A Young Nina Simone

Hello blog. In class earlier this week, we finished watching the Nina Simone documentary. It gave insight on Nina’s musical career and how she was very influential to the industry in her younger years. We had left off at the part where Nina talked about her goal for the audience during live performances which was for them to be “in pieces” over the music. She wanted the audience to be able to connect to the lyrics and be moved by them personally. Nina exposed the current issues of the time through her music such as societal problems. She speaks out about the idea of promoting who she was: if she was proud of her culture and where she was from. Being under a spotlight made her feel like she had a responsibility to inspire and be inspired by her work. Something that was unfortunate for her when onstage was that Nina felt punished for being herself although in her natural habitat. “I have to live with Nina” were her words on fighting for her race and not being totally respected even though she was appreciated by many for her talent. According to a man she worked with, Nina could become very violent before hitting the stage. It was all within her being and wouldn’t be realized at the time. In one instance when Simone was on tour with Bill Cosby, she put spray paint in her hair and proceeded to have a nervous breakdown. It was almost as if she had gone mad. When Dr. King is shot and killed, Nina does a tribute performance in his honor. “We can’t forgo any more losses” was something Simone said under general terms but her saying “Now that the king of love is dead” shows the impact this man had on her life and how serious it was. Once her career started to swindle down and people wanted to hear a different style of music/other subjects to be talked about, Nina moved out of the country as the conditions she had continued to get worse. The legacy of Nina Simone will surely be remembered and not forgotten.