Don't explain

[1MaureenMcGrath]

Her lifetime of grief brought a heart-wrenching quality to her art, never more apparent than in this performance of one of her best songs

[Dadee3]

This shit looks like a Dracula flick

[sabatino77]

BILLIE COME BACK!!!!!!!! WE NEED YOU SO MUCH!!

[DanielBowden1975]

Billie's good for the soul & should be listened to at least once a week

[Potentialaj]

I honestly believe this to be the best version of the song. i was so happy when my father bought me a compilation and this version was on it!!! She does look like she was on her deathbed in this but i i have noticed that i like artists more when they're sufferering the most u know?? too bad this doesn't show the entire song.

[Potentialaj]

this is my favorite version of this song. Thanks to whoever posted this

[gemmad4it]

yeh hagered in presence but not heart x

[grai]

In spite of her own self-destructiveness she just couldnt help being a genius singer

even at her lowest she was still a genius singer

[rturnerful]

@grai -------you know there's usually a person self destructs. Even if it's by drugs... "There was that initial reason that the person wanted the drug to start with" But, still, you are right her voice got bad towards the end, but not her style.

[crimnal2slim]

if you think she sounds rough in this song then you dont understand or appreciate billy holliday because this was the sound that that makes her truly great god bless her xx

[crimnal2slim]

a musician a poet who captivated through song a moment in history for black people and women no matter what  colour or creed she still touches hearts through her lyrics

[crimnal2slim]

i first played billy holliday when i was 14 and babysitting for my auntie who had a full blues and jazz record collection and i played her records and fell in love with that cracked raw emotion i heard. also ella fitzgerald and gladys night!!!

[uetzelbuetzel]

It's just a pity that  the technical quality of this recording doesnt match her singing.

The saddest voice I can remember having heard on a singer.

[a10m25b]

your an idiot! she is a legend. no blues to date is true to the way she could sing it in order to get how she felt across. And what she sang about was true to the times! Many women were going through the same things due to lack of their rights, etc. The stories she told had nothing to do with her lighter skin or drug abuse. So shut the hell up and read a history book before you comment. she has one of the most captivating voices ever known. You are the true embarrassment

[levieuxpiano]

Je suis d'accord avec vous. Avec deux notes et un regard, ou davantage dans ses époques plus fastes, elle était un génie. Elle transcendre les frontières du jazz pour atteindre la quintessence de l'être humain.

[BekaShakur]

Luv that she's in Thug Mansion now, don't sleep on "Strange Fruit" listen 2 that next about the lynchings which occured in the South

[dext037]

she was a sad woman and was a heroin addict!

but with one of the best voices ever

long live billie!!

[elaineybugg]

saddest video ive seen to date on utube. all i can say is wow

[Jebbersmom]

How sad to see this great singer, with her themendous gift, so beaten down by life... what a harsh reminder of what what the toll for surviving during those times took... thanks for posting.

[bondimoni]

this is the saddest voice of the whole world, so beautiful

[123argaet]

You can really feel her pain. I love her so much, but I recon she looks high in this clip. Probably has every reason to be though.

Please dont hate me for this comment. She truly is amazing.

[joergen100]

I love this song and Billie offcourse!

I know this is heresy but David Clayton Thomas (from BS&T) has actually made a beautiful rendition on the Brand New Day album.

Not as good as Billie's (how could it be?) but worth listening to none the less.

[coffeenciggy]

When Billie Holiday sings, I can't look away from her face. I always feel she is singing in the same room with me. Everything is out there, every note rings true. Heartbreaking. In the other clip Fine & Mellow with Lester Young two years before her death in 1959. See her expression when she starts with the lines "My man don't love me, Treats me oh so mean...". She was mocking herself. When the camera catches her full in the face for just a moment, one can see the glint of pain in her eyes.

[RINGOFE]

this just awesome! hoped the video was better. Thank you for this great music. greetings from greece!!

[strongnewyorkgirl]

it is so sad that billie hoilday has die so young,i miss her singing and beauty,i wish she was here today.

[XGRIMYONEX]

I visited her grave a few months ago she liked heroine so i sniffed some at her grave and left a bag on her stone

[mssquirrely]

It's a Shame People can't get peace alive on Earth and no peace it seems even in Death......

 I Feel Your Pain Lady ~ R.I.P. ~

Grt Post

[cr1e]

I feel bittersweet hearing this song. What this woman went through. Speaking out the best and only way she could. I think Vanessa Daou did a beautiful cover on her album.

