Billie Holiday's Musical Style in "Strange Fruit"

I am not someone who claims to know an extensive amount about music. I cannot analyze chords like an expert, I cannot name notes and keys off the top of my head. That being said, upon listening to Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit," I could not help but to be captivated by the strength and emotion of her voice, and the way the sounds of the instruments seem to speak to you. Throughout the song's intro, the prolonged, somber piano notes set the stage for Holiday's unconventional lyrics as she describes the lynching of Black Americans in the South. Holiday's vocal style, too, is so impactful in painting a story throughout the song. She draws out and emphasizes lyrics such as "southern breeze" and, when describing the dead, "bulging eyes and the twisted mouth." This vocal variation causes you to become more attentive to the stressed lyrics. You ponder a bit more the truly disgusting crimes that are racism and lynching as Holiday laments upon the end result for the victims.

 Holiday's language also speaks volumes. The phrase, "pastoral scene of the gallant south" uses sarcasm to criticize Southerners, supposedly so morally upright and fearlessly valiant, murder innocent people because of their race. The comparison of "black bodies" to "strange fruit" is as well extremely unconventional, yet it is this unconventionality that again contributes to Holiday's style.

Certain elements of "Strange Fruit" are reminiscent of MLK's "Letter from Birmingham Jail." While they speak through different mediums, both Holiday and King use their voice and style to criticize the racist, bigoted actions against Black Americans. They develop an image of people fighting against numerous odds.

-Natalia de Gravelles