Strange Fruit
Abel Meeropol
Strange Fruit
1937
Jazz
Billie Holiday
1
the_great_depression
Southern trees bear strange fruit,
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,
Blackbodies 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 the fruit for the crows to pluck,
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck,
Forthe sun to rot, for the trees to drop,
Here is a strange and bitter crop