Strange Fruit

"Strange Fruit" is a song written and composed byAbel Meeropol(under his pseudonym Lewis Allan) and recorded byBillie Holidayin 1939. The lyrics were drawn from a poem by Meeropol published in 1937. The songproteststhelynchingofBlack Americanswith lyrics that compare the victims to the fruit of trees. Such lynchings had reached a peak in theSouthern United Statesat the turn of the 20th century and the great majority of victims were black.The song was described as "a declaration of war" and "the beginning of thecivil rights movement" byAtlantic Recordsco-founderAhmet Ertegun.
Meeropol set his lyrics to music with his wife Anne Shaffer and the singerLaura Duncanand performed it as aprotest songinNew York Cityvenues in the late 1930s, includingMadison Square Garden. Holiday's version was inducted into theGrammy Hall of Famein1978.It was also included in the "Songs of the Century" list of theRecording Industry Association of Americaand theNational Endowment for the Arts.In 2002, "Strange Fruit" was selected for preservation in theNational Recording Registryby theLibrary of Congressas being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant".
"Strange Fruit" originated as a protest poem againstlynchings.In the poem,Abel Meeropolexpressed his horror at lynchings ofAfrican Americans, inspired byLawrence Beitler's photograph of the 1930lynching of Thomas Shipp and Abram SmithinMarion, Indiana.
Meeropol published the poem under the title "Bitter Fruit" in January 1937 inThe New York Teacher, aunionmagazine of the New York teachers union.Though Meeropol had asked others (notablyEarl Robinson) to set his poems to music, he set "Strange Fruit" to music himself. First performed by Meeropol's wife Anne Shaffer and their friends in social contexts,his protest song gained a certain success in and around New York. Meeropol, Shaffer, and the Black vocalistLaura Duncanperformed it atMadison Square Garden.
One version of events claims thatBarney Josephson, the founder ofCafé SocietyinGreenwich Village, New York's firstintegratednightclub, heard the song and introduced it toBillie Holiday. Other reports say that Robert Gordon, who was directing Holiday's show at Café Society, heard the song atMadison Square Gardenand introduced it to her.Holiday first performed the song at Café Society in 1939. She said that singing it made her fearful of retaliation but, because its imagery reminded her of her fatherClarence Holiday, she continued to sing the piece, making it a regular part of her live performances.Because of the power of the song, Josephson drew up some rules: Holiday would close with it; the waiters would stop all service in advance; the room would be in darkness except for a spotlight on Holiday's face; and there would be no encore.During the musical introduction to the song, Holiday stood with her eyes closed, as if she were evoking a prayer.
Holiday approached her recording label,Columbia, about the song, but the company feared reaction by record retailers inthe South, as well as negative reaction from affiliates of its co-owned radio network,CBS.When Holiday's producerJohn Hammondalso refused to record it, she turned to her friendMilt Gabler, owner of theCommodorelabel.Holiday sang "Strange Fruit" for hima cappella, and moved him to tears. Columbia gave Holiday a one-session release from her contract so she could record it;Frankie Newton's eight-piece Café Society Band was used for the session in an arrangement by Newton.Because Gabler worried the song was too short, he asked pianistSonny Whiteto improvise an introduction. On the recording, Holiday starts singing after 70 seconds.It was recorded on April 20, 1939.Gabler worked out a special arrangement withVocalion Recordsto record and distribute the song.
Holiday recorded two major sessions of the song at Commodore, one in 1939 and one in 1944. The song was highly regarded; the 1939 recording eventually sold a million copies,in time becoming the biggest-selling recording of Holiday's career.
In her 1956 autobiography,Lady Sings the Blues, Holiday suggested that she, together with Meeropol, her accompanist Sonny White, and arranger Danny Mendelsohn, set the poem to music. The writersDavid MargolickandHilton Alsdismissed that claim in their workStrange Fruit: The Biography of a Song, writing that hers was "an account that may set a record for most misinformation per column inch". When challenged, Holiday—whose autobiography had beenghostwrittenbyWilliam Dufty—claimed, "I ain't never read that book."
Holiday was so well known for her rendition of "Strange Fruit" that "she crafted a relationship to the song that would make them inseparable".Holiday's 1939 version of the song was included in theNational Recording Registryon January 27, 2003.
In October 1939, Samuel Grafton of theNew York Postsaid of "Strange Fruit", "If the anger of the exploited ever mounts high enough in the South, it now has itsMarseillaise."The anti-lynching movement adopted "Strange Fruit" as its anthem.Since the 1930s several unsuccessful attempts were made in Congress to have lynching made a federal crime which were stymied by filibusters in the Senate by Southerners. In an attempt to achieve a two-thirds majority in the Senate that would break the filibusters by Southern senators, anti-racism activists were encouraged to mail copies of "Strange Fruit" to their senators.
Cover versions of this song includeNina Simone,René Marie,Jeff Buckley,Siouxsie and the Banshees,Dee Dee Bridgewater,Josh White,UB40,Bettye LaVette, andEdward W. Hardy.
Simone recorded the song for her albumPastel Bluesin 1965,a recording described by journalistDavid MargolickinThe New York Timesas featuring a "plain and unsentimental voice".René Marie's rendition was coupled with theConfederateanthem "Dixie" on her albumVertigo, making for an "uncomfortable juxtaposition".Journalist Lara Pellegrinelli wrote that Jeff Buckley while singing it on the live albumLive at Sin-é: (Legacy Edition)"seems to meditate on the meaning of humanity the wayWalt Whitmandid, considering all of its glorious and horrifying possibilities".LA Timesnoted that Siouxsie and the Banshees's version from the 1987 albumThrough the Looking Glasscontained "a solemn string section behind the vocals" and "a bridge of New Orleansfuneral-marchjazz" which enhanced the singer's "evocative interpretation".The group's rendition was selected by theMojostaff to be included on the compilationMusic Is Love: 15 Tracks That Changed the World.