Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an A… Read Full Bio ↴Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday was a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing. Her vocal style, strongly inspired by jazz instrumentalists, pioneered a new way of manipulating phrasing and tempo.

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."

Long Gone Blues
Billie Holiday and Her Orchestra Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Talk to me baby
Tell me what's the matter now
Tell me, baby what's the matter now?
Are you tryin' to quit me, baby
But you don't know how

I've been your slave
Ever since I've been your babe

I've been your slave
Ever since I've been your babe

But before I see you go
I see you in your grave

I'm a good gal
But my love is all wrong

I'm a good gal
But my love is all wrong

I'm a real good gal
But my love is gone

Overall Meaning

In Billie Holiday's song "Long gone blues," the lyrics depict the raw emotion of heartbreak and desperation. The singer, who is presumably Billie herself, is pleading with her partner to open up to her and reveal their feelings. Her partner is potentially trying to leave her, but they're struggling to do it. Billie acknowledges that she has been subservient to her partner ever since they started their relationship ("I've been your slave, ever since I've been your babe"). However, she also accepts that their bond will only end with death ("But before I see you go, I see you in your grave"). The last lines of the song reveal that despite trying her best to be the perfect partner, her love has vanished ("I'm a real good gal, but my love is gone").

The lyrics of "Long gone blues" have a vulnerable quality that is a hallmark of Billie Holiday's music. Her voice and lyrics both convey immense pain and anguish, and listeners can't help but be moved by the honesty and depth of emotion she expresses. The song is a testament to her talent as a singer-songwriter and her ability to convey universal experiences through her work.

Line by Line Meaning

Talk to me baby
Please share with me what's on your mind

Tell me what's the matter now
Please explain to me what is bothering you

Tell me, baby what's the matter now?
Please explain to me what is bothering you

Are you tryin' to quit me, baby
Are you attempting to leave me?

But you don't know how
But you do not comprehend how

I've been your slave
I have submitted to you as though I was your personal servant

Ever since I've been your babe
From the moment we began our relationship

But before I see you go
Before you abandon me forever

I see you in your grave
I envision you, lifeless and buried

I'm a good gal
I am a righteous woman

But my love is all wrong
But my affection cannot be sustained