Billie Holiday - Strange Fruit, 1939.

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.

(Source: musicthatrocksmyworld, via ofpaperandponies)

Posted: Fri April 20th, 2012 at 9:14am
Originally posted by musicthatrocksmyworld.
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Tagged: strange fruit Billie Holiday music audio lynching jazz blues lyrics 1930s singers queue
Notes: 72