Music Monday: Feeling good by Nina Simone

Music Monday: Feeling Good by Nina Simone

After a modern bit of acoustic music, it is time to touch the soul genre. Nina Simone was a civil rights activist who covered so many different genres. It was not just her voice but her piano too. I never noticed until I looked, but I do like and know a few of her songs. They are simply tracks most people should know or at least be a bit familiar with.

Actually, Nina did a cover of “Feeling Good” which was originally written for a musical. She took ownership of the song with her version pretty much. It is an anthem, and the spirit of the civil rights movement is alive in it. Yet the song is not just about liberation, it is about renewal. Good songs have many ways they can be interpreted, and “Feeling Good” has been covered by so many as a result. Some artists play tribute to her vocals or that signature sound out of respect. It is a sign of just how good the original is when people find it almost impossible to cover new ground.

Muse did an excellent cover in 2001, about two years before Nina’s death in 2003. Giving it an alternative rock take, it feels like a real performance. They took the spirit of the song and gave it a new lease of life. It is different from the original, and the band actually thinks their version is better. It is quite telling that so many artists have followed the same path as Nina, making the Muse version a cover of a cover. It is funny how that happens in music.

I discovered this version during a history class on Jack the Ripper. During that time I was exploring music and found out that Muse was inspired by Queen, which I had already listened to, and since then I have been a fan of both.

But it is time to talk about the song itself. “Feeling Good” is a positive song about renewal. Rediscovering it has been a bit of a trip because I don’t normally listen to much jazz or soul, although I do like the genre. Listening to it again led me back to older Muse songs and Nina’s other great tracks.

There are very few artists these days who can match her powerful voice or the experience she brought to soul music. It shows how much the industry has changed. These days it is easier to make music but harder to get noticed. While we have much higher quality equipment now and can do so much more, Nina made something so unique and powerful with much less. In some ways, we have gone back to a homemade style where artists can produce gems easily. Nina was the sound of a generation, and the progress we have made makes it easy to forget that. Her music will forever carry her soul and spirit of civil rights as a reminder. Perhaps that is why artists keep what she did. It is not out of a lack of creativity but respecting what it truly means.

The bass and brass arrangement is what everybody knows the song for. It is the bones of the song along with the vocals. That is why a dance artist like Avicii used both as samples for his version. Most artists have kept that as a nod to the original because it is calling back to what she did. They can’t capture her vocals but they can use the same sound. That itself makes it into an anthem. So they are honoring her by using the blueprint and crafting themselves onto it. For some they add more and for others they add less. Simple yet good, and that is why I decided to add it here.