truly heartbreaking, are the lyrics. And with everything Nina ever sung, it was with everything she had, which justly brought to life the words. With “Aunt Sarah”, and “Saffronia”, and "Sweet Thing” there is only defeat, and sadness, and anguish. Each gets their own spotlight, each their own moment to grieve and be pitied upon by the listener. It’s with the fourth woman, though, “Peaches”, in which Nina breaks the spell of sorrow and rages. To me, that’s the most heartbreaking part. Quiet agony as was with the three is one thing, but an eruption of anger and hurt as she performs for the fourth is something quite painful on its own. To rightfully end the song, each instrument, including the voice, falls apart. Personally, I can’t relate specifically to any one of these stories. But whether you call it empathy or credit it to the power and impact of Nina’s composition, this song struck a chord with me, and haunts me every time I listen to it. It is beautifully tragic, and at the end of the day, honours Nina Simone as she was: one of the most gifted, soulful, and impactful storytellers of all time.