Second Single 'Liberian Calypso' From Nina Simone's Reissued 'Fodder on my Wings' is Available Now

Recorded in 1982, not long after she moved to Paris, Fodder On My Wings was one of Nina Simone's favorite albums yet has remained one of her most obscure. Originally recorded for a small French label and only sporadically available since its initial release, Fodder On My Wings will be reissued in a variety of formats including CD and LP, as well as widely available digitally for the first time, in both standard and hi-res audio, on April 3 via Verve/UMe. The original album will be expanded with three bonus tracks from the recording sessions from a rare French reissue released in 1988.

A lesser-known but important part of Simone's musical history, Fodder On My Wings contains deeply personal songs, including the aforementioned, "I Sing Just To Know That I'm Alive" and "I Was Just A Stupid Dog To Them," as well a searing lyrical improvisation about the death of her father on "Alone Again (Naturally)."

At the time she recorded the album, Simone was living in France and extremely lonely; her mental illness was worsening and her family life was fractured. It's out of this despair that one of the many album standouts, the near title track "Fodder In Her Wings," was birthed. As Pitchfork wrote in their list of 33 of Simone's most iconic songs, the composition "captured with startling intimacy the pain of this period, and she returned to it frequently through the next decade, cutting another studio version three years later (the synth-heavy take on Nina's Back!) and including it on several live albums, including an awe-inspiring performance on 1987's Let It Be Me," continuing, "Simone's vocal makes a song of weariness and defeat carry an air of defiance, a wise word from someone who survived to tell the tale."

TRACK LISTINGS:

VINYL SIDE A

1. I Sing Just To Know That I'm Alive

2. Fodder In Her Wings

3. Vous êtes seuls, mais je désire être avec vous

4. Il y a un baume à Gilhead

5. Liberian Calypso

6. Alone Again (Naturally)

SIDE B

1. I Was Just A Stupid Dog To Them

2. Color Is A Beautiful Thing

3. Le peuple en Suisse

4. Heaven Belongs To You

5. Thandewye

6. Stop

7. They Took My Hand

CD/DIGITAL

1. I Sing Just To Know That I'm Alive

2. Fodder In Her Wings

3. Vous êtes seuls, mais je désire être avec vous

4 Il y a un baume à Gilhead

5. Liberian Calypso

6. Alone Again (Naturally)

7. I Was Just A Stupid Dog To Them

8. Color Is A Beautiful Thing

9. Le Peuple en Suisse

10. Heaven Belongs To You

11. Thandewye

12. Stop

13. They Took My Hand