Fiona Apple shares first original song in five years
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“Pretrial (Let Her Go Home)” was made in support of initiatives helping low-income women detained before trial.
For several years, Fiona Apple has been a courtwatcher for Courtwatch PG, sitting in on remote public court appearances to document the daily functions of the criminal justice system. She has spoken publicly about her experiences to the Washington Post in 2023: “It made sense that, yeah, when people are having their worst day, at their most vulnerable, at the very least, should be there with them and be a witness, don’t let them go through it alone, and take a look at what’s going on. Because you don’t know what’s going on inside there, they keep it all secret.”
The experience has also inspired new music from Apple. She scored and narrated a video about courtwatching in 2023, and today she’s sharing a protest song called “Pretrial (Let Her Go Home).” It’s Apple’s first original song since her acclaimed 2020 album Fetch the Bolt Cutters. The song is inspired by the cash bail system that detains primarily Black, low-income women in custody before trial and separates them from their families. Read Apple’s statement on the song below.
Time and time again, I listened as people were taken away and put in jail, for no other reason than that they couldn’t afford to buy their way free. It was particularly hard to hear mothers and caretakers get taken away from the people who depend on them. For the past five years, I have been volunteering with the Free Black Mamas DMV bailout, and I have been lucky to be able to witness the stories of women who fought for and won their freedom with the tireless and loving support of the leadership. I hope that this song, and the images shared with me, can help to show what is at stake when someone is kept in pretrial detention. I give this song in friendship and respect to all who have experienced the pain of pretrial detention and to the women of the group’s leadership who have taught me so much and whom I truly love.
The video collects images and videos of women caught in the system of pretrial detention. The song and video benefit Free Black Mamas, and you can go to Apple’s new website Let Her Go Home to find out more information about courtwatching and the women whose lives have been affected by exorbitant cash bail.
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