Nina Simone -- "To Love Somebody"
Although I love everything Gram Parsons did, including his cover of this song with the Flying Burrito Brothers, I have to say that Nina Simone sings this song better than anyone else I've ever heard sing it. Simone's masculine-feminine voice sustains a staggering weariness here. The song was written by the Bee-Gees to be a hit, but Simone never really seemed to be after that sort of thing. The horns are pushing it toward the top of the charts. The background vocals are pushing it that way, too. The Sam and Dave-style lead guitar is pushing it up, as well, and the recording even has a string section, for God's sake, but Simone holds it all back, brings it down a notch, and effectively says, Wait a minute, now--listen to me.
When Nina Simone sings, "There's a light / A certain kind of light / That never shone on me," she's not just playing into some pop-music trope. She means it, and you know she means it. You don't have any choice but to stop and listen to what she has to say.
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