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Strange Fruit

            Strange Fruit is perhaps the greatest poem and song ever written in American history. It is about lynching in the southern United States in the early twentieth century. It was written by a white, Jewish, communist named Abel Meeropol. He was inspired by a rather ghastly picture of a lynching. "It haunted me for days," he later recalled. He approached Billie Holiday to do a version of the song. The poem itself brings tears to my eyes, but when I hear Billie Holiday sing this song I can truly understand the emotions and terror of an oppressed people in the south. She adds a life and strength to an already powerful poem.
             "Southern trees bear a strange fruit", is the first line of this poem. The word strange is the first word that hits you. It implies that what is going on is something not normal or something that just doesn't happen in the civilized world. The south had a culture that was not like anywhere else in America at the time. The author wanted the reader to see what he was talking about as illogical. Fruit brings to mind beautiful sweet things. He was implying that things that look good on the outside can actually be strange and rotten underneath.
             Billie Holiday sings this line almost like this may be a song for lovers. But this is only a thin sheet covering the dark sinister tone in her voice and music. Once she sings the line "blood on the leaves and blood at the roots," I am sure this is not going to be pleasant. Images of trees with strange fruit and blood from leaf to root bring up a horrific scene of violence although the reader has no idea what has happened here. This line brings you to the edge of your seat and sparks your curiosity. In her voice I can hear a dark windy autumn night. It is cold outside. She makes it sound as if evil ominous things are afoot. You know by her voice that there is death in the air.
             When you read or hear, "Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze," it almost makes this sound like a nice proposition; the southern breeze in your hair and on your skin cooling the warm weather.


Essays Related to Strange Fruit

1. Strange Fruit by Joy Harjo

In the dark poem "Strange Fruit," author Joy Harjo, explores the difficulties that minorities in the world. ... If one is familiar with the song, strange fruit, by Billie Holiday; one would get a sense as to what to expect from the poem, which is that it involves lynching (Execution usually by hanging, without trial). ... Unlike the song by Billie Holiday, also called 'Strange Fruit', Joy Harjo does not identify the 'strange fruit' in question, as a symbol of racial injustice. Instead, she beautifies this strange fruit making it the opposite of a fruit symbolizing de...

  • Word Count: 1038
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: High School

2. United Fruit Company and Central America

" (4) May Stacy commented in her book 'The United Fruit Company in Latin America. ... In 1899, Keith merged his banana trading company with Boston Fruit Company, founded by Andrew Preston, and established the United Fruit Company. ... By the early 1900's, United Fruit created its "banana empire" with no ominous competitor. ... Not only in Guatemala but also in the U.S. market, bananas of United Fruit dropped down to an extremely cheap price, other fruit companies have no way to compete. ... By 1955 there were 160 banana importers in the U.S, United Fruit controlled 59...

  • Word Count: 3191
  • Approx Pages: 13
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

3. Comparison between the tell tale heart and the fruit at the

'The fruit at the bottom of the bowl' is a story about a man (William Acton) who killed his neighbour (Huxley) because he thought that Huxley was having an affair with his wife. ... The things that the character talked about were very strange. ... In 'The Tell Tale Heart' the main can hear and see a few strange things. ... 'The Tell Tale Heart' is told in the 1st person narrative whereas the 'The Fruit At The Bottom Of The Bowl' is told in the 3rd person narrative. ... In the 2 stories there was also strange use of punctuation to affect the madness. ...

  • Word Count: 2030
  • Approx Pages: 8
  • Grade Level: High School

4. Strange

I've heard of strange things happening in rituals, but this has to take the cake. ... Feeding is as follows: I take vitamin B12 daily, in huge doses, and use various substitutes, including chocolate, fruit juices, etc. ...

  • Word Count: 826
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

5. Billie Holiday

Billie had many hits like "Fine and Mellow" and "Lover Man", but none of these songs shocked the world like "Strange Fruit", a song about a lynching in the south. "Southern trees bear a strange fruit/ Blood on the leaves and blood at the root/ Black bodies swaying in the Southern breeze/ Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees (pbs.org)." ... I downloaded "Strange Fruit" and the song has an incredibly eerie feeling to it. ...

  • Word Count: 568
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

6. Goblin Market

Laura lingers and buys the succulent fruit from the goblin men. ... Laura went home and promised to bring fruit for Lizzie the next night. ... In many ways Laura is the reader; she spies on the goblin men and fulfills the readers curiosity of what these strange creatures are. Also Laura buys the fruit with her hair. ... Lizzie waits for Laura at the gate and in seeing that she ate of the fruit reminds her of their ill-fated sister, Jeanie, who died after eating the goblin men's fruit. ...

  • Word Count: 949
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: High School

7. Comparsion essay

Two writers that deal with theme of prejudice and racism effectively are Shirley Jackson in the short story "After you my dear Alphonse" and Billie Holiday in the song "Strange Fruit." ... "After you my dear Alphonse" deals with the theme of prejudice racism well, but I think the song "Strange Fruit" is more powerful and gets the theme across more effectively. ...

  • Word Count: 530
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: High School

8. Harlem Renaissance

Her own compositions included "God Bless the Child," espousing the virtues of financial independence; "Don't Explain," lament on infidelity; and "Strange Fruit," a haunting protest against the racial discrimination she encountered throughout her career. ... One of my favorite songs is "Strange Fruit." In "Strange Fruit" she described the terrible conditions of racism in America and the horrible lynching that were going on at the time. ... "Southern trees, bear the strangest fruit, Blood on the leaves and Blood on the roots," in this line Holiday describes the lynchings in the south. ...

  • Word Count: 1300
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Grade Level: High School

9. More than Meets the Eye (Taste in Disguise):

For a fruit with the history and adaptability of the apple, this seems very unjust. ... The domesticated apple, Malus Domestica, is a descendant of a strange tree from Eurasia. ... This mammoth tree carries all of the traits that make the apple the unique fruit that it is. ... The apple was inserted into the Bible as the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. ... Around that time a man sailed down the Ohio River in a strange canoe with a sidecar: In one of the dugouts lounged the figure of a skinny man of about thirty, who may or may not have been wearing a burlap coffee sack for a s...

  • Word Count: 2482
  • Approx Pages: 10
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

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