God Bless the Child (Billie Holiday song)

"God Bless the Child"
Single by Billie Holiday
B-side	"Solitude"
Released	1942
Format	78 rpm
Recorded	Friday, May 9, 1941
Genre	Jazz
Length	2:57
Label	Okeh
Writer(s)	Billie Holiday, Arthur Herzog, Jr.
Producer	Edward B. Marks Music Corporation

"God Bless the Child" is a song written by Billie Holiday and Arthur Herzog, Jr. in 1939, first recorded on May 9, 1941 under the Okeh label.

Holiday's version of the song was honored with the Grammy Hall of Fame Award in (1976). It was also included in the list of Songs of the Century, by the Recording Industry Association of America and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Recording session

Session #44: 799 Seventh Avenue, New York City, May 9, 1941, Eddie Heywood and his Orchestra with Roy Eldridge (trumpet) Jimmy Powell, Lester Boone (alto saxophone), Ernie Powell (trumpet), Eddie Heywood (piano), Johan Robins (guitar), Paul Chapman (guitar), Grachan Moncur II (bass), Herbert Cowans (drums), Billie Holiday (vocal)

Origin and interpretation

In her autobiography Lady Sings the Blues Holiday indicated an argument with her mother over money led to the song. She indicated that during the argument she said the line "God bless the child that's got his own." The anger over the incident led her to turn that line into a starting point for a song, which she worked out in conjunction with Herzog. In his 1990 book Jazz Singing, Will Friedwald indicates it as "sacred and profane" as it references the Bible while indicating that religion seems to have no effect in making people treat each other better. The lyrics refer to an unspecified Biblical verse: "Them that's got shall get, them that don't shall lose, so the Bible says, and it still is news. . . . " This likely refers to Matthew 25:29 or Luke 8:18.

Notable cover versions

"God Bless the Child"
Single by The Simpsons
from the album The Simpsons Sing the Blues
Released	1991
Format	CD single
Recorded	1990
Genre	Jazz
Label	Geffen
Writer(s)	Billie Holiday, Arthur Herzog, Jr.
Producer	John Boylan, Bryan Loren, DJ Jazzy Jeff
The Simpsons singles chronology
"Deep, Deep Trouble" (1991) "God Bless the Child" (1991) "Spider Pig" (2007)

• Frankie Laine (1949)
• Gene Ammons (1958)
• Stanley Turrentine (1960)
• Eric Dolphy (1960)
• Carmen McRae (1961)
• Anita O'Day (1961)
• Lou Rawls (recorded: 5 February 1962 for the album Stormy Monday)
• Richie Havens (1972)
• Aretha Franklin (1962 for her album The Tender, the Moving, the Swinging Aretha Franklin)
• Stevie Wonder (1968)
• Fifty Foot Hose (1968)
• Jimmie Rodgers (1968)
• Blood, Sweat & Tears (1969)
• Billy Eckstine and Linda Ronstadt, duet (1969)
• Liza Minnelli (1971)
• Diana Ross (1972)
• Tom Browne (1981)
• Dave Van Ronk (1982)
• Ella Fitzgerald (1982)
• Keith Jarrett (1983)
• Billy MacKenzie (Associates (duo))(1984)
• Crystal Gayle (1985)
• The Simpsons (Lisa Simpson/voice actor Yeardley Smith) The Simpsons Sing the Blues (1990)
• Barbra Streisand (1991)
• Diane Schuur (1992)
• Eva Cassidy (1992)
• Tony Bennett (1995)
• Vanita Harbour (General Hospital soundtrack) (1998)
• Jamie Cullum (1999)
• Ruthie Foster (2004)
• Mikalah Gordon (2005)
• Theresa Sokyrka (2005)
• Nnenna Freelon (2005)
• Gladys Knight (2006)
• Eva Avila (2006)
• LaKisha Jones (2007)
• Jill Scott (2007)
• Moby (2007)
• Laura White (2008)
• Dee Dee Bridgewater (2010)
• and others.

It also inspired a children's picture book. It was included on the album The Simpsons Sing the Blues, performed by Lisa Simpson (Yeardley Smith); this version was released as a single, the third from the album. Tony Bennett recorded the song as an overdubbed "duet" with Holiday for his 1997 album Tony Bennett on Holiday. Tricky released a version of the song on Angels with Dirty Faces (1998), retitled as "Carriage for Two".

In 1999, House producer Alex Gopher sampled parts of the first verse for his track "the Child".

In popular culture

Film

• All The Fine Young Cannibals
• Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
• Two Weeks Notice
• Schindler's List
• August Rush

Television

• Liza with a 'Z' (1972): Sung by Liza Minnelli in this Emmy Award-winning television concert directed by Bob Fosse. Liza continues to sing this song at many of her concerts.
• Theme song for the first two seasons of Roc (1991–1992), sung by Jerry Lawson
• Grey's Anatomy (2006): Sung by Chandra Wilson in "Staring at the Sun"
• American Idol: Sung by Mikalah Gordon for the top 20, Katharine McPhee in her 2006 audition in San Francisco, LaKisha Jones on March 13, 2007, and Jacob Lusk and Haley Reinhart in 2011 in Hollywood.
• The title of the 11th episode of season 4 of The Wire comes from the lyrics ("That's Got His Own").
• Once and Again (2002): Sung by Evan Rachel Wood in Season 3, Episode 12, "Gardenia".
• Laura White sings live on The X Factor 5 on Week 3.
• Diana Ross performed the song on her 1978 The Boss" tour, later recorded by HBO for a television special, "Diana Ross:In Concert", in 1992 during her Showtime-aired special, Stolen Moments: The Lady Sings... Jazz and Blues" & in 1993 for a televised special, filmed at New York City's famed Apollo Theater.
• Whitney Houston performed the song during her 1997 HBO Concert special, "Classic Whitney Live from Washington, D.C." at the famed DAR Constitution Hall in Washington D.C. The song was performed as a tribute to Diana Ross who had performed the song portraying Billie Holiday in the acclaimed 1972 film "Lady Sings the Blues (film)."

Music

• J. Cole alludes to "God Bless the Child" on his track "In the Morning" from his 2010 mixtape, "Friday Night Lights".

Literature

• Biyi Bandele references the song in his novel The Street.

Video Games

• BioShock soundtrack: The three remixed tracks on the CD include "Beyond the Sea", "God Bless the Child" and "Wild Little Sisters"; the original recordings of these songs are in the game.