“Feelin’ Good”: Nina Simone Tells the World About Joy
Photo credit: East Coast Radio
Nina Simone was no stranger to suffering. But the well-known record of her struggles with addiction, broken relationships, and mental and physical illness has obscured the happiness that also characterized her life. Fortunately, she left us many clues, and none of them clearer than her timeless version of “Feelin’ Good.” Now her estate has given its blessing to a gorgeous video to accompany the song. It’s a serene vision of Black joy, and it’s helping a new generation fall in love with a masterpiece.
Her life was no bed of roses. Born in 1933, Simone was the sixth of eight children in a poor North Carolina family. Her father was a barber and dry cleaner; her mother preached in the local Methodist church. Throughout her up-and-down career, she faced racism, sexism, domestic violence, backlash for her civil rights activism, and plain old-fashioned greed from the recording industry. She struggled with alcohol, fell out with various spouses and family members, and was so exhausted by U.S. prejudice that (like other giants of jazz) she eventually left it in favor of Europe.
But there was so much more to Simone than her pain. While she’s rightly remembered for her outspoken commitment to the struggle for civil rights, she deserves as much acclaim for her affirmation of Black achievements and happiness.
“Feelin’ Good” epitomizes this other side of Simone:
Stars when you shine, you know how I feel
Scent of the pine, you know how I feel
Oh, freedom is mine
And I know how I feelIt’s a new dawn
It’s a new day
It’s a new life for me
And I’m feeling good
Although written a year earlier by Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse, “Feelin’ Good” became Simone’s forever with her timeless 1965 recording. This new video is an apt and beautiful accompaniment, full of the same deep thankfulness, and the same smooth but unstoppable energy. Undeniably a power anthem (the horns alone, oh my), the song is also a minimalist masterpiece: no tricks, no bridge, no backup vocals. Nina’s voice is supported by brass, strings, and her piano playing, but that voice is so soaring and fearless that it nearly sweeps those other elements aside on its flood of positive emotion.
To paraphrase the song: listen, and you’ll know what I mean.
