BILLIE HOLIDAY’S STRANGE FRUIT
The Song She Bravely Sang, Condemned Her
Music garners different reactions — especially when it points out a flaw in our society. People don’t often like to be called out or their practices put into question. Few songs have had stronger reactions than Billie Holiday’s rendition of “Strange Fruit.”
Holiday performed the song for the first time in 1939, two years after Jewish songwriter and teacher Abel Meeropol penned the poem, originally titled “Bitter Fruit.” With the help of his wife, Meeropol brought the words to life through song. Holiday played it at the Café Society in New York City with just a single spotlight on her in a dark room. The performance is often heralded as the start of the Civil Rights Movement. Holiday was so brave to sing it in front of black and white audiences alike despite the fear of retaliation. The song always came last in her set list as a way to protect herself. There was no encore and services were suspended right before the performance. All focus was on her and her voice bringing the emotion and power to the lyrics.
“Strange Fruit” is an anti-lynching song that draws the comparison of Black people hanging from trees as that of fruits. The song is only 14 lines long and it still holds so much power and imagery. It takes something so common and recognizable as fruit hanging from the trees and morphs it into this visual of people hanging.
Holiday was silenced for singing “Strange Fruit.” The FBI repeatedly pinned drug charges on her to get her to stop performing the song, though she was just the voice to lyrics Meeropol wrote. When she was imprisoned, she was unable to tour for 18 months, thus the ultimate goal of censorship was achieved. This was documented in Lee Daniels’ film, The U.S. vs. Billie Holiday. Andra Day portrays the musical icon in the film and was nominated for an Oscar.
The lyrics, sadly, remain relevant in the 21st century. Lynchings persist and the death of Black people at the hands of police continue. If Billie Holiday was still alive, we feel she would be singing “Strange Fruit” loud and clear for the pursuit of social justice and equity.
