Nina Simone – ‘Wild Is the Wind’
That feeling so many writers try to describe—the ambient glow in your heart, the soul-drunk inspiration, the moment where everything is vividly present and you can almost feel the sunset on your skin—that’s exactly what Nina Simone captures with Wild Is the Wind. It might just be the most romantic record ever made.
In this world, where Simone’s voice is a vestibule for all things experienced by the human mind, Wild Is the Wind tells the story of all women: the ones who love, the ones who fight, the ones who travel to make ends meet, and the ones who were strong enough to survive repeated inflictions of pain and prejudice. Simone’s emotion is effortless but filled with prickly heat, resulting in a delightfully sensual experience, one curated by a woman who knows the depths of suffering and understands the joy of love.
‘I Love Your Lovin’ Ways’ is the ideal primer for such a journey as Simone loses herself in the glory of romance and kisses “that taste so good”. Its upbeat simplicity and dizzying ode to flirtatious liaison almost feel too much of a contrast to the follow-up track ‘Four Women’, a narrative about African-American women scorned by the damage of slavery.
However, Simone’s ability to oscillate without question, drifting between subjects with confidence, allows her more earnest moments to shine with the glow they deserve, content in their respective spaces where authenticity and reflection earn just as much attention as anything else. By its very nature, ‘Four Women’ invites you to stop and listen, its sinister grooves indicating a more minor and serious tone as Simone’s voice appears cutting, embittered by that which she observes.
Every track on Wild Is the Wind feels incredibly personal to both the singer and the listener. Simone’s voice permeates the room like the soundtrack to one perfect moment as the needle lowers down onto ‘What More Can I Say’, eliciting tunes of days gone by in a candle-smoke-filled room, with wine flowing like a natural elixir to pain as the singer croons about an all-consuming desire.
This is also the atmosphere evoked by ‘That’s All I Ask’ and ‘Why Keep On Breaking My Heart’, songs holding all the passion of a broken heart, delivered by a voice that knows the power of control, where slow rumblings appear wistful and calculated, and projection incites the most satisfying and visceral form of climax.
Providing her own spin on ‘Lilac Wine’, a song about becoming intoxicated in order to dull thoughts about a lost lover, Simone’s voice appears haunting like the ghosts in the corner of your mind, appearing in an almost mirage-like state that is difficult to fathom under the haze of an empty glass. Despite the beauty of her piano playing, it’s all about the voice, the voice that appears pained yet joyful, with a charm that holds all of the secrets to embellishing loss as much as overcoming it.
“If I should lose you,” Simone sings, “I would wander around hating the sound of rain.” A song that has been covered by many might have lost its novelty, but Simone makes something so simple seem complex and nuanced, almost like the whisper of someone holding back tears. Almost like the urge to get through the composition far overrides the need to run and hide away.
As the candlelight wanes, the bottom of the jar threatening to blanket the room in darkness, Wild Is the Wind closes with an all-important lesson: to feel. In those moments where it feels difficult to overcome life’s hurdles, Simone promises the value of one perfect moment, where pain and joy can exist in harmony, and letting any such emotion in is the real gateway to experiencing true beauty.
