"Strange Fruit"
Southern trees bear a strange fruit,
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,
Black body 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 magnolia sweet and fresh,
And 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 a tree to drop,
Here is a strange and bitter crop.
Lynching was a punishment or warning that the United States used during the time of Civil Rights movement in the South. It was mainly adopted back from the American Revolutionary period, but this was still used mostly in the South where there was less freedom for freed African Americans. Lynching was mainly a punishment by the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), as mentioned in the Civil Rights section, to prevent freed African Americans from having a right to vote (African American men) and from being in the same society as the white Americans. Mainly, the lynching was done by mobs, and the song “Strange Fruit” by Billie Holiday describes the lynching. Lynching was a big controversy for African Americans who wanted a full freedom of rights in United States. If any African Americans tried to stand against the white Americans for equal rights, they would automatically be lynched on a tree.
One of the articles by Bond states:
Referring to the lyrics of the song, Bond states,
Yonnie's Interpretation of "Strange Fruit":
“Southern trees bear strange fruit…
Pastoral scene of the gallant South…”
The place where the lynching is taking place in this poem is not a dark and horror place, but some place where there is only beautiful scenario, not a horror.
“Black body swinging in the southern breeze…”
The body that was lynched is swinging on the tree when there is a breeze.
“…the smell of magnolias with that of burning flesh,
Scent of magnolia sweet and fresh!
Then the sudden smell of burning flesh!”
The smell of a dead lynched body that is burning.
"...the blossoms more typically associated with the Southern climate with the “strange fruit” produced by racial oppression—this imagery conjures up the essence of racist reaction.”
“Here is fruit for the crows to pluck,
For the rain to gather, the wind to suck…”
The last verse of the song is stating that the human being hanging from the tree is a strange fruit that “for the crows to pluck,” and when the dead body gets down from hanging tree, it is rotten.
Eunice Kathleen Waymon, more commonly known as Nina Simone, covered the song “Strange Fruit” in 1965 during the heart of the Civil Rights Movement. She wanted to bring forth the song again in a time when it was especially important to call attention to the facts of racial inequality. While Simone advocated types of violent civil disobedience at the time, she was still a prominent figure of success during that time.
Simone sang a number of songs during the Civil Rights Movement. Her first call to attention about racial inequality was in a song, “Mississippi Goddam” which was recorded in response to a church burning in Birmingham which killed four black children. This song was even boycotted in certain southern states because of the controversial subject matter. In that same year, songs like “Old Jim Crow” and “Four Women” were recorded to discuss the racial inequalities as well as stereotypes withing her own race. In later years, “Four Women” became a feminist anthem as well.
After this initial outbreak of racially driven songs, “Strange Fruit” depicted a lynching of a young black man in the south.
Simone later became a part of the black power movement, supporting figures like Malcolm X and H. Rap Brown. Her violent approach could be related to her array of mental disorders. When Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, she performed a song called “Why? (The King of Love is Dead)”. In the middle of the convert she disrespectfully stated, “I ain't about to be nonviolent, honey!”
Nina Simone said,
"There is no other purpose, so far as I'm concerned, for us except to reflect the times, the situations around us and the things we're able to say through our art, the things that millions of people can't say. I think that's the function of an artist and, of course, those of us who are lucky leave a legacy so that when we're dead, we also live on. That's people like Billie Holiday and I hope that I will be that lucky, but meanwhile, the function, so far as I'm concerned, is to reflect the times, whatever that might be."
The Harlem Renaissance, as it was later coined, started in the 1920s and was built by exposing disparities like the one Holiday found in singing a song about a lynching in up-scale jazz clubs of New York City. Billie Holiday’s infamous song “Strange Fruit” was first performed at Café Society, New York’s first integrated nightclub. Although record companies protested it, Holiday persisted on singing it because the imagery in “Strange Fruit” reminded her of her father. “Strange Fruit” showed the horrors of lynching and reminded the people of all the trials and tribulations that the African Americans had gone through. Harlem Renaissance was a period of overt racial pride and intellect. Through production of literature, art, and music it challenged racism and stereotypes to promote progressive politics and racial integration.
