Song · Nina Simone
“Sinnerman” by Nina Simone
From the album Pastel Blues (1965)
“Sinnerman” by Nina Simone appears on 6 radio countdowns from 3 stations between 2010 and 2026. It was first released in 1965 on the album Pastel Blues. Its best result is #221 on the WYEP Greatest Songs of All Time. In the combined RockLists rankings it is #1,091 indie & aaa song of all time.
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"Sinnerman" is Nina Simone's epic, the extended version she cut in 1965 for Pastel Blues, with Hal Mooney producing. The song had been kicking around since the 1950s, recorded by Les Baxter, the Swan Silvertones and the Weavers among others, and it carries the cadence of an old spiritual. Simone stretched it far past anything those versions attempted.
Its story is a sinner on Judgment Day, running from place to place looking for somewhere to hide from divine justice and finding no cover anywhere. Simone treats that chase like a marathon, piling blues, jazz and gospel on top of each other until the performance stops being a song and becomes a revival meeting that refuses to end.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 855 | WXPN | WXPN 885 Ultimate Road Trip Songs (2010) | 885 |
| 2012 | 463 | WYEP | WYEP Top 500 Songs Countdown | 500 |
| 2014 | 493 | WXPN | WXPN 885 All-Time Greatest Songs (2014) | 885 |
| 2018 | 399 | The Current | The Current's 893 Essential Songs | 892 |
| 2020 | 475 | WXPN | WXPN 2020 Greatest Songs of All Time | 2020 |
| 2026 | 221 | WYEP | WYEP Greatest Songs of All Time | 1180 |
Also listed as: Sinner Man.
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