Sandra's Smile

Album: Single release only (2015)
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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)."

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