#2073 – STRANGE FRUIT – Billie Holiday - 6/12/2020

Certainly not a tune that you’ll ever listen to for a quick cheer up, but STRANGE FRUIT is a song that will stay with you forever once you’ve heard it. The song, originally a poem written by a teacher, inspired her because it reminded Holiday of her father who died after being refused admittance to a hospital because he was black. Billie would perform this song as her concert finale for 20 years, singing under a sole spotlight on her face until the conclusion of the song. She left the stage in the dark. Once she finished the stage light would go out and the house lights came back on, she would be gone, not to reappear for the evening.



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