In our Jazz Vespers service last night, Danielle Olmostead accompanied by the Bob Watts Trio sang Billie Holiday’s “God Bless The Child”.
I spoke about Billie Holiday’s song in my comments at the service. Here is what I said:
******************
In 1939 Billie Holiday and Arthur Herzog Jr. wrote a song called “God Bless the Child.” Holiday first recorded the song on May 9, 1941. It went on to be enormously successful winning a Grammy Hall of Fame award in 1976 and being named in the list of Songs of the Century, by the Recording Industry Association of America and the National Endowment for the Arts.
It is a sad and curious song.
God Bless The Child
Them that’s got shall get
Them that’s not shall lose
So the Bible said and it still is news
Mama may have, Papa may have
But God bless the child that’s got his own
That’s got his ownYes, the strong gets more
While the weak ones fade
Empty pockets don’t ever make the grade
Mama may have, Papa may have
But God bless the child that’s got his own
That’s got his ownMoney, you’ve got lots of friends
Crowding round the door
When you’re gone, spending ends
They don’t come no more
Rich relations give
Crust of bread and such
You can help yourself
But don’t take too much
Mama may have, Papa may have
But God bless the child that’s got his own
That’s got his ownMama may have, Papa may have
But God bless the child that’s got his own
That’s got his own
He just worry ’bout nothin’
Cause he’s got his own
In her autobiography Lady Sings the Blues Holiday suggests that the song arose out of a fight with her mother about money in which Billie said, “God bless the child that’s got his own”.
The song aches with bitterness, resentment, and powerlessness.
Ironically, the opening line appears to be an allusion to Luke 8:11-18, particularly verse 18.
Then pay attention to how you listen; for to those who have, more will be given; and from those who do not have, even what they seem to have will be taken away.
This verse occurs as part of the explanation Jesus provided his disciples to help them understand the “Parable of the Sower”. The point of the parable is that God has liberally spread the seed of divinity in life. To the degree that we ignore or deny this divine dimension, we will lose touch with it and its influence in our lives will be diminished. If we nourish the consciousness of the seed of the divine in our lives and in the world, our awareness of God’s presence and work will grow and bear fruit.
Tragically it would appear, Billie Holiday did not fully grasp this aspect of the biblical story to which she alluded in her song “God Bless the Child”.
Billie Holiday died on July 17, 1959 of pulmonary edema & heart failure caused by cirrhosis of the liver. She died alone in a hospital room under police guard because she was under arrest for drug possession.
She was 44 years old; she had 70¢ in her bank account.
In a culture that seems still to believe so deeply in the power of accumulating financial wealth and celebrity status, Billie Holiday’s short life is a tragic reminder that acquiring fame and fortune is unlikely to satisfy the deepest longings of the human heart.
God does “bless the child” every child without exception. But the child needs to learn to see the blessing, even when it does not provide the money she may think she desires. The blessing God provides may not be manifest in the form of material abundance. It may seem as small and as secret as a seed hidden in the depths of the earth. But, as that seed is nourished, it will grow into the flower of faith and bear the fruit of peace and strength that has the capacity to sustain the human spirit for the often difficult journey of life.
In A Spacious Place 
7 comments
Comments feed for this article
June 4, 2012 at 7:03 am
kimgye
That was a very helpful explanation last night. 🙂
June 4, 2012 at 7:42 am
jaqueline
“God does “bless the child” every child without exception. … but as that seed its nourished it will grow into the flower of faith and bear the fruit of peace and strength that has the capacity to sustain the human spirit for the often difficult journey of life.”
The thing is….how does this ‘without exception’ apply to children who cannot even begin to receive the basics of nourishment so that they may survive? So many children don’t even get to live; and so many if they do, carry deep wounds, some so deep that death would seem far preferable.
There is something not quite right about pointing to those who come from poverty and neglect as examples for spiritual principles about money written in the cultural context of comfortable middle class lives.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Billie even though a famous singer, never ‘rolled in it’.
“I open Café Society as an unknown, I left two years later as a star. I needed the prestige and publicity all right, but you can’t pay rent with it.”
And when she did earn a lot, it went to drugs and…her mother.
Here is the context of the argument:”Holiday’s mother Sadie Fagan, nicknamed “The Duchess,” started her own restaurant called Mom Holiday’s. Fagan used the money her daughter earned …..soon Fagan began borrowing large amounts of money from Holiday because the restaurant wasn’t turning a profit. Holiday obliged, but soon fell upon hard times herself. “I needed some money one night and I knew Mom was sure to have some,” Holiday said. “So I walked in the restaurant like a stockholder and asked. Mom turned me down flat. She wouldn’t give me a cent.” The two argued and then, Holiday, in a rage, hollered “God bless the child that’s got his own,” and stormed out of the restaurant. With help from Arthur Herzog, Jr., a pianist, the two wrote a song based on the line “God Bless the Child” and added music.”
Billie was providing for her mother, who then in turn refused ( and probably chronically refused ) to provide for her child.
Holiday was full of pain. That is one reason her cracking retrained vocals were so beautiful and authentic.
Billie Holiday’s death was tragic, not because of a bad attitude toward money, but because she was never able to find a way past pain without drugs. Those who have never wanted for provision have no idea how it feels .It is easy to criticise a wish to have it but in reality the only people who can ever afford to say ‘money does not matter’ are those who actually have it.
July 9, 2020 at 5:49 pm
Larry Allen Baker
Every child that has his or her own is bless. But with this blessing requires the responsibility to share your blessing with those unfortunate. This requires the belief that God will bless you 3x more than what you have. If we don’t help make someone’s life better, than we are wasting our time and GOD’S time. This is the true blessing.
June 4, 2012 at 10:41 pm
Tress
it is a pity that the saying ‘ Money is the root of all evil” was incorrectly
quoted . .
Nobody in their right mind thinks it is evil for someone without enough to feed their children to want money to buy or obtain the necessities of life.
It is the” love of money ” a greed for materiel possessions that fills the mind so that the connection to the force of creation , love,beauty and goodness that we call God , is no longer the paramount interest , which can only lead to losing what is eternal.
June 4, 2012 at 10:58 pm
Tress
For years i thought it was an odd simile,that Jesus used about ‘ it is harder for a rich man ti enter the kingdom of heaven than for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle”I much later learned that the” Eye of a Needle” is an actual geographic pass . The parable then makes sense. A laden camel would have great difficulty ,to complete their journey as someone to preoccupied with worldly goods would have little concern for things of the spirit.
July 24, 2016 at 10:19 pm
Robert
Where was her father?
June 2, 2021 at 6:33 pm
Atossa
Great blog post and commentary.
Thank you!