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Below are the lyrics from "Strange Fruit" by Billie Holiday. Analyze the lyrics and tell me what was Billy Holiday's message in her lyrics, and tell me what do you think was happening at the time of her writing this song. Use quotes from the song and other facts you have learned in this class to support your answer.

Lyrics

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 magnolia, 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

User Juanpaco
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Answer:

Billie Holiday's lyrics in "Strange Fruit" are a powerful and haunting indictment of the lynching of Black Americans in the South. The song's imagery is both vivid and disturbing, painting a picture of bodies hanging from trees, blood on the leaves, and the smell of burning flesh. The song's message is clear: lynching is a horrific act of violence that must be stopped.

The song was written in 1939, a time when lynching was still a common occurrence in the South. According to the Equal Justice Initiative, more than 4,000 Black Americans were lynched between 1877 and 1950. Lynching was often used as a form of racial terror, and it served to keep Black people in their place.

"Strange Fruit" was a controversial song when it was first released. Many radio stations refused to play it, and some venues banned Holiday from performing it. However, the song became an anthem for the civil rights movement, and it continues to be a powerful reminder of the horrors of racism.

Here are some quotes from the song that support my answer:

  • "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 magnolia, 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."

These lyrics paint a vivid picture of the horrors of lynching. They are a powerful reminder of the violence and terror that Black Americans faced in the South.