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Nina Simone: "Feeling Good"

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnZQL5XIouo


An "I Am" song just expresses a feeling; in a musical, the speaker can simply address the audience. In "Chicago," when Amos whines about being "cellophane," he whines directly to all of us in our seats.


"Feeling Good" (which also comes from a musical) is a song that does *not* address the audience. It's a song that addresses the natural world.

Birds flying high--
You know how I feel.
Sun in the sky--
You know how I feel.
Breeze drifting on by--
You know how I feel

It's a new dawn--
It's a new day--
It's a new life for me.
And I'm feeling good.

The speaker is celebrating because--now--she can "sleep in peace when day is done." What is so interesting is that the formerly oppressive force is never named. Why couldn't the speaker sleep in peace yesterday--or the day before? In Nina Simone's rendition, the song seems to be about race; "I have shrugged off the self-loathing I learned from a racist culture, and now I will sleep in peace." In Lupita Nyong'o's terrific movie "A Quiet Place," the song is centered on cancer. Having battled various aliens, the terminally ill Lupita realizes that we are *all* coping with a death sentence, and our response does not have to involve deep, overwhelming depression.

This old world is a new world--
And a bold world for me...
Freedom is mine--
And I know how I feel.
I'm feeling good.

I'd argue that the song is a response to "What a Wonderful World"--but, in fact, "Feeling Good" came first. Both make reference to the sky and the flowers in spring. Both--amazingly--seem to steer clear of cliche. Easier said than done.
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