"Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" is a song written by Bennie Benjamin, Horace Ott and Sol Marcus for the American singer-songwriter and pianist

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, blue ...

, 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, which was a blues rock version; and a 1977 by the disco group Santa Esmeralda, which was a four-on-the-floor rearrangement. A 1986 cover by new wave musician Elvis Costello found success in Britain and Ireland.

Nina Simone original

Composer and arranger Horace Ott came up with the melody and chorus lyrics after a temporary falling out with his girlfriend (and wife-to-be), Gloria Caldwell. Hilton Valentine
"Stories"
Hiltonvalentine.com, April 28, 2001. Retrieved 6 September 2007. Ott then brought it to writing partners Bennie Benjamin and Sol Marcus to complete. However, when it came time for songwriting credits, rules of the time prevented 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

's 1964 album '' Broadway-Blues-Ballads''. 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 in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...

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

The Animals' lead singer Eric Burdon 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 co ...

'' 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 South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, ...

festival in 2012,

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originat ...

credited the song as the inspiration and the riff for his song " Badlands".

Santa Esmeralda version

A disco version of the song by the group Santa Esmeralda, which took The Animals' arrangement and transformed into a disco, flamenco, 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 ...

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. The 12-inch club remix was extremely popular, reached No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Club Play Singles 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 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, disintegrated during reentry into Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an 2002– ...

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, ensemb ...

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 ''King of America'' is the tenth studio album by British rock singer and songwriter Elvis Costello, credited to "The Costello Show featuring the Attractions and Confederates" in the UK and Europe and to "The Costello Show featuring Elvis Costel ...

''. 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 Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region in ...

, 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'' 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 ''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine. ''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several awa ...

'' reviewed cover versions of the song in 2015, including renditions by Joe Cocker, Yusuf Islam, 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 (presentation), glamour, and melan ...

. A version by Cocker for his '' With a Little Help from My Friends'' 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" 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