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Billie Holiday Records “Strange Fruit”

Back in the day on April 20th, 1939, legendary jazz vocalist Billie Holiday recorded the song “Strange Fruit.” Originally a poem written by Abel Meeropol, a Jewish schoolteacher and member of the Communist Party, the lyrics poetically captured the terrorizing brutality of lynching in the United States. The opening lines of the song sing “Southern trees bear a strange fruit / Blood on the leaves and blood at the root/ Black body swinging in the southern breeze/ Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.” Fearing the boldness of its anti-racist message, Colombia Records refused to record the song. It was only after Holiday was allowed a special release from her contract that “Strange Fruit” could be recorded and distributed by the independent alternative Commodore label.

From that point on, the haunting melodic tone and emotional density of Holiday’s vocals made “Strange Fruit” a protest song for the ages.

For Uprising, this is your truth professa’ saying it’s no mystery why they conceal our people’s history