"Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" is a song written by

Bennie Benjamin Claude August "Bennie" Benjamin (November 4, 1907 – May 2, 1989) was a Virgin Islands-born American songwriter. He had particularly successful songwriting partnerships with Sol Marcus, with whom he wrote "I Don't Want To Set The World On F ...

Horace Ott Horace Ott (born April 15, 1933) is an American jazz and R&B composer, arranger, record producer, conductor and pianist, noted for his work since the late 1950s with a wide variety of artists including The Shirelles, Don Covay, Nina Simone, Hou ...

and

Sol Marcus Sol Marcus (October 1, 1912 – February 5, 1976) was an American songwriter and pianist. Born in New York, he began working as a songwriter with Bennie Benjamin and Eddie Seiler (1911–1952) in the mid-1930s.Nina Simone Eunice Kathleen Waymon (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), known professionally as Nina Simone (), was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blu ...

, who recorded the first version in 1964. "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" has been covered by many artists. Two of the covers were transatlantic hits, the first in 1965 by

The Animals The Animals (also billed as Eric Burdon and the Animals) are an English rock band, formed in Newcastle upon Tyne in the early 1960s. The band moved to London upon finding fame in 1964. The Animals were known for their gritty, bluesy sound and ...

, which was a blues rock version; and a 1977 by the disco group

Santa Esmeralda Santa Esmeralda is a French-American disco group formed in the 1970s. The group had hits with its remake of the 1960s hits "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" and "House of the Rising Sun". Santa Esmeralda featured original lead singer Leroy Gómez i ...

, which was a

four-on-the-floor Four-on-the-floor (or four-to-the-floor) is a rhythm pattern used primarily in dance genres such as disco and electronic dance music. It is a steady, uniformly accented beat in time in which the bass drum is hit on every beat (1, 2, 3, 4). ...

rearrangement. A 1986 cover by new wave musician Elvis Costello found success in Britain and Ireland.

Nina Simone original

Composer and arranger

came up with the melody and chorus lyrics after a temporary falling out with his girlfriend (and wife-to-be), Gloria Caldwell.

Hilton Valentine Hilton Stewart Paterson Valentine (21 May 1943 – 29 January 2021) was an English skiffle and rock and roll musician who was the original guitarist in The Animals. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994 and into Hollywoo ...

"Stories"
Hiltonvalentine.com, April 28, 2001. Retrieved 6 September 2007. Ott then brought it to writing partners

and

Sol Marcus Sol Marcus (October 1, 1912 – February 5, 1976) was an American songwriter and pianist. Born in New York, he began working as a songwriter with Bennie Benjamin and Eddie Seiler (1911–1952) in the mid-1930s.BMI writers (Ott) from officially collaborating with ASCAP members (Benjamin and Marcus), so Ott listed Caldwell's name instead of his own on the credits."Songwriter, Arranger Horace Ott"
www.fyicomminc.com Jazzmen. Retrieved September 6, 2007. "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" was one of five songs written by Benjamin and Marcus and presented for

Nina Simone Eunice Kathleen Waymon (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), known professionally as Nina Simone (), was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blu ...

's 1964 album ''

Broadway-Blues-Ballads ''Broadway-Blues-Ballads'' is an album by the singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone, released in 1964. Track listing # "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" (Bennie Benjamin, Gloria Caldwell, Sol Marcus) - 2:48 # "Night Song" (Lee Adams, Charles St ...

''. There, the song was taken at a very slow tempo and arranged around the harp and other orchestral elements including a backing choir that appears at several points. Simone sings it in her typically difficult-to-categorize style. To some writers, this version of "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" carried the subtext of the

Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the Unite ...

that concerned much of Simone's work of the time; while to others this was more personal, and was the song, and phrase, that best exemplified Simone's career and life.

The Animals version

' lead singer

Eric Burdon Eric Victor Burdon (born 11 May 1941) is an English singer. He was previously the lead vocalist of R&B and rock band the Animals and funk band War. He is regarded as one of the British Invasion's most distinctive singers with his deep, pow ...

would later say of the song, "It was never considered pop material, but it somehow got passed on to us and we fell in love with it immediately." The song was recorded in November 1964. The band became a trans-Atlantic hit in early 1965 for their rendition of the song, rising to No. 3 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, No. 15 on the U.S. pop singles chart, and No. 4 in Canada. '' Cash Box'' described it as "a striking combination of R&B and English-rock touches." This single was ranked by ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' at No. 322 on their list of the

500 Greatest Songs of All Time "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" is a recurring survey compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and industry figures. The first list was published in December 2004 in ...

