Billie Holiday - "Strange Fruit" Live 1959 [Reelin' In The Years Archives]
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Channel: ReelinInTheYears66
Views: 4,482,100
Rating: 4.9561987 out of 5
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Length: 3min 19sec (199 seconds)
Published: Thu Feb 22 2018
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This is the darkest song I’ve ever heard.
I’ve heard this covered by several artists and still think her phrasing is the best. Absolutely gutting song.
Holiday's haunting voice was her calling card, but I think its important to know how much pain and struggle was behind her incomparable performances. She was 44 at the time of her death, just months after this was taped. Her body and voice are ravaged by the insurmountable odds that had been stacked against her for her entire life. Holiday had known and endured the worst of racism and classism. She put herself through decades of self abuse with alcoholism and heroin addiction. She had been brutalized and taken advantage of by nearly every man she was involved with. All that damage comes through in this performance - from the slurring introduction to the soulful, brooding resonance of her voice as it brings the audience on a journey through a forest that was more real than most people of the time would like to admit.
I mention this not to sensationalize her struggles, but to remind fans that the performer Billie Holiday was the grown alter ego of a girl who was in reform schools before she was 10. She had a 5th grade formal education but a few lifetimes' worth of life experience and it shows.
Fantastic singer. This sounds dark and the lyrics are dark as well. Very emotional.