Part 16 of my 1000+ part series.
(For info on that, clickety-click-click)
In which I explore the works of one of the All Time Greats....and it only took me about a year and a half since my last post! At this rate, I should reach the '60s by my retirement party! Appropriate, potentially...
TL;DR:
TL;DR:
More after The Cut >>>
This was originally a Sinatra song, so I'm automatically biased in its favor. Still, Holiday puts her own spin on it, with her characteristic vocals.
Though it's not fair necessarily to compare different versions of a song, to consider the Sinatra version next to this one, Sinatra's is far more dynamic and dramatic, Holiday's more subdued and poignant. Though they are both gorgeous tracks, for this particular song, I prefer Holiday's, as I think it carries more emotional weight and subtlety.
For instance, considering the delivery of the line "Time and time again," whereas Sinatra really goes for it and soars up in his register, Holiday croons it softly, full of heartbreak. A fantastic performance.
A sweet, yet sad song, imploring the listener to fall in love with her "for heaven's sake."
Funnily enough, this song sounds more like one I can imagine Sinatra singing, while the previous track (the actual Sinatra track) I prefer the Holiday version. While she does capture a dreamy quality of the song, it's not exactly what I would call "imploring" in the earnest way that Sinatra did so well. But hey, as far as I'm concerned, there's no real "bad" Holiday track.
This is more like it. She really captures the nuance and feeling in this song. To compare versions once more (for someone who stated that I don't like this, I sure do it a lot, don't I?), the Ella Fitzgerald version from the early 1940s is more technically perfect, but is a lot more staid by comparison.
The way she sings the lines "You don't know how hearts burn/For love that cannot live yet never dies/Until you've faced each dawn with sleepless eyes/You don't know what love is"...ouch, my heart.
Not gonna lie, I thought of this too
Well this sounds familiar...probably because I wrote about the Sinatra version of it in my very first part of this series (shameless plug here)
Bizarrely, this version sounds somewhat more self-assured and hopeful(?) than the Sinatra version. Whereas his was very obviously a statement of how unwell he gets along without you, hers seems like it could actually be a real statement of proof that yeah, she does get along without you just fine. So there.
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| ALL THE WOMEN, INDEPENDENT! |
The weirdest thing is that the lyrics are unchanged between the two, yet the emotion is completely different. Don't get me wrong, there is still a distinct undercurrent of sadness in Holiday's, but the uptempo music really throws me off. Her vocals with the Sinatra instrumentals would have been an ideal pairing for me personally.
5.) For All We Know
"Before you go, make this moment sweet again." Here's a fun drinking game: see how many times I use the word 'heartbreaking' in this review. Take a shot each time. I'm not responsible for any damages.
The way the music shifts behind the words "this may all be a dream," and also behind "ripple on a stream" really adds to the story of the song.
That last note though, both hers and the violin...heartbreaking.
Unrelatedly
This is a love story, centered on the vignette of one poignant day in which the singer received the eponymous violets for her eponymous furs. Eponymously.
The way that she sings it though, you can't help but wonder if something tragic happened in this relationship. Did she die? Did her lover die? DID THE VIOLETS DIE? (Spoiler: the violets probably died)
The Sinatra version (oh God, here she goes again) is, again, quite different - this is from the perspective of the violet-giver, rather than the violet-receiver sexual metaphor much?
His too has a yearning, somewhat sad quality to it, but the instrumentation also includes a strangely jaunty melody that I think is supposed to be happy and nostalgic at the same time? Both good, but point goes to Team Holiday.
7.) You've Changed
What. A. Dick. Homeboy (girl?) has completely ditched dear sweet Billie, dropping the angel act and crushing her spirit in the process.
It's fascinating how the song isn't so much about the 'antagonist' stepping out on the speaker or revealing his/her true colors of being a complete asshole, but rather just that that person seems ...bored.
Smiles have become yawns. Words have become nothingness. Just...meh. And her tone while singing it is so resigned. It's all the more tragic for how mundane it all is.
I couldn't have put it better myself
Smiles have become yawns. Words have become nothingness. Just...meh. And her tone while singing it is so resigned. It's all the more tragic for how mundane it all is.
Yet another upper! Ha
Whereas in "You've Changed" she feels the relationship ending due to her partner's waning interest, in this song the relationship is dead and buried, RIP love.
Still...there's just something about that person, where no matter what, she just can't forget about what they had.
Slow, unhurried, lovely. Heartbreaking.
Whereas in "You've Changed" she feels the relationship ending due to her partner's waning interest, in this song the relationship is dead and buried, RIP love.
Still...there's just something about that person, where no matter what, she just can't forget about what they had.
Clearly the spiritual successor to this song
Slow, unhurried, lovely. Heartbreaking.
9.) But Beautiful
Another classic that has been sung by so many untouchable singers, including the likes of Nina Simone and, yes, Frank Sinatra again.(you can't make me stop referencing Sinatra, so don't even try)
The Nina Simone track has a minimalist, African drum-driven beat that is more primal, like a call to arms. The Frank Sinatra track is, well, a Frank Sinatra track. It's classic Sinatra, one of his major hits from the late 1940s.
The instrumentation of this arrangement sung by Holiday is similar to the 1948 Sinatra arrangement, with its light, almost whimsical flutes and dreamy violins. In what has clearly becoming a recurring theme, Holiday's vocals have a more subtle, nuanced quality, in contrast to Sinatra's smooth, smooth stylings.
I love, love, love the trumpet solo in the Holiday track around the 3:00 mark or so. It's both bold and lonely, not unlike the speaker of the song: putting herself out there, while knowing how that love, while beautiful, is still heartbreaking(yes I am in fact doing this on purpose now why do you ask). A+ would recommend.
