"Don't Explain" is a song written by jazz singer Billie Holiday and Arthur Herzog Jr. It was Holiday's final song.
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Overview
In her 1956 autobiography, Holiday cites the infidelity of her first husband, Jimmy Monroe, as the inspiration for this song—specifically, an instance in which Monroe's woeful attempt to explain away lipstick on his collar elicits Holiday's response."I saw the lipstick. He saw I saw it and he started explaining and explaining. I could stand anything but that. Lying to me was worse than anything he could have done with any bitch. I cut him off, just like that. ‘Take a bath, man,’ I said, ‘don’t explain.’
That should have been the end of it. But that night stuck in my crop. I couldn’t forget it. The words ‘don’t explain, don’t explain’ kept going through my damn head. I had to get it out of my system some way, I guess. The more I thought about it, it changed from an ugly scene to a sad song. Soon I was singing phrases to myself. Suddenly I had a whole song.
I went downtown one night and sat down with Arthur Herzog; he played the tune over on the piano, wrote down the words, changing two or three phrases, softening it up just a little."
Recording session
Session #52: New York City, November 8, 1944, Decca, Toots Camarata and His Orchestra, with Russ Case (trumpet), Hymie Schertzer, Jack Cressey (alto saxophone), Larry Binyon and Dave Harris (tenor saxophone), Dave Bowman (piano), Carl Kress (guitar), Haig Stephens (bass), George Wettling (drums), Billie Holiday (vocals), and six strings.
Trivia
Lyrics from "Don't Explain" were sung by Carlo Marx (portrayed by actor Tom Sturridge) in the 2012 film adaptation by Walter Salles of the 1957 novel by Jack Kerouac, On the Road, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival.