Sinnerman by Nina Simone

The song "Sinnerman " by Nina Simone.
It is also the music used in the climax scene of the 1999 movie "The Thomas Crown Affair ".

"Sinner Man " or "Sinnerman " is an American traditional spiritual song that has been recorded by a number of performers. "Sinnerman" (spelled as one word) is one of Nina Simone's most famous songs and she recorded her definitive 10-minute plus version on her 1965 album Pastel Blues. Simone learned the lyrics of this song in her childhood when it was used at revival meetings by her mother, (a Methodist minister) to help people confess their sins.

Old but good !

Follow this link to read the lyrics.


Eunice Kathleen Waymon aka Nina Simone was born in North Carolina (USA), one of eight children. She began playing piano at her local church and showed prodigious talent on this instrument.
Her concert debut, a classical piano recital, was made at the age of ten. During her performance, her parents, who had taken seats in the front row, were forced to move to the back of the hall to make way for white people. Simone says she refused to play until her parents were moved back to the front. This incident contributed to her later involvement in the Civil Rights movement.

She took on the stage name "Nina Simone" in 1954 because she did not want her mother to know that she was playing "the devil's music". "Nina" (from "niña", meaning "little girl" in Spanish) was a nickname a boyfriend had given to her and "Simone" was after the French actress Simone Signoret.

To learn more about Nina Simone, click on the picture below.