The United States vs. Billie Holiday

Throughline

NPR

Society & Culture, History, Documentary

4.7 • 15K Ratings

🗓️ 8 October 2020

⏱️ 35 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Billie Holiday helped shape American popular music with her voice and unique style. But, one song in particular has become her greatest legacy — "Strange Fruit." The song paints an unflinching picture of racial violence, and it was an unexpected hit. But singing it brought serious consequences.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey everyone, we hope you're doing well.
0:02.5	And everyone is staying safe and sound.
0:04.6	We're hard at work on an upcoming series about voting and democracy in America.
0:09.2	And we're really excited to share it with you.
0:11.4	It's three episodes that feel essential and surprising.
0:15.3	And we can't wait for you to hear them.
0:17.4	They launch next week.
0:19.1	And so this week, we're revisiting an episode that feels as timely today as when we first
0:24.4	released it.
0:25.4	A warning before we begin, this story features some strong language and adult content.
0:34.4	In 1939, the great jazz singer, Billy Holiday, walked onto a stage.
0:41.3	She stands on this stage and she sang for the first time a song called Strange Fruit.
0:50.5	And years later, Billy Holiday received a warning from agents of the Federal Bureau of
1:08.2	Narcotics.
1:10.5	And the warning said effectively, stop singing this song.
1:15.7	Strange Fruit from the public.
1:24.1	Hey, I'm Randabde Fattah.
1:32.0	I'm Ramti N'Arablui.
1:33.5	And on this episode of Thru Line from NPR, a special collaboration with NPR Music's
1:38.6	Turning the Table series, how Billy Holiday sang the song Strange Fruit and became
1:44.3	one of the first victims of the war on drugs.
1:50.6	Hi, this is Soren calling from Denton, Texas, and you're listening to Thru Line from NPR.
	...

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