Fiona Apple Releases New Single ‘Pretrial (Let Her Go Home)’
Ahead of Mother’s Day, Fiona Apple supports pretrial detained mothers on her new single “Pretrial (Let Her Go Home).”
Five years after her Grammy Award-winning album, Fetch The Bolt Cutters, she released her new original song advocating for women incarcerated pretrial because they could not afford the bail fees required.
Apple explains that while volunteering as a court watcher for Courtwatch PG over the past two years, she saw many people incarcerated while they were still presumed innocent before going through legal due process.
Wow. Fiona Apple is a real one. New song just out. About her years of court watching. She’s calling for donations to free Black mothers on Mother’s Day. Fans coming through w donations. Let’s help support even more. I just gave: https://t.co/dT0wZMWMKr
— Scott Hechinger (@ScottHech) May 7, 2025
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The music video focuses on the women and families who have faced immense hardship due to pretrial detention.
She writes in the music video, “Jail didn’t just hurt them. It hurt their families. It hurt all of our communities. […] I hope this song and these shared images will help to show what is at stake when someone is touched by a system that won’t let them go.”
The video raises awareness for the cause by sharing various photos and videos of the different real lives impacted by pretrial detention.
“She took on extra shifts, still couldn’t pay the bail / No danger, no flight risk, but she would stay in jail / She was not convicted of anything (x2) / Won’t you let her go home?” she sings.
The “Paper Bag” singer highlights all the ways the current system harms not just the detained women but their families, mentioning how some children are then forced into foster care.
Over images of these families, Apple continues singing, “Two months, the rent’s past due and grandma took a fall / The kids’ been missing school to see her at the hospital / When the teacher saw that they were not in school again today / She called CPS and CPS then took the kids away.”
The single and music video not only call for awareness but also financially support the cause against pretrial detention.
The singer states, “On any given day, 60,000 women and girls are caged in jails. Pretrial and presumed innocent. Over 66% are mothers to minor children. Their average yearly income is $11,000. The average cost of bail is $10,000.”
She created a website titled “Let Her Go Home” in response to advocate and raise money for this cause. On the website, there’s more information on the stories of the people included in the music video, becoming involved as a volunteer court watcher, and donating to a bail bond in your area, supporting economically disadvantaged women. You can learn more here.
You can check out Fiona Apple’s “Pretrial (Let Her Go Home)” music video below.
