Nina Simone

Nina Simone was a well-known singer/songwriter during the civil movements. She was known for her range of music going from classical to jazz. During class we had listened to one of her songs named “Mississippi Goddam”. It is a very powerful song, and when watching the videos of her singing can bring that reality into her meanings even more. She puts so much personality in to her performances showing how much the message of her songs really mean to her. Within the song we listened to in class the line that really stood out to me the most was “I think every day’s gonna be my last”. I took it as during that time period the African American race was scared every day, they really never knew when their last day was. They feared for their lives constantly. She also went to talk about the white people telling them to “go slow” when in reality that was the problem of the time.  

The first class that we met, within the syllabus we received one of Nina Simones quotes was shown. “An artist’s duty, as far as I’m concerned, is to reflect the times.” To me, this quote was supposed to tell artists and performers that they are responsible for keeping the times involved. The times really could mean the past present or future. She felt that they should be singing about what is going on in the world in all aspects of time. People listening to the music will be able to relate and learn about what is going on around them. The listener could be going through the same thing, or have an interest in the meaning of the song.  

Overall, I feel that Nina Simone was a big inspiration in her time. She said things and performed things that others would never had done. She had the confidence and not a care in the world about how people would react. She knew the cause she was fighting for and if she even got her message across to one person I am sure she felt accomplished. But, even if she did have followers she would not give up on change.