Music Blog

Intoxicating Me

Nancy's Notes 🖊️🎶

It’s Sunday and that means it’s time for Song Lyric Sunday!
This week Jim Adams has asked his readers in his post “Spirits”
to write about a song that mentions drinks or cocktails.
Theme suggested by Di at pensitivity101.wordpress.com. Here is my reply.

Pull up a stool and start running a tab, because we’re diving into a very popular topic in the music world: booze.

Drinking is practically a worldwide pastime. After all, Benjamin Franklin is credited with saying, “Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.” Frank Sinatra once said, “Alcohol may be man’s worst enemy, but the Bible says to love your enemy.” And then, there’s the greatest quote about alcohol by the legendary comic actor W.C. Fields: “I spent half my money on gambling, alcohol and wild women. The other half I wasted”!

Whether it’s beer or wine or the hard stuff, there are countless songs about drinking. Some of these songs are upbeat, while others are dark. Some are joyous while others are sorrowful. Regardless, many have resonated with fans spanning multiple generations.

I’m not much of a drinker; while I do occasionally enjoy a glass of wine 🍷, a very dirty martini with extra olives🍸 , a spicy Bloody Mary 🍹 or an ice cold Stella Artois 🍺 on a hot summer day, more than one of any of those libations would wipe me out.

I took some time to explore songs about drinking through a variety of different lenses, from love ballads to cautionary tunes of heartache and everything in between. At the end of it all, when it comes to drinking, most people just want to unwind, have a good time and forget about whatever troubles they’re dealing with.

Not so my featured song today … a classic jazz number from 1938 called “You Go To My Head” which artfully compares the effects of love and drink. There are quite a few versions of the song and I’ve heard most of them; none, in my opinion, come close to Billie Holiday.

Born April 7, 1915 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Billie Holiday was a superstar of her day. She first rose to prominence in the 1930’s with a unique style that reinvented the conventions of modern singing and performance. More than 80 years after making her first recording, Billie’s legacy continues to embody what is elegant and cool in contemporary music. Billie’s complicated life and genre-defining autobiography “Lady Sings the Blues” made her a cultural icon. The evocative, soulful voice which she boldly put forth as a force for good, turned any song she sang into her own. Today, Billie Holiday is remembered for her musical masterpieces, her songwriting skills, creativity and courageous views on inequality and justice. To read more about the extraordinary life of Billie Holiday, please follow this link.

Three different recordings of “You Go to My Head” by J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie made the Top 20 list in 1938: Billie Holiday’s version was one of them. Written after a long night at a local speakeasy, the song’s melody can be played as bright and effervescent or as introspective and melancholy. The song has been featured in the movies Laura (1944) and The Big Sleep (1946).  

I’ve been in love with “You Go To My Head” since the first time I heard it as a young teenager. It’s a sophisticated jazz piece about love and booze … a very unusual choice for a 13 or 14 year old girl who didn’t know anything about either subject. Somehow I knew this song was much more than a ditty about drinks and love. It’s also the first song with an adult theme which I memorized and practiced singing. I’m sure no matter how many times I performed this song later in life, I never sounded as cool and classy as Billie Holiday.

This is “You Go To My Head” by Billie Holiday

LYRICS

You go to my head
And you linger like a haunting refrain
And I find you spinning round in my brain
Like the bubbles in a glass of champagne

You go to my head
Like a sip of sparkling burgundy brew
And I find the very mention of you
Like the kicker in a julep or two

The thrill of the thought
That you might give a thought to my plea
Casts a spell over me
Still I say to myself, “Get a hold of yourself”
Can’t you see that it never can be?

You go to my head
With a smile that makes my temperature rise
Like a summer with a thousand Julys
You intoxicate my soul with your eyes
Though I’m certain that this heart of mine
Hasn’t a ghost of a chance in this crazy romance


You go to my head
You go to my head

Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: J. Fred Coots/Haven Gillespie
You Go to My Head lyrics © Wb Music Corp., Toy Town Tunes Inc, Toy Town Tunes, Inc., John F. Coots Jr. Trust Music

Producer(s): John Hammond, Bernie Hanighen
Vocal: Billie Holiday
Composer, Lyricist: J.F. Coots/H. Gillespie
Guitar: Danny Barker
Drums: Cozy Cole
Re-Mastering Engineer(s): Seth Foster, Mark Wilder
Piano: Billy Kyle
Saxophone: Babe Russin
Clarinet: Buster Bailley
Trumpet: Charlie Shavers

Spirits

Big thanks to Jim Adams for hosting another great Song Lyric Sunday this week and to Di for a terrific theme suggestion! Be sure to follow the links and check out their sites.

