The song “Strange Fruit” by Billie Holiday is a jazz ballad that can also be attributed to the blues style. Before Billie Holiday released the song, it was a poem written by American professor Abel Merropol. This poem was a response to the lynchings taking place in the South because of racism and Jim Crow laws. During this period, many African-American citizens were lynched. This is also the meaning of “Strange Fruit” hanging on trees. Billie Holiday herself was an African-American woman who struggled for money before her career in jazz. Due to racism in the South and the political divisions that existed, Billie Holiday had difficulty recording the song with her original label Columbia. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essayAs a result, they refused to record this song. It was only thanks to his friend Milt Gabler who granted him the wish to record this song with his label Commodore. After recording, this song became a timeless masterpiece of the civil rights movement and gained popularity. Strange Fruit offers 4 different types of instruments: the piano, a trumpet, a double bass and a sax. In my opinion, the piano is the most common instrument. However, this song places more emphasis on Billy Holiday's vocals, while the instruments only make the song darker. Musically, this song can be characterized as a jazz ballad with a blues twist. Due to the very sad and dark nature of the song, the interplay between Billie Holiday's vocals and the dark feel of the instruments creates the perfect atmosphere for this sad subject. The tempo of this song is therefore very slow. The piano key is a B flat and much lower than Billy Holiday's voice, giving the listener a nice, subtle contrast between highs and lows. Because this song was originally a poem, it is quite short. The original poem was divided into 3 stanzas and 12 lines. For this reason, the song leaves a lot of room for "breaks" where only the saxophone/trumpet and piano can be heard. Personally, I believe the reason behind this layout was to allow the listener to reflect on what they had just heard and process the brutal events that Billie Holiday sings about. The meter of this song can be characterized as a quadruple. Holiday strives to sing the entire song in the same tone while emphasizing particular words. For example, the last word of the song “cry” is very long. It gives listeners goosebumps thinking about all the pain African American families have had to endure and is the perfect way to end this song in my opinion. It's like the last cry for help before the music stops. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any other information about the artists playing the instrument and "Strange Fruit" being a single, no other information about the corresponding album. I was personally very stunned by this song. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized article from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay The first time I listened to it, I wasn't aware of what Billie Holiday was singing about. However, even without this prior knowledge, I felt the sad and dark nature of this song. Next, I researched the topic of lynching in the South. I was surprised that no history class had talked about it until now and after listening to this song again with that knowledge, it literally made my skin crawl...