Strange Fruit

Composed by Abel Meeropol

Originally sung by Billie Holiday

Song History: taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strange_Fruit

"Strange Fruit" began as a poem about the lynching of a black man written by a Jewish schoolteacher from the Bronx, Abel Meeropol, who used the pen name Lewis Allan (the names of his two children, who died in infancy). Meeropol and his wife were also the adoptive parents of the children of the executed spies Ethel and Julius Rosenberg in the 1950s."Strange Fruit" was written as a poem expressing his horror at the lynchings, and was first published in 1937 in The New York Teacher, a union magazine. Before Holiday was introduced to the song, it had been performed by Meeropol, by his wife, and by a black vocalist called Laura Duncan, who performed it at Madison Square Garden.

Meeropol said later that he had been inspired by seeing Lawrence Beitler’s photograph of the lynching of Thomas Schipp and Abram Smith. "Strange Fruit" was eventually heard by Barney Josefson the founder of Cafe Society, New York's first integrated nightclub, who introduced it to Billie Holiday. Holiday performed the song at Cafe Society in 1939, a move that by her own admission left her fearful of retaliation. Holiday later said that the imagery in "Strange Fruit" reminded her of her father's death, and that this played a role in her persistence to perform it. The song became a regular part of Holiday's live performances.

A. Fill in the missing words before you listen to the song:

1 Southern _________________ bear a strange fruit

Blood on the leaves and blood at the _________________

Black _________________ swinging in the southern breeze

Strange _________________ hanging from the poplar trees

5 Pastoral scene of _________________ gallant south

The bulging _________________ and the twisted _________________

The scent of magnolia _________________ and fresh

Then the sudden _________________of burning flesh

10 Here is a fruit for the crows _________________ pluck

for the _________________ to gather

for the _________________ to suck

for the _________________ to rot

for the tree to _________________

Here is a strange and _________________ crop

B. Answer the questions below:

1. What is the strange fruit referred to in the song? What literary tool is used here?

2. What contrasting images are used in the second verse? Identify the different types of imagery used in the song: visual, olfactory, auditory, tactile, gustatory, kinesthetic.

3. Why does the singer refer to the fruit as “a strange and bitter crop”?

4. Do you think the song is effective? Why?

5. How does this song relate thematically to To Kill a Mockingbird?