“Strange Fruit” by Billie Holiday was an explicit and important contribution to this period. It, appealed to intellectuals and the urban counterculture, who saw Holiday’s contribution to a growing art, music, and literature movement that aimed to give blacks in America a new identity. Although singing this song made Holiday fearful of retaliation, it empowered her audience to be proud of their heritage and reminded them of what their ancestors went through for them to be here. Because of Holiday’s strong connection to this song, it then became a regular part of her live performances.
PERSONAL RESPONSES
“Strange Fruit”, as it has been sung since the days of the Harlem Renaissance, is known to be an anthem condemning the racism in America. Billie Holiday was introduced to the song, and she immediately took it on to draw attention to the racism problem in America. I believe that it is absolutely fantastic that a woman at that time could be so vocal about a problem that was not even yet at a height of revolution. The song has been covered numerous times, notably by Nina Simone. It is interesting how the same issue could span so many years. The song went from a subtle outcry from Billie Holiday to a not so muted version from Nina Simone.
Our group sectioned off the work in the hopes that each one of us could have a deep understanding of one piece of this topic so that when we collaborated, it would turn into a very knowledgeable presentation. I concentrated on Nina Simone and her rendition of the song. I've always liked Nina Simone's music, but I had never before taken the time to analyze it or even take extreme notice of the context. Simone was a very active member of the Civil Rights Movement, and she went out of her way to produce music that would draw attention to the cause.
I never knew how Nina Simone participated in the Civil Rights movement. I respect her for pursuing a cause she believed in, but I did lose a good amount of respect upon further research into her life as a Black Panther Supporter. She did a great thing with her music, but when I read that she supported people like H. Rap Brown and left the country to escape tax evasion, I wasn't very warm to my subject anymore. I am biased on these aspects of her life.
This topic really was enjoyable to research. It brings attention to the fact that the fight for civil rights is far from over. Though we have come a long way since the days of Billie Holiday, the song was recently covered again by John Legend and Kanye West. The song is definitely still an existing anthem being used in changing contexts. It is interesting to know that a song can carry so much meaning for so many years.
Yonnie Yang:
Through out this project, I learned a lot about our topic, “Strange Fruit”. The topic itself sounded really weird and uninteresting, but as I did more of research, I learned that the Strange Fruit is an actual human. “Strange Fruit” is a song written by Meeropol, a foster father of two children of lynched Jewish parent. After Meeropol had seen the photo of African American lynching, he decided to write a poem about the scene of lynching, and added some exaggerating literary writing. And this poem was introduced to Billie Holiday, a singer, to sing for anti-lynching for African Americans (freedmen). Billie accepted this song because it reminded of her father. And this was the first Civil Rights anti-racism song ever to be sung.
I believe that lynching was not a right way to punish, if the punishment is needed. The description of lyric about a scene of where the body is being hung on a tree by rope around a body’s neck, and the swinging of a body and later, the body rots. Also, the African American were all already freed, so I feel like the government could have done something right away for mobs and Ku Klux Klans (KKK) who opposed to the slavery being freed. I feel that everyone should have an equal rights and that there is no need for lynching to be done. I find that the how song’s rhythm itself have sadness feeling into it, and that each verse of the song has horror, sadness, and angry feeing into it.
The book “Going to meet the man” by James Baldwin relates to this topic, because the book itself is based on racism. The book is about a sheriff remembering an event when he followed his father to watching everyone being violent to a black man who ran away. Then he watches a scene where the black man is lynched on a tree with his hands tied above his head. And watched the body burning with fire. A young boy whom he is proud that his father trusted him and let him see this horror punishment viewed this horrible scene. Here, the lynching of a black man is exactly described as the poem “Strange Fruit”.
With this happened back in Civil Rights movement, do you think it was worth it to have this kind of punishment to African Americans? Just because an African American made a little mistake, or did something little bad, that they had to be punished with torturing death doesn’t mean they will learn a lesson to not to later in their life. African American should have a same type of punishment as other White Americans have. This type of torturing punishment should not have been needed.
Amber Bachlani:
Lynching was a common form of punishment, mostly by mobs, used commonly in the 19th and 20th centuries, particularly towards African Americans. It was a cruel and torturous punishment that people decided to impose upon others if they committed an act they considered to be "wrong" by their own definitions. "Strange Fruit" was written by Abel Meeropol to express his hate toward the punishment and the way it was carried out. It is admirable that although Meeropol was Jewish, he showed how lynching could affect all people, even if they were not African American.
