It’s hard to be judicious when telling the tale of those that didn’t attempt to practice the same in their own time but it’s easy enough when you figure that they can no longer offer a rebuttal for their actions and words. Nina Simone was one woman that had a lot to say and had a platform from which to say it. In fact she was never shy about speaking out in her music and telling the world what she thought of inequality and how she handled it. During one her recitals as a young girl she refused to play when she saw that her parents had been made to sit in the back. She waited until they were allowed to return to the front where they’d been in the first place, then she started to play. On one hand she had strong convictions that she wasn’t going to break or bend for anyone, on the other she seemed to be a bit combative at times.
Here are some of the best songs from her career.
5. Four Women
She had a kind of unconventional type of music that at times was crafted more to make a person think than to really enjoy the sound. She had a lot to say and music was a way by which she could get her message out to people and express her feelings and what she felt. At times she was kind of a hard person to get along with from the accounts that others gave, but some would defend this by saying that her life was what resulted in these difficulties that she foisted upon others. That might not fly as an excuse, but it was something that used to explain away why some people that were deemed so creative were at times rather hard to be around.
4. Ain’t Got No, I Got Life
That’s not to say that she couldn’t play the type of conventional music that people really enjoyed. But more often than not with Nina you were bound to get a story that told of how she viewed the world, just like any other musician. Her view however was something that seemed kind of depressing at times, but it did manage to pick up occasionally so as to make people understand just where she was coming from. Her outlook on the world however was sometimes a bit dim, making a person wonder if she really took any enjoyment out of life that wasn’t something she’d managed to grab and force into the path she’d devised.
3. To Be Young, Gifted, and Black
She was very deep into the Civil Rights Movement there’s no doubt, which is a great thing in itself, but at times it almost seems as though she was among the ones that took it to a level that excluded the rest of the world when she delved into her beliefs. Honestly when you dive a bit deeper into her life it doesn’t seem as though this was the case, and that she was about equality for black people but not at the expense of others. It’s simply too easy to see such a thing these days and those that would gladly point it out are usually those that ignore the fact that she’s not condemning anyone outright.
2. Go Limp
Back in her day there were plenty of people that wanted to listen to what Nina had to say, and she was happy to perform for just about anyone so long as she was allowed to perform and have her message be truly heard. It would seem that her message didn’t really go out to just to entertain, but to teach as well. The manner in which she sings and the messages she brings to the table isn’t always as funny as people seem to think it is, but instead is something that needs to be listened to closely and appreciated for what it is. That being said, she did know how to interact with the audience.
1. Old Jim Crow
Perhaps one of the biggest controversies to befall her had nothing to do with the Civil Rights Movement or any of the lyrics in her songs, but came instead in the form of a warrant that had been issued for her upon the government finding out that she hadn’t paid her taxes. She was going to be arrested as she’d withheld her taxes as a protest for the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War, which was not that great of an idea. But instead of coming back to America she stayed away, deciding to not face the music and instead remain abroad where she would be free from persecution. It’s something that her fans would have likely defended but also something that is less than admirable since it seems to denote that she didn’t believe she was in the wrong.
You live in the US, you’ve got to kick in eventually.
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