strange fruit

so i'm taking a jazz intro course and we're talking about billie holiday.
so he plays strange fruit and the entire class gets quiet

mind you this class is like a 300 plus lecture.

i had never heard this - only the group strange fruit project

shows how much i know - but this is amazing.

please please please go and watch strange fruit

billie holliday is utterly amazing.

however she didn't write this - lewis allen did.
give credit where credit's due.

-

Southern trees bear 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 magnolias, sweet and fresh,

Then the sudden smell of burning flesh.

Here is fruit for the crows to pluck,

For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck,

For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop,

Here is a strange and bitter crop.

if all of the raindrops were lemon drops and gum drops oh what a rain that would be.

it's raining so this song is on repeat

in a sentimental mood - john coltrane and duke ellington <3