The Voice of Billie Holiday Essay - 1498 Words

The Voice of Billie Holiday A woman stands before you, and although she isnt a politician, she expresses her moving thoughts on issues that affect all Americans. Her voice isnt harsh or demanding in tone. Her stature is slender and traced in a shimmer of light that reflects from her dress. A southern magnolia is lying comfortably above her ear. She sings. She sings of incomprehension, of hate, and of a races pain. She sings low and confused. She sings as Our Lady of Sorrow(Davis 1), a representation of a whole people torn and discriminated against. And though her speech is not spoken, she moves a crowd, one that gathers into many. Billie Holiday comes to prove that one womans voice, singing one song, that calls†¦show more content†¦Holiday sang her emotions that could only be expressed by a minority race, but with the emotion that the human race could understand. Holiday proved herself a race woman, a term created for a woman who spoke out for civil rights for the black race. Billie Holiday was a jazz singer. Holiday was a musician of great proportion, but as a black woman was discriminated against even as an artist(Davis 2). Holiday started her career as a young woman, and was talented enough to start her career as a singer; when most black women her age were forced into a dancing career, due to the white-male dominated entertainment industry. Holiday sang jazz songs that varied from My Man, a song about a man who beats her, to Strange Fruit, a haunting protest song about lynching in the American South. Tony Bennett once stated about Holiday, She didnt sing anything unless she had lived it (Foley 1). So black fans claimed her as their voice to willing white ears, not only as a favorite performer but as a kind of patron saint (Davis 3). Holiday faced the simple obstacle of being heard. Although jazz had become a moving genre of music in her time, and Holidays talent was overwhelming, it was a challenge for a black woman to be taken seriously for the messages in her songs. Black women were often praised for being emotional and not intellectual in their musical talent. Southern trees bear aShow MoreRelatedGiant Dreams, Midget Abilities Essay622 Words   |  3 Pageswithin singing jingles in the voice of Billie Holiday. Sedaris’ desire to sing in the voice of Billie Holiday is probably closely related to his sexual orientation, being gay, and his father’s passion for jazz music. There is an implication of femininity in Sedaris’ desire to mimic Billie Holiday’s voice. Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer whose career took off in the 1930s. Some would find it peculiar as to why any young boy would want to imitate the voice of one who was generally regardedRead MoreMusic Has An Acute Effect On People1436 Words   |  6 Pagesreflect the listeners well being. Jazz has been an extremely popular form of music throughout time. Its interesting melodies and meaningful lyrics give voice to artists to display their emotions through beauteous music. During its heyday in the 1920’s, jazz singing was a landscape of the American sound (Carr 9). Being a jazz singer, Billie Holiday deserves to be put on the list of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century. Not only for her being in the general population of influential jazzRead MoreEssay about Billie Holiday918 Words   |  4 Pages Billie was born to the name, Eleanora Fagan on April 7, 1915. She was born in Philadelphia but grew up in the Fells Point section of Baltimore. Her mother, was just 13 at the time of her birth; her father, was 15. Holidays teenage parents, Sadie Harris (aka Fagan) and probable father, Clarence Holiday, never married, and they did not live together for a long time. Clarence, a banjo and guitar player worked with Fletcher Hendersons band in the early 30s. 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(Middleton pg 20) As socials change, so does popular music alike in chapter four with David Brackett. Brackett mentions how Bing Crosby, and Billie Holiday both preformed â€Å"I’ll be seeing you† during the same era, although during that time period Bing Crosby’s performance was seen as iconic rather than Billie Holiday’s performance which received less attention at the time. American culture at that time was reinforcing racism but as a joke. During their era, there were minstrelRead MoreAnalysis Of The Poem The Blood On The Leaves By Abel Meeropol1509 Words   |  7 PagesAmerica, like Meeropol said in 1971. After Meeropol wrote this poem, he wanted to find an artist that could put the poem to music and really bring out it’s true meaning. In the end, he chose Billie Holiday to sing his poem. Billie Holiday, to this day is most famous for â€Å"her† song â€Å"Strange Fruit†. Billie Holiday really dug deep in order to pull the true emotion out of this poem in her singing. The song was first performed in 1939 at a night club in New York called Cafà © Society. â€Å"She was afraid to singRead MoreWomen s Influence On The Early Years Of Jazz1181 Words   |  5 PagesLadnier (Giddins et al. 2009). Bessie was known as the â€Å"Empire of the Blues† for her extraordinary voice. However, alcoholism and depression later affected her career. Her final recording was in 1933, with John Hammond, Jack Teagarden and Benny Goodman (Bessie Smith†). Billie Holiday was born in Philadephia, Pennsylvania and raised in Baltimore, Maryland. Her father was guitarist Clarence Holiday who declined to acknowledge her as his daughter until she became famous. In her early years, she workedRead MoreThe Impact of Rock n Roll on the Civil Rights Movement1590 Words   |  7 Pagesagainst. Traditional white Americans would target anything bad about it. But as the teenager demographic of the 1950s started increasing the sales of the music, the genre started gaining more popularity. It was the style of Elvis Presley and his new voice that made girls weak in the knees and boys want to be him. Artists such as Presley had enough influence to change the view of their devoted fans on civil rights issues. Soon as protest songs and rock ‘n’ roll became more popular and influential, it