The title, tune, and some of the lyrics for this 1982 song are borrowed directly from Gilbert O'Sullivan’s 1972 hit, but Nina Simone’s version puts a biting twist on the original. Contrasting with O'Sullivan’s maudlin lyrics about a man who becomes suicidal after being stood up at the altar, Simone’s lyrics tell the brutally (but beautifully) honest tale of how she felt when her father passed away. The frank lyrics paint a bleak picture of a father-daughter relationship that was fractured beyond repair by a parent’s perfectionism and domestic abuse. They also show, however, that Simone’s feelings towards her father are more complicated than mere resentment, as she still felt close to him and was upset by his death, even though she didn’t want to visit him before he died.

The deeply personal lyrics and the frank sentiments they express merge with Nina Simone’s virtuosic piano playing and scathing singing to create a recording that is at once bleak and soulful.