Billie Holiday has a lot of songs in the 1001 list, and I’m not complaining. If there was one musician I could listen to all the time it would be Billie Holiday. God Bless the Child sounds like a familiar song, but I couldn’t place if I had ever heard it. I do know that the song has a lot of truth in the lyrics.
The song references what seems to be a disagreement between parents and a child, and referring to the history behind the song this seems very well what it was about. Not only does this give the song a story but emotion. There is also the classic array of instrumentals that I still haven’t heard anything like before. It’s light and powerful. It reminds me a lot of Billie Holiday’s voicing. There is also a dark backdrop that keeps the song moving.
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| Courtesy of Marcusg of Free Images. |
To coincide with my new travel blog addition, I want to go a bit more into the details of where this song came to life. This song has a New York City vibe about it, and appropriately so since that is where it was recorded. Along with an orchestra of talented musicians the song was brought to life. Sadly, I have yet to even get close to reaching traveling there yet.
The song also has the perfect 40’s atmosphere. Recorded in 1941, the song would be following in a line of memorable songs for Billie Holiday. What particularly struck me as innovative was the usage of deep themes without explaining directly what was being talked about. We are given the use of the Bible in such a way to bully children, and the maturing of the child to understand Biblical content enough to argue the parent’s theory.
My favorite classic artist has quickly become Billie Holiday. I haven’t heard a song yet that I disliked. They also keep with the same moody flare that makes them good for most days. If you’re in a particularly disgruntled mood they seem to ring true with that feeling.
An Innovative Pursuit 