I’ve just been listening to Billie Holliday singing this classic, and I just can’t understand it. What has the child got? Since the song seems to deal with haves and have-nots, and how much rougher the latter have it, isn’t the child who hasn’t got his own more in need of blessing.
This might be more of a debate than a GQ, but I was hoping that someone would have a quick answer pertaining to the
origins of this song.
Bucks. Dough. Cash. Money. Moolah. Gelt.
The story goes that her mother was constantly hitting her up for money, hence the rather bitter lyrics.
My take on the song (which is one of the very few that Billie actually wrote and explains alot of the bitterness in the lyrics as has been pointed out)is that regardless of what “it” is (money, creature comforts, self respect, etc.)and how little of “it” may be possessed, the child that has its own and that can maintain independence is the more fortunate.
Glad to hear that someone else has been enjoying Billie. I’ve had “Lady In Satin” in my CD player for a solid month. Unlike a few folks, I prefer her very late recordings. Her voice has that world weary, God I’m tired of all this shit, timbre. She never had a whole lot of range, and she has even less on her later recordings, but her voice is just so expressive.
Its the theme song for the tv show the Jeffersons. If you watch that, itll be real clear…
But basically, a child that is independent is the best.
Oh, no, not the Jeffersons. Nuts, anyone remember what show it was?
ROC
plnnr, nice to meet a kindred spirit. I couldn’t agree with you more. Hearing her sing ‘I’m a Fool to Want You’ just takes my breath away. Hope you got the re-mastered version (Columbia/Legacy CK 65144) with the alt takes and outtakes.
And to address the second part of the OP…
I think the use of the phrase ‘God bless…’ here is analogous to ‘Well good for him’
Example: “That Donald Trump sure is rich!”
“Yeah, God bless him.”
Maybe a southern/black contraction of ‘God blessed him’, but but I’ll leave that kind of interpretation to the cunning linguists. 
Thanks everyone! Your answers have been very helpful.
I thought it was something along these lines, too. I might add the idea suggested in the line “Mama may have, Papa may have”, which might be that the child who doesn’t rely on her parents’ possessions, whether material or otherwise, is the more fortunate.’
IIRC, it was the other way around according to the liner notes for the Decca boxed set. Billie (note the spelling on the website) was asking mama for money and mama said no. Thereby the lyric “Mama may have, Papa may have
But God bless the child that’s got his own.”
Lady Day could sing like nobody else, but she couldn’t keep money–something about a drug conviction and losing her cabaret license. Yeah, and this little heroin habit.
For fans, I suggest tracking down Etta James’s “Mystery Lady.” It’s the closest thing to the Lady I’ve ever heard (anyone who brings up Diana Ross gets a cattle prod in the most painful place possible).