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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Alexis Petridis

Nina Simone’s 20 greatest songs – ranked!

Nina Simone United States Bob Dylan George Harrison Sinnerman
Nina Simone performing at the 1968 Newport jazz festival.
Attitude in abundance … Nina Simone performing at the 1968 Newport jazz festival. Photograph: David Redfern/Redferns

20. Pirate Jenny (1964)

One thing Nina Simone had in abundance was attitude, which can be heard in her frankly astonishing version of Brecht and Weill’s Pirate Jenny. It is a theatrical piece that she sings as if she means every word, her vocal dripping with venomous relish as it delivers its saga of murderous revenge: listening to it feels like being pinned to a wall.

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