[Cinderfellow]

Even towards the end of her life she hadn't lost her creativity. Her voice may not have been what it used to be but her art was still evident.

[satziebaby]

I've heard Lady at her best and I've heard her at her worst....I'm an old guy who will tell y'all that she was,and still is the best singer who ever lived.. And I've heard them all...Alan

[sapfeiros]

@satziebaby I'm probably much younger and I only know her songs by records. I can remark the difference between the early, middle and late years, but never ask me which I prefer, there'll be no right answer. It'll depend upon the mood I'm in. All I can say I apreciate them all and, most of all, I NEED them all. to feel myself alive and get assembled and organized as a personal.

[rinkat7]

Billie in my heart forever....

[djdjany]

@satziebaby How can't I believe you ?

[satziebaby]

@djdjany what does that mean?

[djdjany]

@satziebaby Sorry , I'm italian. That means I believe you,she's the best ever.

[nigel1034]

You guys should be ashamed. Making fun of sumbody thats been thru a tough life like Lady Day. If you put yourself in her shoes, I bet you wouldn't be talking this crap about her. Think about it.

[nigel1034]

U can tell she is really feeling this song.

After all of the things shes been thru: pimps, drugs, and racism, just to name a few.

She wrote this song when she saw her husband Jimmy Monroe with lipstick on his collar. Hetried to explain what had happen, but she cut him off.

"Take a bath man," she said, "don't explain."

EVEN A TWELVE YEAR OLD LIKE MYSELF CAN APPRECIATE SOMEBODY THATS BEEN THRU HELL AND HIGH WATER. YOU SHOULD BE GREATEFUL THAT A HISTORIC ICON LIKE BILLIE EVEN EXSISTED!

[yimheretoday]

what's so great about a slurred speech drunk singing a song? this is some awful shit. shoot her and put her out of her misery. this pickaninny needs to go back to day work and ironing men's shirts.

[paulyboyproductions]

"the trouble with this world is fools and fanatics are always so sure of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubt."

[yimheretoday]

even a retard knows this sounds like shit.

[mon00monde]

She composed this song after one of her husband came home with lipstick on her clothes and she said latter that she never could sing this song without feeling every word of it.

Sad.

Billie Holiday is a GENIUS, till today. I lover so much. God bless her beautiful soul.

[yimheretoday]

maybe somebody needs to ask why her husband came home with lipstick on his collar? living with an old druggie is about all it would take to create that situation. i bet she was uggllllllllly when she woke up in the morning. lol

[Jairox99]

alright love each to his own i suppose. i think we would all admit, that she does not sound her best in this clip.

Perhaps though you would find it beneficial to hear some of her songs/ really know about her life before you make immature comments. I can't believe that someone could have no human compassion for a woman who was born in the worst situation (poverty/racism) and did what she could to cope with what was dealt to her.

If you don't have even the decency to accept that i pity you.

[XGRIMYONEX]

SHE WAS RAPED

[rulesan]

I feel like crying

[quimeramaior]

It´s hurts like brand new shoes

[waif55]

So here's my Billie Holiday journey. Saw "Lady Sings The Blues." LOved it. Loved Diana. Had never heard much about Billie. Wandered into a record store one day and picked up a copy of Billie's "Lady In Satin"--the cover attracted me. Listened to it. WORE IT OUT. She was beyond genius, always--even as she is seen in this video. Like Piaf (and to a slightly lesser degree, Garland) soul and hummanity trump a shattered voice. Billie was an artist to the end.

[bilieholidayonline]

Mine is about the same but when I went to the record store I could not find Billie and bought Ella. Ella was sensational. Then, I finally bought Billie and was completely blown away at her artistry. She had a way of making song her own.

[aiwala]

This is not her best time, right... but she's so beautiful and vulnerable and a lil' bit out of this world.

I love her voice and way to sing and perform, always.

[raindancer35205]

when i was 16 years old, i went to see the movie, lady sings the blues, and from that instant i have been one of billie's greatest fans. i just wish i couldve met her.

love you billie

~always

[grooveEday]

This may not be her "best time" but, here she is no longer a jazz singer... she becomes a BLUES singer. This is the best there is. Emotionally naked, brilliant. Too bad it's such a poor piece of video. And it's incomplete. The best part is left off! Where is it? I have this on LP and it is chilling.

[TashaG16]

My friend sung this in a concert and won first prize

[Roxalaun]

This lady right here is so Real I can't even explain what....she is very detailed in her singing I love it..Billie Holiday

Razzelle

[notenut]

shes smacked out and barely haingon on to the song it is sad but beautifull in a raw sort of way

[Dani6248]

Billie was molested and thrown into the world of prostitution at an severely early age. Men beat her she had a rough life. Her pain projected not only in her voice but the way she stands and her body language. She oozed her pain out for you each time she sang a note. Drugs served as a way to cope its sad but true for so many people in the world.

Love you Billie always

[thick1921]

People can be so quick to criticize and not know the full story. I am sure she did not aspire or "want"to be a heroin addict. But there were tons of factors(a few mentioned below) that contributed to this. The a bandmate kept her hooked cuz it kept her going. No Billie, No Band. She was taken advantage of her whole life and you hear that pain in her music and how much she just desired to be loved. If you cant feel a lil sorry for her then you have no compassion. You should read her Bio.

[Bolveria]

Wish I had the honour of meeting you. Love your voice just amazing.

[robbnyc2007]

i adore billie -- but this is just depressing... no, i don't pity her, because skyiscrying53is right -- she lived exactly the way she wanted to -- but the toll of hard living and drugs just destroys her artistry here. it's not about pity for her, its about sadness for the destruction of an immeasurable talent

[defundthewar]

Robby, if you dare say that Billie looked awful and sounded worse, it makes you a bad person who "doesn't get it." Her artistry, that is. But I'm with you. Even Judy Garland got booed and unemployed when she took her professional victim schtick too far. Conveying the pain of a trainwreck is art. Willfully living as a trainwreck and shattering one's talent is not.

[paul51]

When I first heard Billie Holiday (prior to Diana's LADY SINGS THE BLUES), I asked myself: what's so big about Billie Holiday. Then I REALLY listened to her, then I got it. Best jazz vocalist ever. If Billie doesn't touch you emotionally, no one will.

[Bolveria]

Wonderful Lady. love you. Just awesome.xxxxx

[ydd0331]

Beautiful, talented and tragic at the same time.

[bobisbear]

billy was a addict raped when she was ten and i think i can see and feel in her voice and pics . but this video really shows how the addiction took hold of her , love you billy always will thanks for music

[Diamondlexus20]

Thanks for posting. We need this!

[jeruarde]

oh my, i am crying, thank you for touching me

[kdixon708]

She wasn't that drunk was she? Poor Billie so misunderstood and so unhappy.

[skyiscrying53]

If you know anything about Billie Holiday life then you know that she had unhappy things happen to her, but she was not a woman to pity. She lived and died the way she wanted to and that's more that can be said about most "sober" people. RIP Ms. DAY!

[kdixon708]

True that - and dont I understand!!!

[kdixon708]

No not pitying her just a shame that so many unhappy things happened to her!!!

[davidshep45]

She did not live and die as she wanted to. Her addictions controlled her. No one would willfully choose to live life in a drunken drug induced stooper. There comes a time in life when we have to stop playing the victim and take responsibility. What if everyone in the world who had a hard life turned to drugs to ease the pain. We would be in one hell of a state wouldn't we now. She was a great singer who wasted her talent. No one is to blame but Miss Holiday.

[skyiscrying53]

That is right she is the blame for her drug issues, but who the fuck are you to judge anyone for the decisions they make.

[aloissus]

People with this sort of die hard "sort yourself out" attitude usually have never experienced truly devastating circumstances or if they have, they have a good support network to help them through. Everyone has to take responsibility for themselves but ask yourself this, if you had been repeatedly raped as a youngster, spent years in a Catholic reform school, become a prostitute at 15 and beaten by most men you were in a relationship with, would you have turned out a well adjusted adult?

[aloissus]

She also lived in a very different era. There was not the same social support networks that we have today-no rehah, no rape crisis centre, no help lines and therapy wasn't as big as it is now and she was also Black, which made her barely a second class citizen. Yet despite all the hardship and drugs in her life, she was always professional and polite. How many "normal" people today call in sick because they have a hangover.

[aloissus]

She didn't "waste her talent". Her talent came from the culimation of years of pain and the way she released that pain was through singing and when not on stage, she used heroin. Had Billie never suffered and had a happy, well adjusted life, married etc and not had the need to work, who knows if she would ever have developed her talent? Singers these days don't need to sing with emotion to keep getting gigs, all they need is a good pr and a stylist.

[yimheretoday]

self induced pain from being a loser.

[BogTeaV]

??????????????????????????????­??? How do you define a loser? Someone who's given every opportunity in life and throws it away cause they don't appreciate it or someone who's had a shit life and makes a career (which out lives them) out of it? How do you define self induced pain? An overindulgent tosspot who is bored so complains and turns to drugs for kicks or someone who was abused their whole lives but lacked the coping skills and/or support to stand up for themselves?

[yimheretoday]

someone who choses to destroy themselves with drugs is a good place to start. someone who picks trash repeatedly for a spouse is another good indicator of a loser and then someone who gos on stage so drunk or hi that they're speech is slurred.

[BogTeaV]

How about someone who chooses to judge others without even bothering to use correct grammar and spelling? It's "chooses" not "choses", "goes" not "gos" and "their speech" not "they're speech" and sentences start with a capital letter loser.

[yimheretoday]

how about an idiot like you bovteav who doesn't realize that this is the internet and as such one can use whatever grammar or spelling they choose, to bad you're not so proficient in music or else you wouldn't be so captivated by a old raspy voice druggie who sings about the men she lets beat the hell out of her sorry ass.

[BogTeaV]

You are such a loser you cannot even get my name right. It's BogTeaV not bovteav. Anyhoo's as a wise man once said to me "never argue with an idiot because if someone passes by they might not know who the idiot is". I'm not wasting anymore of my time on an eejet like you.

Ps Billie Holiday isn't old, she's been dead for 49 years.

[yimheretoday]

like i care about your stupid name, you're lucky i didn't call you bitchteav lol. & I won't be losing any sleep over you, and the only "eeject"was billie "ho"aday, after all she ejected her tired self into the grave. lol

[shaaronie]

excellent!

[gab1234]

Her voice is so uncommon and beautiful though!

[aenye]

Just gorgeous.

[thechina]

i love this song soooo much

[JennB369]

I love this song, but this video is rough. It's amazing, looking at her you'd think she wouldn't be able to sing. But she still sounds great. If you like, get Lady Sings the Blues, it's a great movie about her life.

[Nymphe14]

Thank you for posting this...people need a reminder of what exactly happened to her.

[grellyursik]

heartbreaking stuff. Makes me cry.

[pfeld]

It's always great to see videos of Billie Holiday, but this one is just too painful. That's why there's 777 views and only 3 ratings and no comments.

[franklin999]

too painful?? What did u mean? The song? The performance? Or the way she looks?? She looks like tjis bcuz of her addiction.. we all know, but u gotta admit that she sings with feelin'!!!

[pfeld]

Painful because she's in she's in such bad shape. Of course she sings with feeling, but her voice is gone and she's barely conscious. Painful because it is so sad to see a person suffer so.

[franklin999]

Yeah... u've said it all... Puff what a life she had... Have got any other videos from her? I'm ANgel by the way, I'm mexican =)

[pfeld]

Hi Angel, I'm Peter. I have some tapes, but no tape palyer anymore, a CD and some itunes songs of hers. I think I might have a video tape that PBS did, something from their American Masters series.

[franklin999]

HELLO THERE Peter, whata pity u haven't got any others, anyway i got soem audios (many) I also have strange fruiyt video, If u want t.. try to stablish contact with me WAnna share Billie with teh others =)

[pfeld]

Sure.  And I'll check later today to see if I have that PBS video. I know I ones for Louis Armstrong and Thelonious Monk, my absolute hero.

[pfeld]

Hi Angel, though I use the computer a lot for graphics I'm a dud when it comes to understanding how to do things like find my favorites and how to upload a video that someone sent me. I have a really great one that I'd like to post. Any ideas?

[franklin999]

sorry.. haven't been online for a while.. Dunno how toepplain to u... just log in, go to " my account" hen.. upload and follow the instructions.. heheh xD, I know it'snat that clear but dunno how to do it for u...

[aleaseann]

Franklin999 I have heard people say her voice changed once she started using durgs heavily, I must agree...BUT she makes up for it in heart/soul. She reminds me of Mary J Blige...she makes you feel like you lived the song...she is deep as hell!

[franklin999]

u're right.... I know I'm late... but as they say in my land... más vale trade ke nuca jejeje.

[JessieSoul]

It's true that she looks in bad shape! BIG difference from teh photos/videos of her when she is younger...