After listening to 'Strange Fruit' by Billie Holiday, I was surprised by the honest lyrics that don't try to skirt around the lynching issue whatsoever. The song and Holiday's tone evoked an instant reality to the issue and I felt horrified from the subject after the first time listening to it. The strength in this song and Holiday's conviction while she sings is why I choose to work with this song.
Ida B. Wells-Barnett's "The Case Stated" is also centered on the issue of lynching which shed's more light on 'Strange Fruit'. Holiday's haunting voice and Wells-Barnett's haunting historical evidence compliment each other. "The Case Stated" gives evidence and the excuses that there have been in regards to any and all lynching or unlawful executions. I see 'Strange Fruit' as the communities reaction and outrage to such offenses. Each work has an obvious goal to bring lynching to the main stream, as an act that the public is aware of, to hopefully stop its progress.
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A good start - I'd think more about the graphic nature of the song and how it fits with its often beautiful images? How do those two things together impact you as a listener?
ReplyDeleteWhere are you with this essay? Let me know so we can get you caught up.
I see a definite impact between the aesthetically pleasing imagery of 'pastoral scene of the gallant south' and graphic references like 'black bodies swinging in the southern breeze'. It is a very unsettling technique. The beautiful picture she paints makes the atrocities of southern racism stand out to the listener in a way that even after listening to the song one is left thinking of those crimes. By using opposites, each aspect seems more dramatic.
ReplyDeleteSorry I'm so behind on this, I'm making sure to keep up with essay2. I've started writing this one, but its not quite finished. It will definitely be to you this week, if i get stuck i'll let you know.