The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #13719   Message #2464437
Posted By: GUEST,MissNicolette
13-Oct-08 - 11:24 AM
Thread Name: ADD: Sally Ann / Ballad of Sally Anne
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sally Ann
"the ride from church bore strange fruit" refers to a lynching - the Billy Holiday song "Strange Fruit" is about the violence experienced by African Americans in the U.S.

I believe that Johnny is a black man and was lynched on the way home from the wedding. Sally Ann is white, a widowed virgin, but still nobody wants her or, perhaps, she is perpetually mourning Johnny Dear. So, who will dance with Sally Ann? Nobody.