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"Strange Fruit" is a song written and composed by Abel Meeropol (under his pseudonym Lewis Allan) and recorded by Billie Holiday in 1939. The lyrics were drawn from a poem by Meeropol published in 1937. The song protests the lynching of Black Americans with lyrics that compare the victims to the
Meeropol wrote the anti-lynching poem "Strange Fruit" (1937), first published as "Bitter Fruit" in a teacher union publication. He later set it to music. The song was recorded and performed by Billie Holiday and Nina Simone. [7] Holiday notes in the book Lady Sings the Blues that she co-wrote the music to the song with Meeropol and Sonny White.
Its working title was Jordan is so Chilly, but Smith retitled it Strange Fruit prior to publication. [2] In her 1956 autobiography, singer Billie Holiday wrote that Smith named the book after her 1939 song "Strange Fruit", which was about lynching and racism against African Americans. Smith maintained the book's title referred to the "damaged ...
Today, “Strange Fruit” by Billie Holiday, “A Change is Gonna Come,” Sam Cooke and “What’s Going On,” Marvin Gaye remain relevant to Black America.
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33 Revolutions per Minute: A History of Protest Songs, from Billie Holiday to Green Day is a 2011 non-fiction book written by music critic and journalist Dorian Lynskey. Written because he wished to document a "still-vital form of music", each of the book's 33 chapters describes the historical background, writing process, and influence of a ...
Meeropol set his poem to music, renaming it "Strange Fruit". He performed it at a labor meeting in Madison Square Garden. In 1939 it was performed, recorded and popularized by American singer Billie Holiday. [9] The song reached 16th place on the charts in July 1939, and has since been recorded by numerous artists, continuing into the 21st century.