‘Blackbird’: how Nina Simone’s first writing credit defines her entire career
“It is true what they say: the truth hurts.” Nina Simone was born to be a guiding voice. From the moment she entered this world, she knew her path would differ greatly from those around her, and she used her oppression as strength to fight for what she believed in. It wasn’t always easy, for reasons only she would ever be able to understand fully, but she carried the weight of her struggles with a resilience that far exceeded anything her peers could ever dream of.
Throughout her career, Simone didn’t just dedicate herself to the cause; she lived and breathed the suffering of everybody who followed in the same footsteps, writing songs that gave those who had faded under the forceful hands of prejudice a voice. Countless songs give a glimpse into this dedication, including ‘Strange Fruit’ and ‘Four Women’, with many becoming almost tangible reflections of the longstanding issues deeply embedded in the music industry—and society at large.
‘Four Women’, in particular, became one of Simone’s legacy-defining creations despite its decades-long history. Simone had her own story to tell, but the song came together as a culmination of those who had ever been or felt oppressed by systemic racism. The song emerged from conversations Simone had about the varied experiences of Black women, from which she derived a commonality about self-hatred and how these women became “brainwashed”.
Before that, however, Simone had already created her career-defining masterpiece with ‘Blackbird’, which only emerged as part of Nina Simone with Strings, a collection of songs Simone had written or recorded before leaving Colpix Records. Recorded during a time when the Civil Rights movement was gaining significant traction, ‘Blackbird’ was Simone’s clarion call for greater equality with an anthem that epitomised the struggle of Black people from all over.
Anthropomorphising these challenges using blackbirds as a conduit, the song addresses feeling unloved and unsafe. As she sings in the song: “No place big enough for holding / All the tears you’re gonna cry / Cause your mama’s name was lonely / And your daddy’s name was pain / And he called you little sorrow / Cus you’ll never love again.” For one of the first times in music history, the song made people listen, even if it served merely as a whispered lament in a world reluctant to confront its own injustices.
At the time, it was rare for an artist to address such shortcomings so directly, all while knowing the potential ramifications of doing so. Simone never occupied herself much with the potential of backlash, even though it lingered in the back of everything she chose to do. Instead, she viewed it less as a failure on her part and more as a concrete example of what she sang about and criticised, exposing everything she intended.
As her first writing credit, it also established a path she would never veer away from and showcased her refusal to be silenced even when the powerful force of external society pressured her to do so. She always knew her art would present a mirror to the outside world, and ‘Blackbird’ reinforced the truth she held dearly—that music could be a weapon; and an incredibly powerful one that defined her legacy.