Another classic that has been sung by so many untouchable singers, including the likes of Nina Simone and, yes, Frank Sinatra again.
The Nina Simone track has a minimalist, African drum-driven beat that is more primal, like a call to arms. The Frank Sinatra track is, well, a Frank Sinatra track. It's classic Sinatra, one of his major hits from the late 1940s.
The instrumentation of this arrangement sung by Holiday is similar to the 1948 Sinatra arrangement, with its light, almost whimsical flutes and dreamy violins. In what has clearly becoming a recurring theme, Holiday's vocals have a more subtle, nuanced quality, in contrast to Sinatra's smooth, smooth stylings.
I love, love, love the trumpet solo in the Holiday track around the 3:00 mark or so. It's both bold and lonely, not unlike the speaker of the song: putting herself out there, while knowing how that love, while beautiful, is still heartbreaking
10.) Glad to Be Unhappy
Another track that I covered way back in yesteryear, in the first part of this series on...yes, Frank Sinatra. Look, I can't help it if Frank Sinatra sang just about every song written before 1962, ok?! Send your angry letters elsewhere!
The Sinatra version I covered previously has an almost music box-like twinkly piano, combined with vocals that are way up front in the mix, not to mention much more 'spoken,' before slipping into that quintessential Sinatra croon, with an accompanying guitar.
Oddly enough, the instrumentation on the Holiday version is more of what I typically associate with Sinatra, not unlike with "But Beautiful." This is far more strings-driven, with a trombone solo thrown in. I will always welcome a trombone solo. Get it, girl.
As I've continuallybeaten this Sinatra comparison to death revisited this Sinatra comparison, I've realized what an amazing singer Holiday really is. Don't get me wrong: I will never lose my undying love for Sinatra. But Holiday's perfectly imperfect voice is raw in a way that adds so much nuance to tracks like this one. But I'm getting ahead of myself...ON TO THE NEXT TRACK!
The Sinatra version I covered previously has an almost music box-like twinkly piano, combined with vocals that are way up front in the mix, not to mention much more 'spoken,' before slipping into that quintessential Sinatra croon, with an accompanying guitar.
Oddly enough, the instrumentation on the Holiday version is more of what I typically associate with Sinatra, not unlike with "But Beautiful." This is far more strings-driven, with a trombone solo thrown in. I will always welcome a trombone solo. Get it, girl.
As I've continually
11.) I'll Be Around
...sigh. Look, it's been a while since I've done this blog. I wrote that first review over three years ago. In a weird way, it's like I'm doing two reviews in this one - one actually on "Lady in Satin," and another one on "...In the Wee Small Hours." Again.
I'm retreading the same ground: Sinatra = twinkly music box. Holiday = strings and horns. Both really capture the yearning of the speaker, but Holiday's has more of a wistful smiling quality to it. Yeah, she'll be around if your current flame heads out, but she ain't holding her breath.
And what an end to the song: "When she's gooooone." Ouch, my heart. Again.
I'm retreading the same ground: Sinatra = twinkly music box. Holiday = strings and horns. Both really capture the yearning of the speaker, but Holiday's has more of a wistful smiling quality to it. Yeah, she'll be around if your current flame heads out, but she ain't holding her breath.
And what an end to the song: "When she's gooooone." Ouch, my heart. Again.
Obligatory Sinatra link here.
Focusing on the Holiday track here. Focusing. Foooocusing.
Right off the bat, the way in which Holiday says nonchalantly, "So what if I [insert dangerous and clearly self-destructive behavior here] too much?" Considering that in real life Holiday died of cirrhosis, you know that she's singing from an all-too-real place when it comes to overindulgence. And when she sings of being "as lonely as lonely can be," all while uplifting violins and an oddly cute trombone play - the contrast is nearly painful.
What an ending.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
Billie Holiday was - and is - one of the single-most influential singers of modern music, and diving into this album, it's not hard to see why.
Yes, most, if not all, of these songs were great American standards sung time and again. But that wasn't what it was about.
This album is about Holiday, nearing the end of her storied career, and the end of a tumultuous life. It was, in fact, the last album released within her lifetime, and while I'm hesitant to look at the album as an intentional swansong, it's hard not to get that sense from listening to this. The songs all speak of sadness and lost love in one way or another, from someone who sounds like she has lived through it all.
This is a phenomenal album, albeit much more challenging than I expected. I'll 10000% revisit this in the future...especially for that sweet, sweet horn solo. Ooh yeah.
Focusing on the Holiday track here. Focusing. Foooocusing.
Right off the bat, the way in which Holiday says nonchalantly, "So what if I [insert dangerous and clearly self-destructive behavior here] too much?" Considering that in real life Holiday died of cirrhosis, you know that she's singing from an all-too-real place when it comes to overindulgence. And when she sings of being "as lonely as lonely can be," all while uplifting violins and an oddly cute trombone play - the contrast is nearly painful.
What an ending.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
Billie Holiday was - and is - one of the single-most influential singers of modern music, and diving into this album, it's not hard to see why.
Yes, most, if not all, of these songs were great American standards sung time and again. But that wasn't what it was about.
This album is about Holiday, nearing the end of her storied career, and the end of a tumultuous life. It was, in fact, the last album released within her lifetime, and while I'm hesitant to look at the album as an intentional swansong, it's hard not to get that sense from listening to this. The songs all speak of sadness and lost love in one way or another, from someone who sounds like she has lived through it all.
This is a phenomenal album, albeit much more challenging than I expected. I'll 10000% revisit this in the future...especially for that sweet, sweet horn solo. Ooh yeah.
I had to end on a lighter note. Aaaand you're welcome.
Personal standout tracks:
"I'm a Fool to Want You," "You Don't Know What Love Is," "You've Changed," "But Beautiful"...really, all of them in different ways.
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