Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood
Do not Let Me Be Misunderstood is a 1964 incurred Blue Song , who by Bennie Benjamin , Gloria Caldwell (* 15. April 1933 ) and Sol Marcus (* 1. October 1912 , † 5 February 1976 ) written and first of Nina Simone interpreted has been. The best known version is a disco version of Santa Esmeralda from 1977, which topped the German charts for weeks.
Original version
The title was composed in early 1964 by Bennie Benjamin, Gloria Caldwell and Sol Marcus. Nina Simone recorded the original in New York in June 1964. She accompanied the Horace Ott orchestra ; Ott also arranged. The title was produced by Harold "Hal" Mooney. The slow ballad was pressed onto the single Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood / A Monster (Philips # 40232) and released in October 1964 without making it onto the charts. The title therefore remained hidden from the general public. The sensitive A-side is about the singer's confessions to her weaknesses in character, who sees herself as a soul with good intentions and therefore does not want to be misunderstood by her partner. Even if you go through the whims sometimes and your partner sees the other side of you, don't get them wrong. On the album Broadway Blues Ballads (December 1964) the LP version was included.
Version of the Animals
The Animals recorded a faster version back on November 16, 1964 as their fourth single, produced by their house producer Mickie Most . Their white version Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood / Club A Go Go (Columbia DB # 7445), published in January 1965 , made it - unlike the original - in the international charts (3rd place in Great Britain, 15th place in the USA). In an interview with Songfacts on September 13, 2010, Eric Burdon commented on the reasons why he had chosen the title: “I've been misunderstood by my parents, teachers and some women - all my life.” The massive ones The Animals version could not continue the sales success of the previous single The House of the Rising Sun. The version of Animals is listed by Rolling Stone in its list of the 500 best songs of all time from 2004 at number 315.
Version of Santa Esmeralda
Santa Esmeralda made the song a disco classic with an extensive intro in November 1977 . The single received 48 gold and 42 platinum times and was number 1 on the German charts for eight weeks (from November 21, 1977 to January 9, 1978) ; the accompanying album broke the then record of 15 million albums sold. In Austria, too, the single was at the top of the charts for four weeks from mid-December 1977. The disco version also appeared on the soundtrack for the film Kill Bill in 2003 . It was also used as the opening tune for the American game show Bullseye (1980-1982). In Germany, the rhythm part of the piece from the end of the 1970s to the mid-1980s was used in the ARD sports show as a jingle and background music for the goal of the month .
More cover versions
ASCAP lists a total of 32 versions of the song, including versions of
- 1969 Joe Cocker (featured in the credits of the 2004 film Layer Cake )
- The Moody Blues (1967)
- Duffy (1971)
- Mike Batt (1977)
- Jean-Claude Borelly (1978)
- Helen Schneider (1981)
- Gary Moore (1984)
- Elvis Costello (1986)
- King Køng (1990/92)
- Ray Darwin (2002)
- No Mercy (2002)
- Place of Skulls (2002)
- Cyndi Lauper (2003)
- John Legend (2003)
- Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens, 2006)
- Robben Ford (2007)
- Lyambiko (2008)
- Eric Burdon has released several studio and live versions over the years, including a. as a reggae version.
- Lana Del Rey (2015)
There is also a German-language version of the piece produced by Jack White with singer Mark Sommer and the title The whole world knows, I love you from 1978. In the rather slow original version, it was later used in an advertisement for Christian Dior -Perfume J'Adore used with Charlize Theron . The song was also used as a sample , so in 2007 for the song Misunderstood by Common and for Lil Wayne's DontGetIt on the album The Carter 3 (2008).