As we’re now transitioning from spring into summer and the sun has finally come out a little bit, I’ve remembered Another Spring by Nina Simone from her And Piano! album from 1969.

A commercial flop made at the pinnacle of Nina’s career, this album is notable for its candour, flair, and raw, undiluted emotion as well as showing up her brilliant piano skills. Another Spring is a rousing and moving song that fits Nina’s aesthetic.

The song opens with strident flurry of splashing jazz piano chords, as if she’s tentatively feeling her way into the psyche of the character in the song like a method actor, ‘Another Spring’ commences with the bleak, wintry imagery of lonely old age: “Yeah and for a little while well I don’t care/If my days are coming to an end/And just as soon be gone sometimes”. The song moves through an elderly woman’s account of her current predicament and the life she once had; her children have moved far away and left her alone in her home, talking to herself in a rocking chair mourning the man who left. Her life is laid as bare as the stark, chilly streets outside.

Yet Spring arrives at her door one morning and with Nina’s gently whispered “And then…” the mood of the song swings from one of solemnity and disconsolate anger to pellucid joy, then finally serenity and acceptance. The arrival of a tambourine engineers the upward shift to three uplifting stanzas of supreme power and majesty, laced with the stirring cadences of gospel – this is genre-bending as only Nina can do it.

Another Spring represents both a perfect summation of Nina’s dextrous handling of different strands of music and her ability to nail the humanity of a lyric, in this case the work of Twin Peaks composer Angelo Badalamenti and John Clifford.

In winter when the streets are bare
There ain’t nothing much to see
I just can’t help missing and thinking
About that kindly man
That one old winter time came
And took away from me

And then one morning
Another spring is there outside my door
Things are blooming
Birds are singing
And suddenly yes well I ain’t sad
Ain’t sad no more ain’t sad no more

When it’s warm and the sun is out
It’s like my heart’s restored
I’ve had my love I’ve had my children
And I have so many memories
So don’t mind me complaining
What the years may bring

Cos this old world has been fine with me really
And I’m thankful for seeing another spring
It’s gonna be better this time another spring
It’s gonna be groovier this time another spring
It’s what’s happening this time
So I’m thankful for letting me see another spring

Maki Gajic Murata, Composer in Residence