Nina Simone’s Mississippi Goddam
Nina Simone’s Mississippi Goddam is a fast song that has a relaxed voice. The tonality of the song is mid-low and high. The song has piano and forte parts with little variations in the lyrical flow. Nina makes good use of the accompaniment to support the vocals. Aretha Franklin’s Respect is highly pitched in terms of vocals. The song takes one flow of stanzas and the one for the bridge. It, therefore, has minimal lyrical flow variation. James Brown’s Say it Loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud is more of hip-hop though fast. The singer uses more of rapping as the bridge is sung but others.
Nina Simone is responding to the atrocities of her locality. The lines, “I can’t stand the pressure much longer, somebody say a prayer.” show it all. The audience here is the general public. Aretha Franklin’s Respect is about husband and wife relationship. The singer starts with expressing the blossoming relationship between her and her husband. However, the end shows that all she is receiving from the affair is disrespectful. She then demands respect from her husband, or she leaves. The tone used in James Brown’s Say It Loud, I’m Black, and I’m Proud is firm and robust to show pride in being black. The song is to motivate African Americans to be proud and confident.
Mississippi Goddamn is articulated using Imagery. The song is indirect in its message as opposed to James Brown’s Say It Loud, I’m Black, and I’m Proud. James uses direct language in the song to express more conviction and pride in being black. Aretha Franklin, on the other hand, uses a more vivid description to narrate the feeling she had in the affair. Her message is quite direct and in comparison to Nina’s Mississippi Goddamn. Generally, James and Aretha use direct messages, while Nina uses Imagery in her messaging technique.