Sometimes I’m Happy

The story behind

Sometimes I’m Happy is one of those songs that sounds like Billie Holiday even before she starts singing. Recorded in 1958, when her voice was already marked by time but not by defeat, this short piece —barely two and a half minutes long— captures something few tracks in her repertoire achieve: lightness without falling into superficiality. It’s not a cheerful waltz nor a frenetic swing, but that blend of melancholy and smile that only she knew how to weave with a phrase or a sigh. The background piano, almost whispering, and the string accompaniment give it an intimate air, as if she were singing it for someone who knows every crack in her soul.