Tuesday, November 4, 2008

The Biography of a Song

I am currently reading Strange Fruit by David Margolick - the story of the poem/srong posted below.

Written by Abel Meeropol inspired by the lynching of Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith in 1930, it was made famous by Billie Holiday.

3 comments:

Rob said...

Reading the lyrics to "Strange Fruit" on the eve of this particular u.s. presidential election is unnerving. Surely there are still people here who would think that lynching--or something like it--is what Obama "deserves" for having the gall to run for (and get elected to?) the presidency. Thank you for providing some context.

Angus said...

Get thee down the voting station - the world is counting on you!

Rob said...

Funny, that's just what Billy Bragg said the other day.