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."
Am I Blue?
Billie Holiday and Her Orchestra Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Without a warning I found he was gone
How could he do it
Why should he do it
He never done it before
Am I blue
Am I blue
How can you ask me "am I blue"
Why, wouldn't you be too
If each plan
With your man
Done fell through
There was a time
When I was his only one
But now I'm
The sad and lonely one, lonely
Was I gay
Until today
Now he's gone, and we're through
Am I blue
The song "Am I Blue?" is a melancholic piece that delves into the emotions and heartbreak of a woman who wakes up to find her lover has left without any warning. Through the lyrics, she expresses her confusion with the situation and how it has left her feeling desolate and blue. The opening lines, "It was a morning, long before dawn, Without a warning, I found he was gone," shows how sudden the departure of the lover was and how it was unexpected. She then questions why he did it and says that he had never done it before, indicating that the relationship was previously steady and predictable.
The chorus of the song, "Am I blue? Ain't these tears in these eyes telling you? How can you ask me ‘Am I blue?’ Why, wouldn't you be too if each plan with your man done fell through?" conveys her state of being heartbroken and how it would be common to feel that way if someone one loves and all the promises they made about the future seem to have crumbled in a flash. Billie Holiday's delivery of the song is very emotive, and it is evident that the singer is feeling every word of the song.
Line by Line Meaning
It was a morning, long before dawn
The singer is describing the time when she first realized her partner had left her - it was very early in the morning.
Without a warning I found he was gone
The singer did not have any indication that her partner was going to leave - he left without telling her.
How could he do it
The singer is expressing her shock and disbelief that her partner left her in such an abrupt and hurtful manner.
Why should he do it
The singer is questioning why her partner would choose to leave her in such a painful way. She is trying to understand his motives.
He never done it before
The singer is emphasizing that her partner leaving her was unexpected, since he had never acted this way in the past.
Am I blue
The singer is asking if she appears sad or depressed.
Ain't these tears, in these eyes telling you
The singer is pointing out that her tears are a clear indication that she is sad and upset. She is questioning why her partner would ask if she is sad when it is so obvious from her tears.
How can you ask me "am I blue"
The singer is astonished that her partner would ask if she is sad, since it is so obvious from her demeanor.
Why, wouldn't you be too
The singer is suggesting that her partner would also feel sad or upset if he were in her position. She is trying to make him understand how she feels.
If each plan
The singer is talking about the plans that she had made with her partner for their future together.
With your man
The singer is referring to her partner when she says "your man."
Done fell through
The singer is saying that all of the plans that she had made with her partner have now fallen apart, since he has left her.
There was a time
The singer is looking back wistfully on a time when she and her partner were happy together.
When I was his only one
The singer is reminiscing about a time when she was the only person her partner was interested in romantically.
But now I'm
The singer is saying that things have changed, and she is no longer the only person her partner cares about.
The sad and lonely one, lonely
The singer is emphasizing how sad and lonely she feels now that her partner has left her.
Was I gay
The singer is asking if she appeared happy or joyful before her partner left her.
Until today
The singer is saying that before her partner left her, she was happy and contented.
Now he's gone, and we're through
The singer is acknowledging that her relationship with her partner is over now that he has left her.
Am I blue
The singer is asking if she looks sad or depressed.
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: GRANT CLARKE, HARRY AKST
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@zuzanaspuntova1111
was a morning, long before dawn
Without a warning I found he was gone
How could he do it
Why should he do it
He never done it before
Am I blue
Am I blue
Ain't these tears, in these eyes telling you
How can you ask me "am I blue"
Why, wouldn't you be too
If each plan
With your man
Done fell through
There was a time
When I was his only one
But now I'm
The sad and lonely one...lonely
Was I gay
Untill today
Now he's gone, and we're through
Am I blue
@julianvickery8341
"Am I Blue?" by "Lady Day" /Billie Holiday (Columbia Records, 1941)
https://youtu.be/yi6NZCPYYxI
"Am I Blue?" is a song written by Harry Akst and Grant Clarke in 1929, and was a big hit that year for Ethel Waters in the film "On with the Show" (1929). It has become a standard and has been covered by numerous artists.
Billie's accompanied here by Roy Eldridge (trumpet); Lester Boone, Jimmy Powell (alto saxophone); Ernie Powell (tenor saxophone); Eddie Heywood (piano); Paul Chapman (guitar); Grachan Moncur (bass); Herbert Cowens (drums).
The song was recorded on 9 May , 1941in New York City for Columbia Records.
Lyrics:
Am I blue?
Am I blue?
Ain't these tears
In my eyes
Tellin' you
Am I blue?
You'd be too
If each plan
With your man
Done fell through
Was a time
I was his only one
But now I'm
The sad and lonely one,
Lawdy
Was I gay
'Til today
Now he's gone
And we're through
Am I blue?
(bridge)
Was I gay
'Til today
Now he's gone
And we're trough
Am I blue?
Oh he's gone
He left me
Am I blue?
@veronicageorge3825
Batman will always come to my mind whenever I hear this song.
@vandanpatel7937
i was about to write "batman will always sing this better than her" and show your comment first!!
@papaonta
now kevin conroy is gone, this song will forever be embedded in my head
@gke610
Why?
@veronicageorge3825
@@gke610 That's where I first heard the song.
@Baridan
I was so lucky one night in the early '50s to accompany some of my friends to hear this magnificent lady in San Francisco. She was so far out on something, but it had no effect on her ability to sing like a bird.
@TMM-rk4gm
I'm sure you were in a great night, the 50s had as its greatest feature The music, the people, everything was bright and utopic just after that it all got strange
@skankhunt-zh8ky
@@TMM-rk4gm high ups come with real lows
@RobinMcBeth
How old are you?!
@meumundosecreto7694
@@TMM-rk4gm highs for some, lows for others, in fact there are no perfect era, only the one you try make