The Thoughts of a Phenom: The five best songs written by Nina Simone
To many, Nina Simone was the voice of a generation. To others, she embodied the spirit of a broader revolution, and for the rest, she appeared as the perfect culmination of both, a fearless force who reframed her suffering and tried to change the world. From an early age, she knew her life would be different, but instead of allowing prejudice to swallow her soul, she challenged its insidious ways and presented her hurt and scorn in her voice.
Before becoming a global vocal sensation, Simone understood that “fight or flight” was a fallacy in her territory, and the only natural choice was to push back on the world’s discrimination with all the might and fervour of someone who truly believed things could change. There was a lot of darkness in Simone’s world from the very beginning, but she knew in her heart that its wrongdoings could be dismantled through sheer force of will and the weapon that would be her song.
Like many others during the 1960s, Simone became deeply involved with the civil rights movement and used her art to challenge everything she deemed unfair. She pivoted her artistry in ways that others could have viewed as risky or career-ending, instead positioning herself as a leading voice in the charge towards an anti-racist society against all odds instated by outsiders and labels.
At her realest, Simone addressed America’s racist history with unrelenting honesty, resulting in songs that will forever echo in the walls of the world’s darkest secrets. With emotion laid bare and a voice that could stop anyone in their tracks, Simone became a real tour de force of an entire era and will forever be attached to the sound of a generation who, in the crux of the trenches, believed in love, hope, and equitable restoration.
The best Nina Simone songs:
‘Four Women’ (Wild Is The Wind, 1966)
Perhaps one of Simone’s best songs of all time, ‘Four Women’ is a spine-tingling ballad about the different types of women who have endured suffering at the hands of society’s prejudices. It is an entirely stripped-back affair that takes four distinctive stories and presents them with complete honesty. The song itself is unconventional yet hard-hitting, making it one of the most disturbing yet necessary songs ever written.
Beyond this, ‘Four Women’ is also an exceptional example of Simone’s ability to weave real themes of anguish into fictional narration. 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 one night,” Simone sings, presenting each subject as a broader mirror to the subtleties of pain that plague black women across the country.
‘Mississippi Goddam’ (Nina Simone in Concert, 1964)
In response to a series of racially motivated murders in and around Mississippi, Simone wrote what she later deemed her “first civil rights song,” which also happened to be an anger-fuelled protest song that defied the more passive approach of some of her activist contemporaries at the time. Instead of delicately approaching the subject, ‘Mississippi Goddamn’ saw a despaired Simone crying out against the unjust nature of racist crimes.
Unlike many of the more diplomatic speakers during the civil rights movement, the song appeared controversial, mainly because it addressed the topic with anger as opposed to passive rhetoric. “Can’t you see it? Can’t you feel it?” Simone begged, her inability to detach from the unrest clear from the following line, “It’s all in the air / I can’t stand the pressure much longer / Somebody say a prayer.”
‘Revolution’ (To Love Somebody, 1969)
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 may have viewed it as a considerably optimistic 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 unfair institutions and top it off with the simplistic conclusion: “Don’t you know it’s gonna be alright?”
Clearly, Simone didn’t think so—which resulted in her response track ‘Revolution’. This was her opportunity to critique the original song while also specifically pointing the finger at John Lennon, directly advising him to get up and actually do something. This is evidenced by the line: “Well you know you got to clean your brain / The only way that we can stand in fact / Is when you get your foot off our back.”
‘Blackbird’ (Nina Simone with Strings, 1966)
Simone always knew how to factor her experiences in a way that allowed others to feel less alone in their struggles, even if it meant peeling back the curtain to reveal the injustices in their truest, most disturbing forms. ‘Blackbird’ was released at the crux of the civil rights movement and showcased the one thing Simone could do that many others couldn’t—present racism as a weapon for oppression rather than an indescribable entity most wanted to ignore.
Rather than looking at it as a whole, the song navigates the perils of feeling small against such a vehement darkness. “Why you want to fly Blackbird?” Simone sings bleakly, “You ain’t ever gonna fly.” Although defeatist in nature, the song presents a stark reality about the cutting nature of inequality and how often, even amid the fight, it can leave you feeling utterly trapped and hopeless.
‘To Be Young, Gifted, and Black’ (Black Gold, 1970)
When Simone’s friend Lorraine Hansberry passed away in 1965 at the age of 34, the singer was faced with a wave of everything she had ever taught her. Not only was Hansberry the first black writer to achieve a hit Broadway show, but her achievements and mindset also urged Simone to lean into her activism and contribute to the civil rights movement in the ways she already knew were right.
With a title that directly refers to Hansberry’s play, the song infuses gospel sounds to create something that appears lighthearted, but its lyrics tap into something very real, which causes it to resonate on a grand scale. “In the whole world you know / There are a billion boys and girls / Who are young, gifted and black / And that’s a fact!” She sings, bringing light to the countless black people who are often overlooked in the broader racial inequality structures.
