Please don't let me be misunderstood - Nina Simone (lyrics & video clips)

[wings]

Please don’t let me be misunderstood

Baby, do you understand me now
Sometimes I feel a little mad
Well, don’t you know that no
one alive can always be an angel
When things go wrong I seem to be bad
I’m just a soul who’s intentions are good
Oh Lord, please don’t let me be misunderstood

Baby, sometimes I’m so carefree
With a joy that’s hard to hide
And sometimes it seems that all I have to do is worry
And then you’re bound to see my other side

Well, I’m just a soul who’s intentions are good
Oh Lord, please don’t let me be misunderstood

If I seem edgy, I want you to know
That I never mean to take it out on you
Life has it’s problems and I get my share
And that’s one thing I never mean to do, cause I love you

Oh, oh, oh, baby, don’t you know I’m human
Have thoughts like any other one
Sometimes I find myself long regretting
Some foolish thing, some little simple thing I’ve done

I’m just a soul who’s intentions are good
Oh Lord, please don’t let me be misunderstood
Yes, I’m just a soul who’s intentions are good
Oh Lord, please don’t let me be misunderstood
Yes, I’m just a soul who’s intentions are good
Oh Lord, please don’t let me be misunderstood
Yes, I’m just a soul who’s intentions are good
Oh Lord, please don’t let me be misunderstood


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5T3FXFnoTzE

[wings]

Please don’t let me be misunderstood - The Animals


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2FT4FprxDg

[wings]

Please don’t let me be misunderstood - Joe Cocker (live in Berlin)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QascPZZ2qII

[wings]

Please don’t let me be misunderstood - Santa Esmeralda (1977)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tP27A1RYba0

[wings]

Please don’t let me be misunderstood - Cyndi Lauper


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ljw9hAETTik

[wings]

Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood

"Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" is a song written by Bennie Benjamin, Gloria Caldwell and Sol Marcus for the singer/pianist Nina Simone, who first recorded it in 1964. "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" has been recorded or performed by many artists, and is widely known by the 1965 blues rock hit recording from The Animals. A 1977 disco/Latin rendition by Santa Esmeralda was also a hit.

Nina Simone original

The beginnings of "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" came with composer and arranger Horace Ott, who came up with the melody and chorus lyric line after a temporary falling out with his girlfriend (and wife-to-be), Gloria Caldwell. He then brought it to writing partners Bennie Benjamin and Sol Marcus to complete. However, when it came time for songwriting credits, rules of the time prevented BMI writers (Ott) from officially collaborating with ASCAP members (the other two), so Ott instead listed Caldwell's name on the credits.

"Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" was one of five songs involving the writing of Benjamin and Marcus, presented for Nina Simone's 1964 album Broadway-Blues-Ballads. There, it is taken at a very slow tempo and arranged around harp and other orchestral elements; a backing choir appears at several points. Simone sings it in her usual hard-to-categorize style. Horace Ott's involvement did not end with his initial songwriting; he was the arranger and orchestral conductor for the entire album. Backed with "A Monster", "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" was released as a single in 1964, but failed to chart.

To some writers, this "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" carried the subtext of the American Civil Rights Movement that concerned much of Simone's work of the time; while to others, this was more personal, and was the song, and phrase, that best exemplified Simone's career and life.

Decades later, a commercial for Christian Dior's perfume J'Adore, starring Charlize Theron, featured Simone's version of the song.

Source: wikipedia