It is extremely important for people to realize the intensity of lynching and the repercussions of using it as a common form of punishment. Many children were probably traumatized by the act. We should consider ourselves fortunate because we do not have to worry about seeing people hanging from trees when we walk outside of our homes. Children could have seen people they knew just outside their doors who were punished for acts that would seem normal today. It is unfortunate that they had to experience such terrible sights which probably made them scared of even leaving their homes.
The history of lynching is incredibly important to learn about because it allows for us to relate better to those who have either dealt with the experiences or even characters in books. For example, Nella Larsen's Passing shows how hard the lives of African Americans were, but she mentions nothing concerning lynching. Knowing the fact that lynching was occurring during the Harlem Renaissance gives us insight to the kinds of things African Americans were going through in America at the time. Also, James Baldwin's Going to Meet the Man depicts a scene in which a man is lynched, which directly correlates to Meeropol's "Strange Fruit."
I suggest that people should go out and learn more about racism in America. It truly allows for people to empathize with others and learn more about the books they are reading as well. I feel as though many of the cases which involved lynching were unnecessary, and that should be considered a significant part of our history. Many people do not realize the cruelty that was attached to the acts because they were sometimes performed with no justification whatsoever. Nonetheless, it is up to us to do our part and at the least be informed on what happened. Ignorance is almost as bad as being a part of the acts because we are pretending as though those acts never occurred. Just as Meeropol expressed his thoughts through his poetry, I suggest that everyone should make an effort to learn something about this topic or any other racist act and inform at least one other person about the subject. After all, if this happened to you, wouldn't you want people to be informed?
Surabhi Dosi:
Harlem Renaissance, at the time known as the “New Negro Movement”, was a period of overt racial price and intellect. It was a period that challenged racism and stereotypes to promote progressive politics and racial integration through art, music, and literature. Billie Holiday was a well known artist that had sprouted from that era. Her song “Strange Fruit” immediately drew attention to the racism in America. I was amazed at how powerful this song became. Not only did it influence people back then, it still empowers people today and will continue to the generations to come.
My main focus during this project was the connection between Billie Holiday and the Harlem Renaissance because our group decided to divide the parts so we all could individually focus on one topic. So each topic would be deeply analyzed and be very knowledgeable to the audience. When I first listened to the song, I was deeply disturbed at how descriptive the song was and how easily you could picture a gruesome image of a body swinging back and forth. As I listened to the song several times, I realized how empowering it can be that a past reminder of injustice and inhumane doings can really empower a person. So as I listened, I realized that this was the same reason Billie Holiday choose to sing this song beside the fact many record companies protested against it. Also she sung this song at the very end of each of her live performances and then walked off stage.
This song was so effective that just as the song was about to begin, waiters would stop serving, lights would be turned off, and only a spotlight would be on Billie Holiday. Billie Holiday performed numerous times at the Apollo Theater which has been a lasting legacy of the Harlem Renaissance. Another thing I find very interesting is that I never knew music from the Harlem Renaissance has been assimilated into mainstream American culture today. I found out that the music of Bessie Smith, Dizzy Gillespie, and Louis Armstrong, that gave the way to careers of iconic performers such as Billie Holiday, are now American standards. It astounds me that we don’t realize how severely we are influenced by the past.
Before doing this project, I had no idea who Billie Holiday or Nina Simone were. Through research and being able to listen to their music, I greatly appreciate being able to research this topic; it was very enjoyable. Although it has been a very long way since Billie Holiday, her impact is still prevalent in today’s society. It is so remarkable that one song can affect so many people and carry such a grave meaning.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
We know our past influences and affects who we are today as a society, but why is it that we don’t care about how we affect the future’s society?
How does learning about people's experiences help us relate to them better?
How does the meaning of the song change depending on the person singing it?
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Robert L. Zangrando, John F. Callahan, and Dickson D. Bruce, Jr. Modern American Poetry : An Online Journal and Multimedia Companion to Anthology of Modern American Poetry. Urbana, IL : Department of English of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2002.
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