So why is Billie Holiday’s Lady in Satin on this best 1,000 albums ever thing?
One of those classic college dorm debates runs along the lines of, “Does true art necessarily have to derive from pain?”
And that question applies equally whether you’re talking about comedy or music or any form of art. Of course, this conversation can easily lead to breaking down the meaning of “true art” and things could go down a deconstruction rabbit hole from there.
Suffice to say, my short version in response to that question is, “No, though it often does.”
In terms of physical decline, we all know that sad feeling when we see a once great athlete who clearly should have retired sooner, or hear a once great singer well past their prime, their voice a degraded version of its former self.
But rarely, pain and physical decline mesh in such a way so as to produce beautiful, heart wrenching art. And this is the case with Billie Holiday, near the end of her life (she died one year after the recording of Lady In Satin at the age of 44 due to alcohol and drug abuse). Her voice is weathered yet remarkably even more wonderful for it, producing an all-timer of a vocal jazz and blues album.
“I’m A Fool to Want You” captures all of this and makes me think about who or what “you” could be. “I can’t get along without you,” she sings.
In “You’ve Changed,” Holiday sings about, “That sparkle in your eyes is gone,” and each little pause between words and lines makes me ache a bit.
The song title and mood of “Glad To Be Unhappy” reminds me of Kurt Cobain’s Nirvana line, “I miss the comfort of being sad.” Another brilliant artist who died far too young, undone by a mix of self-abuse and self-harm. Holiday goes even further, lyrically, in a way: “Very glad to be unhappy…”
Some stats & info about Billie Holiday – Lady in Satin
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? Blues, Jazz, Vocal Jazz, Traditional Pop
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – #317
- All Music’s rating – 4.5 out of 5 stars
- When was Lady in Satin released? 1958
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #742 out of 1,000
Billie Holiday’s Lady in Satin on Spotify
A lyrical snippet from Billie Holiday’s Lady in Satin that’s evocative of the album in some way, maybe
I’m a fool to want you.
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective review of what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.