I sing like I feel.

Taken at face value, the line asserts an aesthetic of sincerity: Fitzgerald frames singing not as a display of technique for its own sake but as the direct expression of inner feeling. In jazz—especially in her ballad work and her improvisatory scat—this idea also implies responsiveness in the moment: phrasing, swing, and timbre change according to emotion rather than rigid adherence to a score. The quote thus positions artistry as emotional truthfulness, suggesting that the singer’s primary obligation is to communicate lived feeling, with virtuosity serving that communication rather than replacing it.