Radio and PodcastRadio and PodcastLive Radio & Podcasts
The Life of a Song: Strange Fruit artwork
Arts

The Life of a Song: Strange Fruit

FT Life of a Song by Financial Times

Nov 17, 201722:09Arts

Billie Holiday’s 1939 'Strange Fruit' was called 'the first significant protest in words and music, the first unmuted cry against racism'. Other singers attempted it, from Nina Simone and Diana Ross to Jeff Buckley and K...

Related Episodes

Continue listening to more episodes from FT Life of a Song.

Kate Bush's Wuthering Heights

Mar 15, 2018 - 26:06

When "Wuthering Heights" was released 40 years ago this year, it became the first song written and perfor...

1968: The Year that Music Changed

Jan 23, 2018 - 28:32

Set against a backdrop of protest and upheaval, the songs released in 1968 represent a turning point in m...

The Hits that Shook the World

Sep 15, 2017 - 36:35

In a special episode to mark the publication of The Life of a Song book, FT pop critics Helen Brown, Davi...

The Life of a Song: Wild Thing

Aug 14, 2017 - 17:59

It achieved distinction in an era of elemental riffs, and journeyed effortlessly to and fro across the At...