Southern Trees Bear Strange Fruit

Song: “Strange Fruit”

Artist: Billie Holiday (1939)

Southern trees bear strange fruit,
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,
Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze,
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.

Pastoral scene of the gallant south,
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth,
Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh,
Then the sudden smell of burning flesh.

Here is fruit for the crows to pluck,
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck,
For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop,
Here is a strange and bitter crop

This is one of the most remarkable song you may ever hear. Written as a poem by a school teacher and given to Billie, “Strange Fruit” was inspired by the photograph of the lynching of Thomas Shipp and Abraham Smith.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abram_Smith

It is filled with dark, powerful imagery and the YouTube clip is such a powerful performance by the end you can see it takes a lot out of her. I cant imagine the courage it must of taken for a black women in America in the late 30’s and 40’s to stand up and sing this song. It is a song that will definitely have a different meaning/feeling to everyone depending on your background, experiences etc…

We Are The Dollars and Cents, The Pounds and Pence

Song: “Dollars and Cents”

Artist: Radiohead

Album: Amnesiac (2001)

… Oxford, United Kingdom …

Aaahhhh Amnesiac… Kid A’s younger sibling who lurks in the shadows. Peculiar, mystifying and at times perplexing; in the end Amnesiac has been nothing but another remarkable album from Radiohead.

Love ‘em or hate ‘em I personally think Radiohead should always be admired for their constant innovation, something which too many bands these days fail to find.

A track that gets into the issues of materialism, the soulless nature of capitalism and the swines that run it all.