![]() I don't hear too much about the destruction of a black body. I see them complain about the destruction of a statue. I don't see a lot of white people really speaking up in defence of Black and Indigenous people. It is a clear reminder to us all that we have to change our thinking, we have to change our practice, we have to change and reimagine a better society for everyone. Watching the murder of George Floyd under the boots, literally, of a white policeman in America last year was one of the most sickening, devastating things I've ever seen. It was incredibly brave what she did, it was really an act of great political courage and remains so. A great reminder of what we must all shelter Black and Indigenous peoples from. Not just of the American Songbook, but of the Global Songbook. ![]() So, to me, this is one of the most important songs. It's astounding to me that we're still dealing with systemic racism, we're still dealing with that cruelty and that intolerance and that horror. We remember what other human beings who happened to be a different colour from someone else were put through. I feel, to this day, it's still an incredibly important song. The atrocity that she was covering with this amazingly beautiful song about something abominable. I could feel that it was about something really painful, I just didn't know what was about.Īs I got older, I started to learn what she was singing about. Through her I discovered the great Nina Simone, Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald, Julie London, a whole gamut of jazz singers that remain touchstones throughout my career.īut when I heard Billie Holiday sing 'Strange Fruit', I didn't understand what the song was about. Sung by an absolute master.īillie Holiday is one of my all-time favourite artists. The darkest, saddest song I've ever heard of my life. I think this is one of the most important songs ever written. I don't think I'll ever divorce myself fully from that person, because it feels like that's my real identity and everything else is just kind of a costume. Who yearned to be part of the scene and just never was. Yet I still feel like that kid at school who was pretending there was somebody calling me up. This is what I've done with my whole life, sing in bands.' Then I have to sort of sit and think, 'Wow, I really am. And he's like, 'No, actually, you really kind of are.' My husband's always saying like, 'What is your problem? You're a rock star!' and I'll go 'I'm not a rock star'. To this day, I can just listen to it on loop over and over and over again. I just really related to what she was saying and how she was saying it. Those who don't sail through life, who aren't given the backstage pass. She was basically singing about outsiders and freaks. To not have the most perfect figure, or the perfect face, or personality'. When I heard Janis Ian sing the song, I was like, 'this person understands me, and understands what it's like not to be the most popular girl in class. I felt like a frustrated, confused, unattractive, disempowered, unpopular child. When I heard the song for the first time, I just felt it had been written for me.
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