"Strange Fruit" is a song written by Abel Meeropol under his pseudonym Lewis Allan and recorded by Billie Holiday in 1939.
The lyrics were drawn from a poem by Meeropol published in 1937. The song protests the lynching of Black Americans with lyrics that compare the victims to the fruit of trees.
Originally written as a poem by Abel Meeropol to protest racism and the atrocity of the lynching of African Americans, Billie Holiday began performing "Strange Fruit" as her set closer, to allow the song's sobering gravitas to really sink in. While it's been famously covered by the likes of Nina Simone and others, Holiday's affective and haunting rendition remains the definitive version.
Southern trees bear a strange fruit
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root
Black bodies swingin' in the Southern breeze
Strange fruit hangin' from the poplar trees
Pastoral scene of the gallant South
The bulgin' eyes and the twisted mouth
Scent of magnolias sweet and fresh
Then the sudden smell of burnin' flesh
Here is a fruit for the crows to pluck
For the rain to gather
For the wind to suck
For the sun to rot
For the tree to drop
Here is a strange and bitter crop
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Lewis Allan
Strange Fruit lyrics © Music Sales Corporation, Edward B Marks Music Company, Edward B. Marks Music Co.
