Billie Holiday had a difficult childhood. Much information once not considered true was confirmed in the book Billie Holiday by Stuart Nicholson in 1995. Holiday's autobiography, Lady Sings the Blues, which was first published in 1956, is sketchy when it comes to details about her early life, but has been confirmed by the Nicholson research.
Her professional pseudonym was taken from Billie Dove, an actress she admired, and Clarence Holiday, her probable father. At the outset of her career, she spelled her last name Halliday, which was the birth-surname of her father, but eventually changed it to Holiday, his performing name.
Her distinct delivery made Billie Holiday's performances instantly recognizable throughout her career. A master of improvisation, Billie's well-trained ear more than compensated for her lack of music education performance really was.
In 1972, Diana Ross portrayed Holiday in the film Lady Sings the Blues, which is loosely based on the 1956 autobiography of the same name. The film earned Ross a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. She also has been portrayed by Ernestine Jackson in Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill and by Paula Jai Parker in a Season 7 episode of Touched by an Angel entitled "God Bless the Child," the title deriving from a song that she had written and sung.
In 1987, Billie Holiday was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In 1993, R&B singer Miki Howard released an album dedicated to Holiday titled Miki Sings Billie: A Tribute To Billie Holiday. The United States Postal Service introduced a Billie Holiday postage stamp in 1994, she ranked #6 on VH1's 100 Greatest Women in Rock n' Roll in 1999, and she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. Over the years, there have been many tributes to Billie Holiday, including "The Day Lady Died," a 1959 poem by Frank O'Hara, and "Angel of Harlem," a 1988 release by the group U2. A 1953 Holiday concert in New York is a key feature of the 2009 Arthur Phillips novel The Song is You.
On May 31, 1959, Holiday was taken to Metropolitan Hospital in New York suffering from liver and heart disease. Police officers were stationed at the door to her room. She was arrested for drug possession as she lay dying, and her hospital room was raided by authorities. Holiday remained under police guard at the hospital until she died from cirrhosis of the liver (the result of several years of substance abuse) on July 17, 1959. In the final years of her life, she had been progressively swindled out of her earnings, and she died with $0.70 in the bank and $750 (a tabloid fee) on her person. Her funeral mass was held at St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church in New York City.
Critic John Bush wrote that she "changed the art of American pop vocals forever."She co-wrote only a few songs, but several of them have become jazz standards, notably "God Bless the Child," "Don't Explain," "Fine and Mellow," and "Lady Sings the Blues." She also became famous for singing jazz standards including "Easy Living," "Good Morning Heartache," and "Strange Fruit."
A Fine Romance
Billie Holiday and Her Orchestra Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A fine romance, my friend this is
We should be like
A couple of hot tomatoes
But you're as cold as
Yesterday's mashed potatoes
A fine romance, you won't nestle
I might as well play bridge
With my old maid aunt
I haven't got a chance
This is a fine romance
A fine romance, my good fellow
You take romance, I'll take Jell-O
You're calmer than the seals
In the Arctic ocean
At least they flap their fins
To express emotion
A fine romance with no quarrels
With no insults and all morals
I've never mussed the crease
In your blue serge pants
I never get the chance
This is a fine romance
In A Fine Romance, Billie Holiday sings about a relationship that lacks passion and intimacy. The first stanza compares the relationship to hot tomatoes, suggesting that it should have a fiery and exciting dynamic, but instead it lacks any romantic touch, including kisses. The comparison to mashed potatoes suggests that the relationship is stale and unappetizing.
In the second stanza, she expresses her dissatisfaction with the lack of physical intimacy, using the metaphor of wrestling to suggest a lack of passion in the relationship. She then goes on to say that she might as well play bridge with her old aunt, as there is no sensual connection. Finally, in the last stanza, Holiday criticizes her partner's lack of emotional expression, comparing him to calm seals in the Arctic Ocean, who do not express themselves with the same passion as other animals. The song ends with a sarcastic remark that the absence of quarrels and insults is the only positive aspect of this “fine romance”.
Line by Line Meaning
A fine romance, with no kisses
This is a relationship that lacks any sort of intimacy, romance or affectionate gestures.
A fine romance, my friend this is
This is a sarcastic tone used to emphasize that the relationship is not at all fine and that things aren't as they seem.
We should be like
A couple of hot tomatoes
But you're as cold as
Yesterday's mashed potatoes
The singer believes that the two of them should be passionate and lively (like hot tomatoes), but their partner is dull and unresponsive (like mashed potatoes).
A fine romance, you won't nestle
A fine romance, you won't wrestle
I might as well play bridge
With my old maid aunt
I haven't got a chance
This is a fine romance
The artist attempts to initiate some sort of physical contact with their partner, but it's met with resistance. They feel like they have a better chance of having fun with their old maiden aunt than with their partner.
A fine romance, my good fellow
You take romance, I'll take Jell-O
You're calmer than the seals
In the Arctic ocean
At least they flap their fins
To express emotion
The artist is mocking their partner's lack of emotion and equating them with a cold animal, like the seals in the Arctic ocean. They basically say that the seals are better at expressing themselves than their partner.
A fine romance with no quarrels
With no insults and all morals
I've never mussed the crease
In your blue serge pants
I never get the chance
This is a fine romance
The singer sarcastically emphasizes the fact that the relationship is free of any conflicts or passionate moments. They haven't even been intimate enough to leave any evidence of their presence on their partner's serged pants - which is not at all fine for them.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, RESERVOIR MEDIA MANAGEMENT INC
Written by: Jerome Kern, Dorothy Fields
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Alan Taylor
Sensational voice then a solo by Artie Shaw on clarinet.................beyond magnificent!!
Eylem Dal Solberg
Great voice!
Daniel Ingram
Lady Day always gives me goosebumps.
Stupid Hat
I cannot pick a favorite but I probably sing along with this more than any other of her songs ;-)
Cookie Monster
Love this 🥰💕🥰
mariobro1993
I fucking love The Lady.
Leila Selo
You are Best . I love all my moments with you . 😇🥰
B.Arturo M.
Very Kool.
Guillermo Julio Doghel
Ishould like to see Billie video.
Christophe CROLET
Bunny berigan trumpet