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Home · Natural

Super Natural: Afrobella on Nina Simone’s Best Hair Music Moments

When it comes to choosing favorites, there are too many of Nina Simone’s songs to name. But when it comes to finding glorious inspiration for natural hair, these are the songs that come to mind. Here are the Nina Simone songs that inspired me to love myself holistically – from my wooly hair to my brown skin.

By Afrobella · August 19, 2014October 27, 2020
01
I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free
Nina’s 1967 version of this song became an anthem of the civil rights era, and empowered many to reconsider their definition of freedom.
02
Ain’t Got No (I Got Life)
This song is a medley of two songs from the legendary Broadway musical Hair, and in the performance Nina celebrates her hair as one of the things she’s got that nobody can ever take away, along with her heart and her life. It’s a beautiful moment.
03
Four Women

Nina Simone’s Four Women is among the most incendiary songs of her career and it tells the story of four very different women who have faced similar suffering. Aunt Sarah’s hair is wooly. Saffronia’s hair is long. Sweet Thing’s hair is fine. Peaches has more on her mind than hair. It’s a portrait of reality rarely heard in song.

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04
To Be Young, Gifted and Black

So many of Nina Simone’s songs are gifts meant to lift you up and this is certainly one of them. Nina Simone wrote it in honor of her friend Lorraine Hansberry after she passed away. Do yourself a favor and check out the YouTube clip where Nina’s braided up-do is so regal and inspiring.

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05
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The lyrics say it all. “She does not know her beauty. She thinks her brown body has no glory. If she could dance naked under palm trees and see her image in the river, she would know. Then she would know.” Too many of us don’t know. Thank you Nina Simone, for having lived your life by example and reminding us all of our beauty, strength and power.

Afrobella was the natural hair blogger at AOL’s Black Voices and a writer for Vogue Italia’s Vogue Black website. She has also presented keynotes at several major media expos and seminars.

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