 According to the "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography", British cabaret singer Jean Ross, with whom Maschwitz had a youthful liaison, was the muse for the song.Billie Holiday's rendering of the song with Teddy Wilson's orchestra was a favorite of Philip Larkin, who said, "I have always thought the words were a little pseudo-poetic, but Billie sings them with such passionate conviction that I think they really become poetry.