Lady Sings the Blues

Louis McKay:
[offering Billie a $20 bill] You want my arm to fall off.

Jerry:
I'll be a bum if you don't pull in fifteen bucks in tips tonight. Fifteen bucks. Now that's my definition of a good singer.

Mrs. Edson:
Ain't it a shame how some of God's children have it so easy, while others have it so hard?

Piano Man:
What she don't pick up from the top, she can pick up from the bottom.

Billie Holiday:
I hope that works both ways!

The Rapist:
I see what I want. [motioning to Billie] And this is it.

First Madame:
Well, you can't always get what you see. [Pulling him to the door] And since you don't want what you CAN get, you know where you can go. And this is it!

Louis McKay:
Pardon me, lady. I must have got you mixed up with someone who used to reside as Missus, um... what's her name?

Billie Holiday:
If that's what you thought, n*gger, why'd you give me them damn flowers? Why didn't you just give me some money?

Louis McKay:
I did.

Louis McKay:
I'm going out for a while. And when I come back, I don't want to find you here.

Billie Holiday:
How do you like your eggs?

Billie Holiday:
[after Louis discovers that Billie shoots up] Sure I've taken a few shots, but only when I needed it,

[Louis sighs]

Billie Holiday:
but i'm not hooked, Louis. I'm not.

Louis McKay:
Only when you needed it. What do you think hooked is? All I had to do is listen to your voice on the telephone and I knew. Who the hell do you think you're talking to? One of those ofay cats you be running around with? I've been on those streets all of my life. I know what that shit is!

Billie Holiday:
It's good, ain't it?

[Louis then gets up and takes her suitcase and starts packing her stuff]

Billie Holiday:
Wait, Wait, Baby! Oh, no.

Louis McKay:
We're going home. Now!

Billie Holiday:
[Stopping him] Wait, hey, baby, wait. See, you don't understand. Now, you don't know how it is when people are looking down at you and laughing at you and think that I'm a loser. And if I go home now, I'll think that I'm one, too. I gotta prove it to them. I gotta prove it to myself.

Louis McKay:
What're you proving with that needle? That you're not woman enough to make it without a crutch? A magic way out when the going gets a little too rough? I want you to make it, too, baby. But not this way. Not this way.