ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with selected thematic commonalities in many of the songs composed by Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, and Nina Simone.1 Some of their common life experiences are also discussed.2 My examination of their lives revealed seven life themes: incarceration, love, race, freedom, religion, career, and money (see Appendix Three, column 1). Each theme has thematic indicators (see Appendices Three and Four, column 2 of both). After cross-referencing thirty-two of Smith’s original songs, thirteen of Holiday’s original songs, and nineteen of Simone’s, five dominant themes were left: incarceration, love, race, freedom, and religion (see Figure 4.1).
