The Frequency She Refused to Name (Billie Holiday)

Lyrics

[Verse 1]
You sang
behind the beat
the way a woman walks
behind a man
she has decided
to let
believe
he is leading
and the beat
never knew
it was being
followed
and the audience
never knew
the woman
behind it
was the one
deciding
where both of them
went.

[Verse 2]
The gardenia
in your hair
smelled
like the white side
of a split second —
the half
where the note
has already
left
your mouth
but has not yet
reached
the microphone
and the air
between
the mouth
and the microphone
belonged
to you
and to no one
else
in the room.

[Chorus]
You sang
a song
about a body
hanging
from a poplar tree
in the South
and the song
tasted
like a burnt match
dropped
in cold coffee
and the nightclub
went so quiet
that the waiters
stopped
moving
and the ice
in the glasses
stopped
shifting
and the amygdala
of every person
in the room
sent
the same signal
at the same time
which is
*this is not
a song
this is
a document*
and the document
is still
open.

[Verse 3]
The heroin
was the part
of you
that needed
the air
between
the mouth
and the microphone
to be
thicker
and slower
and it worked
and it killed you
and the part
it killed
was not
the part
that sang.
The part
that sang
is still
in the air
between
the mouth
and the microphone
and has not
landed yet.

[Outro]
The gardenia
is still white.
The poplar tree
is still
in the song.
The note
is still
behind the beat
and the beat
is still
walking ahead
believing
it is leading
and you
are still
deciding
where
both of them
go.

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