Backlash Blues
1967 · RCA Victor LSP-3789 · New York City, New York
- Artist
- Nina Simone
- Title
- Backlash Blues
- Release
- Nina Simone Sings The Blues
- Year
- 1967
- Label
- RCA Victor # LSP-3789
- Format
- LP · Album
- Language
- English
- Country
- New York City, New York, USA
- Genre
- Blues · Blues Jazz
- Primary theme
- Peace, Protest & Anti-War
Annotation
The song "Backlash Blues" (RCA Victor # LPM-3789), composed by Nina Simone and Langston Hughes in 1966, and appearing on this 1967 album, referenced the Vietnam War in the first verse, making a connection between the war and civil rights. Like J.B. Lenoir, this song questioned why the government sent African-Americans to fight in Vietnam, while back home in the US, African-Americans faced discrimination, and were treated as second class citizens through segregation. The lyrics and notation later appeared in Broadside # 88, January 1968.
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Annotation — Blues songs
The song "Backlash Blues" (RCA Victor # LPM-3789), composed by Nina Simone and Langston Hughes in 1966, and appearing on this 1967 album, referenced the Vietnam War in the first verse, making a connection between the war and Civil Rights: "you... send my son to Vietnam, you give me second class houses and... schools, do you think that all colored people are just second class fools?". Like J.B. Lenoir, this song questioned why the government sent African-Americans to fight in Vietnam, while back home in the US, African-Americans faced discrimination, and were treated as second class citizens through segregation. The lyrics and notation later appeared in Broadside # 88, January 1968.
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
About the artist
American singer and pianist, born 21 February 1933 in Tryon, North Carolina ('Backlash Blues'); died 21 April 2003 in Carry-le-Rouet, France. [Source: Wikipedia]
Themes
In collections
Blues songs · Civil Rights Songs · Peace, Protest, & Anti-War Songs