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Protest Anthology

Protest Anthology

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by Britt Robson, eMusic

The soul-shaking sound of spirit and fire — an indispensable collection.
What made Nina Simone’s racially self-identified “protest” music so compelling was its blend of passion and craft. You bet songs like “Mississippi Goddamn” and “Old Jim Crow,” were angry: they were written at the height of the Civil Rights tumult, when “Negroes” were being hosed, hung, beaten and blown up, and Simone didn’t wait for the scales of justice or the judgment of history (or her own tactful restraint) to tilt in her favor before weighing in. That said, those and most of Simone’s other angry political songs are celebratory in nature, glorifying in the idea that it’s better to vent than silently acquiesce.

While the singer-pianist was indeed adept at pushing the hot button, the best material here is not angry but anguished. “Four Women” is a theatrical production melodramatically distilled to 4:09, a brilliant piece of work. The palpable sorrow of “Nobody” reminds us that poverty and loneliness are exacerbated by discrimination. And Simone’s version of “Strange Fruit” is superior to Billie Holiday’s definitive version (a claim I don’t make lightly), with its spellbinding, plummeting, extended note at its climax that is harrowing and beautiful all over again each time you hear it.

It’s a great idea to include interview snippets with Simone prefacing most every song. Many of the interview questions are inane and Simone’s answers are hardly airtight — she’s an artist, not a political theorist. But they cinch together material drawn from different sources, and provide another layer of intimacy to help us regard this splendid, still-underrated performer who personified what it means to be uncompromising in one’s beliefs.

Total Length: 60:58 Download Album

  Listen Track Name Length Download
1. Listen 

By Any Means Necessary (Interview)

1:13 Download
2. Listen 

Revolution

4:40 Download
3. Listen 

Mississippi Goddamn (Interview)

1:54 Download
4. Listen 

Mississippi Goddamn

4:31 Download
5. Listen 

Old Jim Crow (Interview)

1:07 Download
6. Listen 

Old Jim Crow

2:19 Download
7. Listen 

Backlash Blues (Interview)

2:45 Download
8. Listen 

Backlash Blues

3:07 Download
9. Listen 

Four Women (Interview)

2:14 Download
10. Listen 

Four Women

4:09 Download
11. Listen 

Nobody (Interview)

1:26 Download
12. Listen 

Nobody

5:08 Download
13. Listen 

I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free

4:53 Download
14. Listen 

Strange Fruit (Interview)

0:59 Download
15. Listen 

Strange Fruit

3:28 Download
16. Listen 

Definition of an Artist

3:04 Download
17. Listen 

Why? The King of Love is Dead

9:20 Download
18. Listen 

To Be Young Gifted and Black (Interview)

1:01 Download
19. Listen 

To Be Young Gifted and Black

3:40 Download