Many, many years ago, when I first heard this song on the soundtrack for Kill Bill Volume One, I immediately fell in love with it.  I have to admit, as well, that when I first heard Santa Esmeralda’s version, I assumed that the cover had been recorded specifically for the Kill Bill soundtrack.  Well, turns out I was not only wrong, I was way wrong.  This cover version was actually recorded way back in 1977.

I also thought, before I started writing this post, that the song was originally performed by the Animals.  Wrong again.  The song was first written in 1964 by Bennie Benjamin, Gloria Caldwell, and Sol Marcus and it was originally performed by Nina Simone.  Then, in 1965, the Animals did their famous cover.  The Animals’ version of the song is the one that used to get stuck in my head when I was in high school because it used to play constantly at the Target where I would skip school.

But the Santa Esmeralda version is my favorite and it is today’s song of the day.