Strange Fruit

Last year in my Music Theory class, I had to choose a musical artist and write a research paper on that person.  I am very into jazz, and especially love vocal jazz, so I chose to research Billie Holiday.  (I will not post the biographical information and career of Billie Holiday on the blog, but if you want to see it, I would be happy to show you my paper.)  However, I will say that Billie Holiday was an African American jazz singer during the early-mid 1900s.  One of her most famous songs — “Strange Fruit”– is known as one of the first ever anti-racism songs.  The song is about the lynchings in the South, and was so controversial at the time she came out with it that her record company (Columbia) would not even record it.  In stead, Holiday recorded the song with Commodore, and it quickly became popular.

What interests me about this song is not the voice per say, for I don’t think this song shows off Billie’s vocal talent as well as some of her other recordings.  But what makes this song (and the performer) stand out is the emotional power with which the song is sung.  Listeners can feel everything that Billie is feeling as she sings the song, and it evokes such strong emotions.  The following video is a live recording of Billie singing “Strange Fruit”.  The recording is simple–just voice and piano–but the phrasing, tone quality, and use of dynamics make the song into something very powerful.  As Billie sings this song, she does not really have a set tempo.  In stead, she leads as she feels, and the piano just follows along with her.  This helps paint the imagery of the lyrics in the song, especially the lyrics “black bodies swingin’ in the Southern breeze…” as the lack of tempo gives the song a “swaying” feel.

All of my music teachers in the past have told me that while I have good technical abilities, I sometimes lack the emotional power behind the music.  Incorporating emotion and feeling into the music can make or break a performance.  After watching this video, I became determined to add as much feeling into whatever piece I played/sung.  A difficult task, but one that makes all the difference.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4ZyuULy9zs