Thursday, February 10, 2011

Strange Fruit


By: Megan Tillman

There was a part in Frederick Douglass Narrative when he expressed that sometimes, slaves would be lynched for their wrong-doings. He even later wrote another book titled, "Why is The Negro Lynched". Long after slavery, the acts of lynching still existed. When racism came about, stemming from slavery, blacks were lynched in multiple situations, mostly for no reason at all, just because they were black.
Posted above is a song performed by Billie Holiday, titled Strange Fruit. The song is a metaphor for the acts of racism, in particular, lynching. She sings that "strange fruit hangs from the trees" and in actuality, the strange fruit are blacks. They are considered "strange" fruit because humans aren't normally what you see hanging from a tree; it would be considered very bizarre for humans to be swinging from a tree. With racism prevalent in the day and age of which she performed this song in, lynching was common, though. She goes in-depth with her description, even describing their eyes as "bulging" and their skin "rotting" from the sun. It is a clever metaphor and a very moving song, moving enough to stir great emotions and bring many to tears due to the harsh realities of things such as unnecessary racism and intolerable slavery.

3 comments:

  1. this song is so powerful and especially with billie holidays voice, she did so many light hearted popular songs , and to sing of lynching is so incredible for the time period and her sex

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  2. Nowadays, the music we listen to are light hearted so it is great to hear a song with a purpose. Her voice and her style is so unique and impacts the listener that much more.

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  3. Wow. What a tragic song. Billie could not have performed this song with more emotion. She does an excellent job at engaging her audience. The pain in her voice is so raw and real, that's why this song is perfect for her. I am proud to say that I already had this song on my iPod before this post, even thought I’m glad it was posted because it made me go back and listen to it again. Also, I really enjoyed watching the video rather than just hearing the song. I’m so glad that YouTube allows us to see a performance from so long ago, because it makes a huge difference. In its first form, Strange Fruit was a poem. It was later set to music, and when Billie Holiday heard it, she decided to record and perform the song as a part of her act. I cannot imagine how fearful she might have been, however she believed in the song too much to let fear stop her. This song had a huge impact after it’s release in 1939. Time magazine even called it the “Song of the Century” in 1999. The song will continue to live on into the 21st century, as it should.

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