Thanks for stopping by. See you on the flip side. 😎

NAR©2024

All text, graphics and videos are copyright for The Sicilian Storyteller, The Elephant’s Trunk and The Rhythm Section and is not for use by anyone without permission. NAR©2017-present.

64 thoughts on “Intoxicating Me”

  8. What a wonderful post, Nancy. Billie Holiday is always part of my roster when I’m looking for some bluesy, easy listening.

    Did you ever see Diana Ross’ Lady Sings the Blues? I felt she did a fabulous job playing Lady Day.

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    1. She’s the greatest for me. Yes, I saw Diana Ross many years ago; she was good but since then there was a fabulous performance by Andra Day in The United States v Billie Holiday. It’s probably online somewhere. She WAS Billie Holiday for that film, an unbelievably realistic performance. Now there’s another movie I just learned about called Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grille starring Audra McDonald in the role of BH. I just put it on my watchlist at Amazon.

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      1. Oh yes. One of a kind. Diana Ross was back in ’72!
        I love Andra Day and Lee Daniels. How the hell did I miss this one? (Thanks for the clip.)
        And I love Audra McDonald, too.
        I gots me some catching up to do!

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              1. Yeah. Boo. While I was watching Vasco, I could watch all the games because Linda is a sports nut and has all the channels. I am too cheap, though. I actually looked up how much it would cost me. Hell no. $20/month for the cheap one? I’ll pass.

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                    1. He’s not a sports freak. Hockey, football, baseball in that order and really only watches NY Rangers hockey and NY baseball teams. Thing is, whether you watch 10 games or 110, the price is still the same and that sucks the big one.

                      Liked by 1 person

  15. What a beautiful post and a wonderful song! You found your calling with the amazing Billie Holiday. I can imagine you singing it over and over again until you werr word perfect. I’ve seem several movies about Billie Holiday’s life and she struggled with so much like most from that era. Thank you sharing this today. It was a great read Nancy. By the way that Sinatra quote was the best! ☺️💕

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    1. Thanks for a beautiful comment, soul sister Christine! I’m so glad you appreciated the sounds of Billie Holiday. It’s very true, she had an incredibly difficult life but she never backed down or gave up on her beliefs. She had a lovely soul and you can hear the torment in her voice, even in her lighter and happier tunes; there’s always a trace of melancholy.

      Frank did have some great quips, didn’t he? He also did a fantastic version of this song which I almost featured. I realized I covered Frank recently and sadly neglected Billie; it was time to remedy that oversight.

      Thanks for your fab comments, Christine. Hope you enjoy a relaxed Sunday! ♡

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      1. Did you ever see Audra McDonald play Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grille? a new BH movie. She had Billie’s voice perfected. It was as if you were listening to her in the film. Incredible.
        I hope you have a great Sunday too Nancy ☺️💕

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  16. I do usually love your choices Nancy and I love the great information you always come up with.

    As for Clive he is not keen on all my musical choices… He cant stand Sam Ryder who you know I love and he never has a good word for him….mind you I do tease him about that 💜💜💜😁😁😁

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    1. Hahaha!! I’ve noticed!

      I don’t mind at all; as the saying goes ‘different strokes’

      What I do mind is when someone says I play too many videos (imagine that!) and, very uncharacteristic of me, I’ve backed down and now only play one. Well, that’s going to change. Just who the hell do they think they are anyway? Pffft!

      Thanks Willow! 🩶🩶🩶

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    1. Appreciation is all that matters, Clive. I knew there would be some readers who would not relate to this type of music, and that’s ok. We can’t like everything nor can we force our likes on someone else. I’m grateful you gave a listen and didn’t dismiss the song out of hand.

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        1. Mum & dad music. Good description!

          Let’s see. I’m going to say you live in an apartment with your music and books in your living room or perhaps a ‘study’. You play the tunes you like and are comfortable with, primarily in the background while you’re doing something else. But I also see a side of Clive, the one with a drink or a cuppa, sitting on a favorite chair listening to a little Billie Holiday or Miles Davis or Dave Brubeck and I see a bit of a smile emerging on your face as you realize “Nancy was right. This is damn fine listening.”

          How’s that?

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          1. It was going so well until you got to the Billie Holiday, Miles Davis and Dave Brubeck bit! Never owned or streamed anything by any of them, and probably too set in my ways to start now 🤣

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    1. As always, my pleasure, Willow. As you’ve, no doubt, realized by now, I choose songs that I like knowing there will be people who don’t agree. As I said to Clive, that’s ok. As long as we give a listen and try to respect each other’s tastes, it’s good. Thanks for your very gracious comments. ♡🎶♡

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