ACTIVITY #3:
Infer connections and relevance of African American history and music to society today.
“Bitter Fruit”
Poem
Written by ABEL MEEROPOL
January 1937
Review the words to the original poem by Abel Meeropol, “Bitter Fruit” (1937).
What is the poem about?
What is the mood/tone of the poem?
How does this poem use metaphors to describe each verse?
Call Back to Activity #1:
Compare & contrast the way
American history has been documented.
The most famous interpretation of the “Bitter Fruit” poem is the 1939 recording re-titled “Strange Fruit” by singer-songwriter Billie Holiday, whose career of blending blues, swing, jazz and torch music began in the early 1930s and spanned two decades.
The live version featured here, also from 1939, is presumed to have been recorded during Billie’s run at the famous Cafe Society club (where she first introduced the song before releasing it as a single), about one month or less after the record was first released. It is the earliest known live recording of her singing “Strange Fruit”.
QUESTIONS:
How does the announcer’s introduction to “Strange Fruit” differ from the way Billie Holiday sings the song?
Based on what you know about the different types of gothic music, is “Strange Fruit” a gothic novelty song, or gothic blues?
Exploration Through Listening:
Listen to the following versions of the “Bitter Fruit” narrative.
“Strange Fruit”
Recorded & performed by: BILLIE HOLIDAY
Commodore Records (1939)
Genre: Blues / Jazz
“Haemoglobin”
Written recorded performed by: PLACEBO
Album: Black Market Music (2000)
Genre: Alternative Rock
“Tigress and Tweed”
Recorded & performed by: ANDRA DAY
Album: The United States vs. Billie Holiday (2021)
Genre: Jazz / Trip-Hop
Follow-Up Questions:
What is each song about?
How would you describe the emotions of the performers?
How are the songs similar? How are they different?
Extended Listening:
You’re My Thrill: Billie Holiday's Lasting Impact (On Placebo)
This is the video companion to the essay featured in the book What is Goth? (& Other Essays), and originally featured on the Gothistorian Patreon.
Billie Holiday’s particular style of vocalizing has become a staple in the alternative pop world. Like Bessie Smith and Louis Armstrong before her, she used her voice as both an emotional tool, and a physical instrument that can manipulate sound. Since her, you can easily run a list of singers over the last sixty years that have pulled from Holiday’s influence (...) So when my favorite band, English alternative rock act Placebo, revealed Holiday to be one of their influences, my ears perked.