‘Sinnerman’: the story of Nina Simone’s prescient masterpiece
What makes a good song? Is it the act of playing something to the best of your ability, or is it about the emotion that takes the listener on a journey as they listen to the song? Many artists may try their hand at doing justice to artists like Nina Simone, but most know that a song like ‘Sinnerman’ is something that only she could touch.
Then again, how does ‘Sinnerman’ fit into the history of Simone’s brand of blues-infused singing? Before Simone had even gotten started, the blues had already been around as far back as there had been hardship, with many artists trying their hand at writing songs about how a woman did them wrong or how they thought their time on Earth was wearing thin.
Whereas most of those blues legends had made various calls out to God to get the ball rolling on their classics, Simone was more interested in making a song about being in communion with her creator. Like all great singers that would come after her, Simon got her start singing in church, making the kind of songs that were intended to lift your soul through the performance rather than just playing a catchy tune.
Simone felt that her upbringing in the spiritual side of singing was what gave her her gift, telling Ebony, “Some of my most fantastic experiences – experiences that really shake me, now that I think of them – happened in the church when we’d have these revival meetings. I’d be playiNnNnNnNnNng, boy! I’d really be playing. I loved it! Folks would be shoutin’ all over the place. Now that’s my background!”.
When you get into that headspace, there’s often times when you get into a groove that you don’t want to end, which is where ‘Sinnerman’ comes in. Clocking in well over ten minutes, this was never meant to be the traditional pop song featuring Simone practically testifying about the wrongdoing happening on Earth.
This isn’t just from her own experience…this is from the source. Looking through various passages of the song, Simone took inspiration from the Book of Exodus specifically, focusing on telling the story of Moses leading his people out of Egypt and watching the sinful breeds back in the homeland falling victim to nasty plagues.
While this kind of song wouldn’t feel that out of place on an altar or when testifying in front of a clergy, the southern US at the time needed to hear a song like this. Recorded right when the civil rights movement was kicking into high gear, the lyrics about not knowing where the sinners are going to run to struck a visceral nerve with black citizens who were getting marginalised for no good reason.
Culminating in the various race riots scattered throughout the 1960s, ‘Sinnerman’ is practically a cold look at the realities that too many black people had to deal with every day just to live their lives, all while half of the country was turning their backs on them. While Simone does have a tremendous amount of hurt in her voice, it’s not just pain…it’s determination.
When listening to her sing about the sins committed by others, Simone knows that she is a sinner herself, and that it’s better to stand up for what you believe in with your head held high rather than cower to what the immoral majority wants to do with you. And as many people are still being discriminated against to this day, it’s important to keep the tone of ‘Sinnerman’ fairly close to the chest.
