I can’t stand to sing the same song the same way two nights in succession, let alone two years or ten years.
BILLIE HOLIDAYI never hurt nobody but myself and that’s nobody’s business but my own.
More Billie Holiday Quotes
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They think they can make fuel from horse manure – now, I don’t know if your car will be able to get 30 miles to the gallon, but it’s sure gonna put a stop to siphoning.
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Singing songs like ‘The Man I Love’ or ‘Porgy’ is no more work than sitting down and eating Chinese roast duck, and I love roast duck.
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If I don’t have friends, then I ain’t nothing.
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Lust may be in the heart, though it be not seen by others; as guests may be in the house, though they look not out at the windows.
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If you copy, it means you’re working without any real feeling. No two people on earth are alike, and it’s got to be that way in music or it isn’t music.
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I never hurt nobody but myself and that’s nobody’s business but my own.
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All dope can do for you is kill you… the long hard way. And it can kill the people you love right along with you.
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God has blessed you when he lets you believe in somebody.
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The difficult I’ll do right now. The impossible will take a little while.
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Don’t be in such a hurry.
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When Lester plays, he almost seems to be singing; one can almost hear the words.
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The whole basis of my singing is feeling. Unless I feel something, I can’t sing.
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I hate straight singing. I have to change a tune to my own way of doing it. That’s all I know.
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I’m always making a comeback but nobody ever tells me where I’ve been.
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In this country, don’t forget, a habit is no damn private hell. There’s no solitary confinement outside of jail. A habit is hell for those you love. And in this country it’s the worst kind of hell for those who love you.
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Somebody once said we never know what is enough until we know what’s more than enough.
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I don’t think I’m singing. I feel like I’m playing a horn, What comes out is what I feel.
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I try to improvise like Les Young, Louis Armstrong or someone else I admire. What comes out is what I feel.
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You can’t copy anybody and end with anything. If you copy, it means you’re working without any real feeling.
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I don’t think I ever sing the same way twice. The blues is sort of a mixed-up thing. You just have to feel it. Anything I do sing is part of my life.
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You can be up to your boobies in white satin, with gardenias in your hair and no sugar cane for miles, but you can still be working on a plantation.
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Them that’s got shall get, Them that’s not shall lose. So the Bible says, And it still is news. Mama may have, Papa may have, But God bless the child that’s got his own.
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Sometimes it’s worse to win a fight than to lose.
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When you sing, always tell the truth.
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The only reason they’re out there is to see me fall into the damn orchestra pit.
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I can only sing songs my way. I don’t know any other way.
BILLIE HOLIDAY