20 Protest Songs That Matter: No. 5
- Posted by Spinner Staff
- Comments (29)
--Billie Holiday (1939)
Rebelling Against: Lynching!
Songwriter Abel Meeropol was a Bronx schoolteacher who wrote a poem in response to a gruesome photo from the Deep South. Invariably described as "chilling" – the "strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees" are the bodies of hanged black men – the song is often noted as a critical catalyst for the civil rights movement.
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Reader Comments(1 of 2)
TCat 3-07-2008
This song was way before my time but I am trying to imagine the influence this song had. I am sure it was banned in many places. I am sure it painted the picture of how many blacks were treated at that time.
gwenat 5-25-2008
I would vote for this as the most protest song in American history. Does it get any deeper than lynching? And it probably took a woman who knew the sting of real personal and social pain to carry it's message. It is an elegant elegy that pays homage to the victims, the singer, and the songwriter's compassion and soul. I think that bloggers should try to respect the message by just trying to get along.
PEACE!
tkat 7-15-2007
Beautifully, haunting song about a horrific subject. Excellent choice!
billpatpensacolaat 7-15-2007
Billie was one of the first soulful singers, even though she was also a pioneer drugee musician. Alive today, she'd be carrying a crack pipe on stage.
Tedat 7-15-2007
amazing!!!!!
alexat 7-15-2007
GREAT SONG. I WOULD MOST DEFINATELY AGREE.
Debraat 7-18-2007
I was sure the top twenty protest songs would have included Green Days' "Holiday" and "American Idiot" in the list. "Minority" is certainly another great protest song! All have such a sharp clear message that cannot be denied!
woode29at 7-30-2007
Billpatpensacola "Billie was one of the first soulful singers, even though she was also a pioneer drugee musician. Alive today, she'd be carrying a crack pipe on stage" Shame on you! I hope you die a miserable death!
Maria-Danielleat 8-05-2007
This is addressed to Billpatpensacola: You must be a caucasian. This is why there is still such strife between Blacks and Whites in this country to this day. Not only was your comment disgraceful, it was extremely to disrespectful to the memory of Ms. Holliday (RIP). As a Black woman, I am so appalled and horrified by your words. You further stimulate the problems between our cultures. If you have nothing decent to say regarding the dead, please keep your opinions to yourself.
Steven Bat 10-05-2009
I agree whole-heartedly. Or whole-heatedly. That remark pissed me off. But hey, everybody should be entitled to say what's on their mind.
For the record, I am white, and successfully fought a nasty crack addiction.
If you (the previous poster) want to direct your wrath, how about the corporate powers and the CIA, who benefit greatly from flooding the poor neighbourhoods with this stuff. Prisons are a profitable growth business. The CIA is the biggest drug dealer. Street dealers (who make minimum wage, at best) are made into the pariah. The powers that be are glad that you're addicted, cuz the cycle (CIA-mob-prison owners) is complete. Everybody makes money. Don't touch that dial, so we can be sure you're keeping your eye off the ball. Baaaaaaa!!!
msayresat 8-07-2007
I first heard this song in my high school history class. It really is very harrowing...
Taliaat 8-13-2007
I've noticed that in everyone's comments to the drug reference, no one has confirmed or denied her drug use...seems to me people are trying to make the comments in a bigger issue.
"The evil that men do lives after them, the good is often interred with their bones." - Shakespeare
Masonat 8-19-2007
To maria-danielle:
You talk of the guy being a racist because he mentioned Billie Holiday's drug problem. I think YOU would be the real racist here, seeing as you automatically assumed he was white, and then started attacking his culture and blamed them for all the strife between blacks and whites, etc. Calm down and quit being a hypocrite.
Benat 8-19-2007
I'm white, and I found his comment to be very off-color and probably the product of an old white guy. Completely inappropriate and ridiculous, to be honest. And I don't think saying so makes me a racist. I don't have to wait for somebody to mention "black" to use my reasoning skills to determine this idiot's implication.
While Holiday was on drugs (I don't think anybody would refute this), your comment is basically completely off-topic and has nothing to do with the subject at hand. It's completely irrelevant.
Mikelat 8-22-2007
Lady Day sang some of the best blues ever,I will always love her.Strange Fruit brings tears to my eyes.See the Billie Holiday story with Diana Ross and maybe you'll understand why Lady Day used heroin...They screwed her over terribly.I'm a white male over 50
Tom Taylorat 8-27-2007
Read Bob Dylan's book "Chronicles" and then tell me what his politics are. He is a surprising individual and not unlike all of us. You just have to love him. He hated the press. Once he told Ed Bradley that his songs didn't really mean anything, he just made up lyrics that rhymed. He was always putting the press on. He didn't get into this attack the right, I know it all and I am better than you Greenday, Eddie Vedder crap.
The Dr.at 9-08-2007
Much of the chatter misses the point. If you want to know more about Lady Day, a good place to start is her autobiography "Lady Sings the Blues." If you want to know more about this message of the song, simply read the lyrics. If you want to get the full impact of the song, turn off the lights, put on the headphones, and absorb the music.
Maihemat 9-18-2007
Bless this enchanting woman's soul.
Amelieat 10-08-2007
Interestingly, Abel Meeropol, the songwriter, was a schoolteacher who wound up adopting Julius and Ethel Rosenthal's children after their parents were executed.
Elle Jat 12-08-2007
Truly haunting. Once you hear it you never forget.