“Beautiful Land” brings out that part of Nina Simone’s personality which still reflects the sincere simplicity of a little girl. Two of the songs are from Anthony Newley’s new Broadway show, The Roar of the Greasepaint- The Smell of the Crowd. And so she tells him all the things that she will do to get him to stay-“I will be the shadow of your shadow,” she says, “and if that is not enough, I will be the shadow of your dog.” The boy is going to leave her but she says that if he leaves, she will die-literally. “Ne Me Quitte Pas,” written by the French singer, Jacques Brel, is about a young couple who are inseparable until the girl does something that is completely unforgivable. She has chosen to set it against a ballad background but even in these circumstances it gives her an unusual opportunity to cut completely loose. Listening to Hawkins’ strong, often outlandishly weird presentation was one of the most moving listening experiences she has ever gone through. They are songs that demand to be listened to.įor instance, the title song, “I Put A Spell On You,” it is, she points out, “the kind of a song that no one can ignore.” She first heard it about ten years ago when it was recorded by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins. She calls them “heavy” songs-which does not mean they are difficult but that they are not to be taken lightly. She means the loving tenderness you’ll hear in “One September Day,” she means the lusty exuberance of “Gimme Some,” and she means the desolation of “Ne Me Quitte Pas.” She chose these songs and all the rest of the tunes in this album because they are songs that have both meaningful lyrics and meaningful music. It is an honest and very human emotion because it is built on the unfailing integrity of this remarkable artist. But it is always a true emotion that her spell evokes. It may be touching, it may be gay, it may build a searing flame of anger. The spell that Nina Simone casts in her songs is completely unique, something that is her own very personal form of expression.