Nina Simone – The Backlash Blues
Nina Simone – Do I Move You?
Nina Simone – Blues For Mama
Though I’ve had a hiatus here and there, this is the first Sunday since 2010, that I don’t have my show on Sunday. Melting Pot has moved to Fridays from 8-10pm and it definitely feels a bit weird, somewhat like the discombobulation that occurs at the beginning of daylight savings time for us in the US. I’ll work it out, and probably end up posting Friday’s shows on Sundays, so it’s almost like it’s still on Sundays. Today thought, during the time I used to be doing my show, I’ll be watching the new documentary on Nina Simone, Liz Garbus’ “What Happened, Miss Simone?” 2015 has been a pretty great year for documentaries, but this one in particular I’ve been waiting for. I’ve been a fan most of my adult life of Miss Simone. When Simone passed away, I was lucky enough to host a tribute show with Oliver Wang on KALX to celebrate her music and life. Hell, even my dog is named Nina, after Simone. Strangely though, until fairly recently, I had a lot of music from Nina Simone, but not actually a lot of records from her.
That all changed when I saw a beautifully rendered dance routine to “Do I Move You?” My admiration for the dancer and her dance was one thing, but part of the effect it all had on me is that it was like I was hearing this song for the first time. The album that “Do I Move You?” is from is one of her biggest. Released in 1967, it was her first album for RCA, and contains several of her signature songs, including House Of The Rising Son, Put A Little Sugar In My Bowl and Backlash Blues. All of those songs I knew well and had digital copies, but for whatever reason, I’d just never bothered to get this record. When I was blown away by that dancer and that song, I knew I had to rectify that situation immediately. The experience caused me to redefine a number of things and led to a couple of months of tracking down classic albums that should be in my collection because of how much I treasure the music, but like this album were not in my possession.
Over the past year, as we’ve seen greater civil unrest, related to police brutality and racism, the music of Simone has remained as relevant as when it was originally recorded in the 1960s. With the week we just had here in the US, I feel it’s a particularly apt time to reflect not just on Simone, but especially her song, “Backlash Blues.” Written by the legendary poet Langston Hughes, “Backlash” takes a very different tact as a protest song. There’s a defiance here, that’s not always present in songs like this, and something that of course really comes through in the performance of Simone:
Mr. Backlash, Mr. Backlash
Just who do think I am
You raise my taxes, freeze my wages
And send my son to Vietnam
You give me second class houses
And second class schools
Do you think that all colored folks
Are just second class fools
Mr. Backlash
I’m gonna leave you with the backlash blues
When I try to find a job
To earn a little cash
All you got to offer
Is your mean old white backlash
But the world is big
Big and bright and round
And it’s full of folks like me
Who are black, yellow, beige and brown
Mr. Backlash
I’m gonna leave you with the backlash blues
Mr. Backlash, Mr. Backlash
Just what do you think I got to lose
I’m gonna leave you
With the backlash blues
You’re the one will have the blues, not me
Just wait and see
When you look at the amazing changes that have happened in the last week, the stunning quickness with which Southern states have begun the process of removing the Confederate battle flag from public grounds after the Charleston Church Murders and the Supreme Court’s decision that legalizes gay marriage throughout the country, it can feel like Nina & Hughes song has prophetically come true. But it should also be a reminder, that in moments of change, which was very true of the turbulent 1960s as it is for this moment, what is positive for one group is often viewed negatively by another, and the backlash can sometimes be severe. It’s worth noting that this week we’ve seen at least 5 churches set on fire throughout the South, and this summer has only just now begun. But when you’re on the right side of history, you keep fighting, because you know eventually, we’ll leave the inequality, oppression, discrimination and the backlash in the past. And when we do, we’ll still be marveling at the music and majestic of Nina Simone.
Cheers,
Michael
P.S. If you haven’t seen it or heard about it, here is the trailer for “What Happened, Miss Simone?” the new documentary on the life and times of Nina Simone: