#OnRepeat: Billie Holiday's "I'll Be Seeing You"

For this week, Lady Day has been the one #OnRepeat; specifically, "I'll Be Seeing You". I felt that this would be an appropriate musician to discuss this week since Billie Holiday's birthday recently passed. Many of my favorite versions of songs are sung by Billie Holiday, and for good reason. Some of her most memorable songs, in my opinion, include "Strange Fruit" (artistically and socially poignant lyrics with Billie's voice adding a smooth yet at the same time haunting, harsh quality to the song), "Solitude," and "Good Morning Heartache" (both songs of which have beautiful melodies and lyrics that tug at your heart strings).

Billie Holiday's voice, and the way she applies it to each song she performs, is one of the most unique that I have ever heard. Her vocal range was not of a virtuosic singer, nor did she perform on-the-spot, ridiculous scatting like that of Ella Fitzgerald or Sarah Vaughn. However, the way that Billie would play with the melody of a song, her tendency to be rhythmically behind the beat and her choice of vocal inflection in the lyrics quickly became Billie's signature sound and could turn any run-of-the-mill jazz standard into something brand new and hip.

There are many who have covered the song, "I'll Be Seeing You",--Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Bing Crosby and even Michael Bublé--but I think that Billie's version is the best simply because of her performance. The lyrics are bittersweet, making one think of a lost love, or possibly even a close friendship or family member, depending on how you interpret it. Interestingly enough, this sad song was actually written for a Broadway musical called "Right This Way" which was supposed to be a musical comedy. Billie Holiday was able to take a musical number meant for a Broadway production and make it completely her own.

If you have never heard any of Billie Holiday's music before, this is a great musical introduction to Lady Day. I hope this prompts you all to do some more digging about old Jazz standards and even other genres of music. You never know: some of your current favorite singers may have done a cover version of an old standard that Billie probably performed. You can expand your musical repertoire while still learning about old and new musicians!

Again, if you guys have any new musicians or groups to check out, please leave a comment below!