The lyrics were drawn from a poem by meeropol, published in 1937. And whilst it was also not the first popular song to deal with race, strange fruit stood out for its graphic content and commercial success. Originally written in 1937 by abel meeropol, “strange fruit” is a dark and profound song centered around the lynching of african americans in the southern united states during the jim crow era.
Naked | Aarhus
Lyrics strange fruit 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.
To great controversy, lady day introduced the world to the racially charged protest song strange fruit. in the end, some believe it killed her
Strange fruit was a controversial protest anthem sung by billie holiday in the 1930s which got her targeted by the u.s The haunting lyrics of “strange fruit” paint a picture of rural america where political and psychological terror reigns over african american communities. “strange fruit” is a song performed most famously by billie holiday, who first sang and recorded it in 1939 Written by a white, jewish high school teacher from the bronx and a member of the communist party, abel meeropol wrote it as a protest poem, exposing american racism, particularly the lynching of african americans.
Whilst previous songs had sometimes conveyed protest, strange fruit was the first to carry an explicit political message in an entertainment space