. During Animals concerts at the time, the group maintained the recorded arrangement, but Burdon sometimes slowed the vocal line down to an almost spoken part, recapturing a bit of the Simone flavor. At the South by Southwest festival in 2012, Bruce Springsteen credited the song as the inspiration and the riff for his song "

Badlands Badlands are a type of dry terrain where softer sedimentary rocks and clay-rich soils have been extensively eroded."Badlands" in ''Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 47. They are characterized by steep slopes, m ...

Santa Esmeralda version

A disco version of the song by the group

, which took The Animals' arrangement and transformed into a disco,

flamenco Flamenco (), in its strictest sense, is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and ...

, and other

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

rhythm and ornamentation elements to it, also became a hit in the late 1970s. Their version of the song was first released in summer 1977 as a 16-minute epic that took up an entire side of their ''Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood'' album which was picked up for greater worldwide distribution by their label at the time,

Casablanca Records Casablanca Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Republic Records. Under its founder Neil Bogart, Casablanca was most successful during the disco era of the mid to late 1970s. The label current ...

. The 12-inch club remix was extremely popular, reached No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard

Club Play Singles Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as th ...

chart and in some European countries as well. Though, the single peaked at No. 4 on the Hot Dance/Disco-Club Play chart. Instrumental sections of this version were used in the 2003

Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, dark humor, non-linear storylines, cameos, ensembl ...

film '' Kill Bill: Volume I'', during the final fight between The Bride and O-Ren Ishii.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Elvis Costello version

British new wave musician Elvis Costello, under the label "The Costello Show", covered "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" for his 1986 album, '' King of America''. The song was a late addition to the album; Costello had originally intended to record " I Hope You're Happy Now", but throat problems during the final sessions prevented him from doing so. Costello recalled, Against Costello's wishes, his American record company, Columbia, insisted on releasing the song as the first single from ''King of America''. The single reached No. 33 in the UK and No. 22 in Ireland, but did not chart in the US. He explained, "My US record company, Columbia, showed their customary imagination in releasing the safe 'cover' song as a single ahead of any of the more unusual and heartfelt balladry I had composed. 'Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood' made little impression, and my mounting debt to the company seemed to make them unwilling to risk any further effort on my behalf". Martin Chilton of ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...

'' ranked the song as Costello's 26th best song out of 40, stating that Costello "sings it really well".

Chart history

Weekly charts

; The Animals ; Ginette Reno ; Santa Esmeralda ; Elvis Costello (The Costello Show) ; Joe Cocker

Year-end charts

; The Animals ; Santa Esmeralda

Reviewed versions

'' Stereogum'' reviewed cover versions of the song in 2015, including renditions by Joe Cocker,

Yusuf Islam Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou; ), commonly known by his stage names Cat Stevens, Yusuf, and Yusuf / Cat Stevens, is a British singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. His musical style consists of folk, pop, rock, and, later i ...

, and

Lana Del Rey Elizabeth Woolridge Grant (born June 21, 1985), known professionally as Lana Del Rey, is an American singer-songwriter. Her music is noted for its cinematic quality and exploration of tragic romance, glamour, and melancholia, with frequent r ...

. A version by Cocker for his ''

With a Little Help from My Friends "With a Little Help from My Friends" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, from their 1967 album ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band''. It was written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney and sung by drummer Ringo Starr (as Sgt. Pep ...

'' album is "a thoroughly '60s rock reading, ..even if it dispenses with the organ intro the Animals introduced into the equation, it does have a big organ solo section and that crying blues guitar intro". Cat Stevens converted to Islam and changed his name to Yusuf Islam; when he returned to popular music, he recorded an allusion to controversies in his life by way of "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood", as featured on his 2006 album '' An Other Cup''. Del Rey created a "burnt-out Pop Art take on

Americana Americana may refer to: *Americana (music), a genre or style of American music *Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States Film, radio and television * ''Americana'' (1992 TV series), a documentary series presented by J ...

" version of the song for her album '' Honeymoon''.

References

{{authority control 1964 singles 1964 songs 1965 singles 1977 singles The Animals songs Blues rock songs Casablanca Records singles Columbia Graphophone Company singles Columbia Records singles Disco songs Jazz songs Lana Del Rey songs MGM Records singles Nina Simone songs Number-one singles in Germany Philips Records singles Santa Esmeralda songs Song recordings produced by Mickie Most Songs written by Bennie Benjamin Songs written by Sol Marcus