Top 10 Nina Simone Songs Of All Time

Feature Photo: Roland Godefroy, CC BY-SA 3.0 <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/>, via Wikimedia Commons

Nina Simone, born Eunice Kathleen Waymon in Tryon, North Carolina, in 1933, was a classically trained pianist whose music moved freely through jazz, blues, gospel, folk, soul, and pop. Her first album, Little Girl Blue, was recorded in 1957 and released in 1959, beginning a career that would make her one of the most distinctive singers, pianists, interpreters, and political voices of the twentieth century.

These ten songs show both sides of Simone’s work: the original material tied closely to her life and activism, and the remarkable covers she could transform into something unmistakably her own.

# 10 – To Love Somebody

Nina Simone recorded the Bee Gees’ “To Love Somebody” for her 1969 album of the same name. Written by Barry and Robin Gibb, the song became one of Simone’s strongest British hits, reaching No. 5 on the UK Singles Chart. Her slower, heavier interpretation turns the song into a direct expression of longing and unreturned love.

# 9 – Break Down and Let It All Out

“Break Down and Let It All Out” appears on Simone’s 1966 album Wild Is the Wind. Written by Van McCoy, produced by Hal Mooney, and recorded in New York in 1965, the song is about finally giving in to emotions that have been held back too long. Simone keeps the arrangement restrained enough for the tension in her voice to carry the song.

# 8 – I Loves You, Porgy

Little Girl Blue - Nina Simone Deluxe Version [Vinyl]

Simone recorded “I Loves You, Porgy” during the 1957 sessions for her debut album, Little Girl Blue, released in 1959. Taken from George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, her intimate piano-and-vocal interpretation became her first major hit and reached No. 18 on the Billboard Hot 100. The record introduced a much wider audience to the way Simone could take established material and completely reshape its emotional character.

# 7 – Ain’t Got No, I Got Life

“Ain’t Got No, I Got Life” combines two songs from the musical Hair and appeared on Simone’s 1968 album ’Nuff Said! She turns the contrast between having nothing and still possessing one’s own body and life into a declaration of survival and self-worth. The single became one of her biggest international hits, reaching No. 2 in the UK.

# 6 – I Put a Spell on You

Nina Simone recorded Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ “I Put a Spell on You” in New York in 1965 for the album of the same name. Produced and arranged by Hal Mooney, Simone’s version removes much of the theatrical eccentricity of Hawkins’ original and replaces it with controlled jealousy, longing, and possession. It became one of the recordings most closely identified with her.

# 5 – Gin House Blues

“Gin House Blues” appears on Simone’s 1961 album Forbidden Fruit. Written by Fletcher Henderson and Henry Troy and produced by Cal Lampley, the recording features Simone on piano and vocals with Al Schackman, Chris White, and Bobby Hamilton. She takes an older blues song about drinking and despair and delivers it with the directness that defined much of her early work.

# 4 – To Be Young, Gifted and Black

Nina Simone wrote the music for “To Be Young, Gifted and Black,” with Weldon Irvine writing the lyrics in memory of her friend Lorraine Hansberry. Simone introduced the song at the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival and later recorded it at Philharmonic Hall for the 1970 live album Black Gold. The single reached No. 8 on Billboard’s R&B chart and No. 76 on the Hot 100, while versions by artists including Aretha Franklin helped carry the song to later generations.

# 3 – Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood

Nina Simone made the first recording of “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” in 1964 for Broadway-Blues-Ballads. Written by Bennie Benjamin, Horace Ott, and Sol Marcus and produced by Hal Mooney, the song is a plea to be judged by intention rather than by moments of anger or weakness. The Animals turned it into a major rock hit the following year.

Read More: Top 10 Songs From The Animals

# 2 – Feeling Good

“Feeling Good” was written by Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse for the musical The Roar of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd. Simone recorded it in 1965 for I Put a Spell on You, with Hal Mooney producing. Her version turns the show tune into a powerful statement about freedom, renewal, and starting life again on your own terms.

# 1 – Wild Is the Wind

“Wild Is the Wind” was written by Dimitri Tiomkin and Ned Washington for the 1957 film of the same name and was first recorded by Johnny Mathis. Simone performed the song live as early as 1959 and later recorded the slow, sparse studio version released on Wild Is the Wind in 1966. Produced by Hal Mooney, her recording strips the song down to its longing and vulnerability and remains one of the clearest examples of Simone making another writer’s song completely her own.