Nina Simone wrote Pages of Unspoken Word in the Songs She Performed

Click on this picture and listen to Nina Simone’s rendition of  “To Love Somebody,” which was originally recorded by the pop group, The BeeGees.  Nina had a knack for turning all songs that she sung into social commentary.  This performance took place in 1969…one year after the assasination of  civil rights leader Martin L. King and presidential candidate Bobby Kennedy and 4 years after the signing of the Civil Rights Bill.  When she sings out the lyrics, “You don’t know what it’s like, you don’t know what it’s like…to love somebody….to love somebody….the way that I love you,” one can’t help but feel the raw yearning of a nation that has lost 2 of the greatest leaders of it’s time.