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Strange Fruit, by Coach on Dec 2, 2013 18:24:57 GMT 1, I am sure most will be familiar with the beautiful and haunting song made famous by Billie Holiday.
I was aware that this was a protest song about lynching, from the lyrics. But I did not know the full history of the song.
There was a fascinating and at times, extremley moving (upsetting might be a better word) programme on radio 4 towards the end of last week, which is now available on iplayer
www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b03jb1w1/Soul_Music_Series_17_Strange_Fruit/
I would humbly recommend a listen.
Frome the BBC website:
""Southern trees bear a strange fruit, blood on the leaves and blood at the root..." Billie Holiday's famous song expresses the horror and anguish of those communities subjected to a campaign of lynching in the American South. Soul Music hears the stories of people whose relatives were lynched by white racists and of the various forms of grief, anger and reconciliation that have followed. These include the cousin of teenager Emmett Till, whose killing in 1955 for whistling at a white woman, added powerful impetus to the civil rights movement.
Despite its association with the deep south, the song was actually composed in 1930's New York by a Jewish schoolteacher, Abel Meeropol. Meeropol adopted the children of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg after they were executed in 1953 as Soviet spies. One of those children, Robert, talks of his adopted father's humanity and his belief that the Rosenberg's were killed in a 'state sanctioned lynching by the American government'. For him, Strange Fruit is a comforting reminder of his adopted father's passionate belief in justice and compassion."
I am sure most will be familiar with the beautiful and haunting song made famous by Billie Holiday. I was aware that this was a protest song about lynching, from the lyrics. But I did not know the full history of the song. There was a fascinating and at times, extremley moving (upsetting might be a better word) programme on radio 4 towards the end of last week, which is now available on iplayer www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b03jb1w1/Soul_Music_Series_17_Strange_Fruit/ I would humbly recommend a listen. Frome the BBC website: ""Southern trees bear a strange fruit, blood on the leaves and blood at the root..." Billie Holiday's famous song expresses the horror and anguish of those communities subjected to a campaign of lynching in the American South. Soul Music hears the stories of people whose relatives were lynched by white racists and of the various forms of grief, anger and reconciliation that have followed. These include the cousin of teenager Emmett Till, whose killing in 1955 for whistling at a white woman, added powerful impetus to the civil rights movement. Despite its association with the deep south, the song was actually composed in 1930's New York by a Jewish schoolteacher, Abel Meeropol. Meeropol adopted the children of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg after they were executed in 1953 as Soviet spies. One of those children, Robert, talks of his adopted father's humanity and his belief that the Rosenberg's were killed in a 'state sanctioned lynching by the American government'. For him, Strange Fruit is a comforting reminder of his adopted father's passionate belief in justice and compassion." |
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Strange Fruit, by JAlternatión on Dec 2, 2013 18:33:38 GMT 1, Very interesting. I first heard the song about 23 years ago through Siouxsie and the Banshees who did a great cover of it. Immensely powerful tune.
There's some amazing BBC docs about music at the moment. Been watching the blues ones with massive interest - learning a lot even though I thought I was relatively learned about the subject.
Very interesting. I first heard the song about 23 years ago through Siouxsie and the Banshees who did a great cover of it. Immensely powerful tune.
There's some amazing BBC docs about music at the moment. Been watching the blues ones with massive interest - learning a lot even though I thought I was relatively learned about the subject.
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Strange Fruit, by Coach on Dec 3, 2013 1:41:47 GMT 1, Glad you liked it.
I thought it was an excellent music documentary.
It disturbs me how recent the events described were, though.
And what an amazing song.
Glad you liked it.
I thought it was an excellent music documentary.
It disturbs me how recent the events described were, though.
And what an amazing song.
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