Strange Fruit

Happy Black History Month

Strange Fruit

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 magnolias sweet and fresh
Then the sudden smell of burning 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

Strange Fruit

Recorded: April 20, 1939

Released: 1939

Genre: Blues, Jazz

Songwriter: Abel Meeropol

Strange Fruit – written by Abel Meeropol, (American songwriter and poet born to Russian/Jewish immigrant parents – and born on the same day as me).  but recorded by Billie Holiday in 1939 speaks to the lynching of Black Americans – the words in this song compare victims to the fruit of trees.

Billie Holiday Quick Facts:

+Birth name- Eleanora Fagan Gough

+ The first African American woman to work with an all-white band.  

+ Won four  Grammy Awards posthumously for Best Historical Album

+Inducted into Grammy Hall of Fame in 1973

+Lady Sings the blues is a movie about her life

+Did not have children

+Nicknamed Lady Day

+ Changed her name to Billie Holiday as an appreciate to film star Billie Dove

+Inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 2011

#StrangeFruit #blackhistorymonth #blackhistoryisamericanhistory #BillieHoliday #southerntrees #AbelMeeropool #burningflesh #jazzartist #EleanoraFaganGough #newyork #blackexcellence #poplartrees #BillieDove #GrammyHallOfFame #LadyDay #LadySingsTheBlues

I listened to this song this week and it was gut wrenching painful and exhaustingly emotional to listen to, but it was the next track on the playlist I was listening to and I didn’t feel as though I could skip to the next track.

As I heard the words ring through my ears I could visualize what I was listening to. I could actually see it and feel it. It hurt – and it hurt most of all people I feel like this strange fruit is still present in many ways today. Being a Black American in 2021 is hard, so I can’t barely imagine what it was like to be one decades ago. This poem – This song – is a bit of the past brought to life.

I am sharing the song. Play it when you are ready if you have never heard it before. Close your eyes and feel the emotional behind Meeropool’s words and Holiday’s voice.

Of course you are welcome to share this post. If this was new to you I am glad you stopped by my blog and experienced something new.

#FearlessinShanghai #Thankful #joychangeslives #KMarieTakesChina #BlackGirlMagic #KarlaGirlLivingLife #BlackGirlJoy #LivingMyLifeLikeItsGolden #ChinaorBust #ChinaAintReady #BlackInShanghai #BlackInChina #BlackAmericanInChina #LookOutWorldHereComesKarla  #KarlaGirlJoy #BlackGirlInShanghai #eatsleeppartyrepeat #givingisgood #givingisfun #WakandaForever #ShuriAndNakiaAndOkoye #MelaninMagic #Blessed #FaithfulIsMyGod

“life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all”  

– Hellen Keller

*I choose ADVENTURE*