Billie Holiday - Strange Fruit

[jefferson_dem]

Run time: 02:33 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4ZyuULy9zs   Posted on YouTube: November 25, 2006 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: August 03, 2007 By DU Member: jefferson_dem Views on DU: 689

 
I've been in a Billie frame of mind lately and thought i would share. A couple years ago, my dad and i went to the MLK Center here in Atlanta for an exhibit of "lynching" photography. So sad, our tragic Southern legacy.

Is there any more haunting song?

Billie Holiday - Strange Fruit

Lewis allen

Southern trees bear 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 magnolias, sweet and fresh,
Then the sudden smell of burning flesh.

Here is fruit for the crows to pluck,
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck,
For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop,
Here is a strange and bitter crop.

[babylonsister]

1. Wow. VERY cool; thank you!

Edit to add: the first time I heard this song was in the last few years, by Nina Simone, I think? It was so full of angst, and it really hurt if you listened to it.

To hear this from Billy Holiday, in such a premium quality compared to all the crackling on her songs/CDs that I remember, is just great.

Thanks!

[Le Taz Hot]

2. GREAT song!

One of my all-time favorites. Just an FYI about the background of this song -- her and the band she was singing with were traveling the south in the 1930's. The bus they were traveling in made a stop out in the middle of nowhere and she and the band members got out to stretch their legs/potty break. She said she was looking around and saw a young Black man hanging from a tree. (I can't even imagine -- I would still be screaming.) Anyway, that was the "inspiration" for this very haunting piece.

[noiretextatique]

5. billie is an amazing artist

her ability to convey depth of emotion via her instrument continues to inspire and challenge me as a poet.
here's more on the song:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strange_Fruit

[Jack Rabbit]

3. K/R

!!

[ThomCat]

4. I had never actually heard the song before.

I had only heard of it.

Thank you for posting this.