Strange Fruit

About Strange Fruit

"Strange Fruit" is a song performed most famously by Billie Holiday, who first sang and recorded it in 1939. Written by teacher Abel Meeropol as a poem and published in 1937, it protested American racism, particularly the lynching of African Americans. Such lynchings had reached a peak in the South at the turn of the century, but continued there and in other regions of the United States. The great majority of victims were black. The song's lyrics are an extended metaphor linking a tree's fruit with lynching victims. Meeropol set it to music and, with his wife and the singer Laura Duncan, performed it as a protest song in New York City venues in the late 1930s, including Madison Square Garden. The song continues to be covered by numerous artists, including Nina Simone, UB40, Jeff Buckley, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Robert Wyatt and Dee Dee Bridgewater and has inspired novels, other poems, and other creative works. In 1978, Holiday's version of the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. It was also included in the list of Songs of the Century, by the Recording Industry of America and the National Endowment for the Arts. It was also dubbed "a declaration of war ... the beginning of the civil rights movement". more »

Year:

1980

4:03

45 Views

Playlists:

#1

 The easy, fast & fun way to learn how to sing: 30DaySinger.com

Southern trees bear a strange fruit  
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root  
Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze  
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees  
  
Pastoral scene of the gallant south  
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth  
Scent of magnolia sweet and fresh  
Then the sudden smell of burning flesh.  
  
Here is a fruit for the crow to pluck  
For the rain to wither, for the wind to suck  
For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop  
Here is a strange and bitter crop.

 Watch: New Singing Lesson Videos Can Make Anyone A Great Singer

UB40

UB40 are a British reggae/pop band formed in 1978 in Birmingham, England. The band has placed more than 50 singles in the UK Singles Chart, and has also achieved considerable international success. The band has been nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album four times, and in 1984, they were nominated for the Brit Award for Best British Group. One of the world's best-selling music artists, UB40 have sold over 70 million records. more »

Follow 2 fans