Billie Holiday’s Cruel Life

To go steady the logical argument that Billie presented one must first go to the root or source of such controversy and examine Billies childhood. Billie was born Eleanora Harris to her father Clarence Holiday and mother Sadie Fagan who were just fifteen and thirteen years old, respectively, at the time (A 91). Born between 1912 and 1915 in Baltimore, the date unsure, Billie grew up without her father, who moved away early on in her smell.Billie and her mother used to fight a lot, when her mother was around. Much of the time Billie was left in the care of relatives or helpers, legion(predicate) of whom were unloving (E). Billies relationship with her family was in truth weak, as Billie throughout her life and life story never or rarely got family approval or recognition (W 13). The extent to which Billie did not get along with her family is evident as she was chastised for her grandmothers death at the age of six (E). The turmoil within Billies family was manifested when Billie commented later on in life that As far as Im Concerned, all the Fagans are dead (W 14). This made her family very mad and lead to their further abandonment of Billie. Aside from the superficial tension between Billie and her mother, they did their best to keep loyal to one another and provide for each other (W 201).As Billie grew old, life grew harder and reality belatedly became more and more real for her. At age 10, Billie was raped, further strengthening Billies image of reality. As Billie grew older she became carefree and grew to have a strong temper. One musician remembers Billie as a child, 11 or 12 years old, shouting the worst words she knew in the street, anxious to be grown up (W 35). And on the numerous occasions when Billies mother was out of town, she would be out having fun without any worries.Billie grew customary to using men to get money. Billie would pick up guys, pretending to be a hooker, and then she and her friend would jump him and take his money (W 28). She became a fast woman. She wanted fast money, fast life (W 26). Her life did become faster and faster as Billie was brought further down into the truths of the world when Billie became a prostitute. Billie ran errands for a bathhouse in Philadelphia and in 1927 moved to New York, where for the next three years she earned a victuals as a prostitute (E). These aspects of Billies life molded her attitude towards life in the future, and her future decisions and goals. These influences became her boundaries, her disposition, and in both(prenominal) cases, her limitations.Educationally, Billie was deprived. Never getting beyond the fifth grade, Billie was the victim of the educational restrictions that were imposed on many of those who dwelt in Black Ghettos (BB 67). As Billie grew older her education became a limitation. This womans talent and her looks, and yet in some ways she really had the mind of a 12-year-old (BB 67). This lack of education would haunt Billie later in her care er, a startling reminder of her childhood, and its definite shortcomings of providing safety, an education, and a moral base.Musically, Billie grew up listening to the blues, although it never really was her part of music. Billie loved listening to Jazz records as a child, early influences including Louis Armstrong. Eventually, Billie moved on to attempt a singing career. Inspired by her love of singing, she talked the manager of a club into letting her sing a few tunes with the house band- she made $57 in tips (E). In this way, Billie was motivated to become a singer, a decision that will prove not only to be beneficial to her, but also to be a risk factor that would threaten her health.