Sandra's Smile

Album: Single release only (2015)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Blood Orange is English singer-songwriter Dev Hynes, who has also written for such artists as Solange ("Losing You"), Carly Rae Jepsen ("All That") and Sky Ferreira ("Everything Is Embarrassing"). This song finds him singing about Sandra Bland, a 28-year-old African American woman who was found hanging in a Texas cell on July 13, 2015, just days after being pulled over for a minor traffic violation.
  • The loss resonated for Hynes. He wrote in a Genius annotation: "I had a somewhat delayed depression upon Sandra's death. I was hurt and upset and mad instantly, of course… but I think a part of me had my eyes closed, as a form of numbness..a few days later it hit me and I was unconsolable (sic)."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Subversive Songs Used To Sell

Subversive Songs Used To SellSong Writing

Songs about drugs, revolution and greed that have been used in commercials for sneakers, jeans, fast food, cruises and cars.

Rock Revenge Songs

Rock Revenge SongsMusic Quiz

John Lennon, Paul Simon and Lynyrd Skynyrd are some of the artists who have written revenge songs. Do you know who they wrote them about?

90s Metal

90s MetalFact or Fiction

Test your metal - Priest, Maiden, and Beavis and Butt-head show up in this one.

Into The Great Wide Open: Made-up Musicians

Into The Great Wide Open: Made-up MusiciansSong Writing

Eddie (played by Johnny Depp in the video) found fame fleeting, but Chuck Berry's made-up musician fared better.

Janis Ian

Janis IanSongwriter Interviews

One of the first successful female singer-songwriters, Janis had her first hit in 1967 at age 15.

Female Singers Of The 90s

Female Singers Of The 90sMusic Quiz

The ladies who ruled the '90s in this quiz.