StMU Research Scholars

Featuring Scholarly Research, Writing, and Media at St. Mary’s University

March 28, 2022

“Southern Trees Bear a Strange Fruit:” A Cry From the Lynching Era

It is yet another lively evening in the 1939 New York club scene. Within Cafe Society, the only integrated nightclub in Manhattan, live music and vibrant chatter are expected normalcy. This January night, however, the gayety was interrupted by sudden darkness and silence. All lights within the club vanished as one struck the stage exposing Billie Holiday, who had just finished yet another splendid performance. Her next song, however, mandated absolute attention. The atmosphere weighed heavy with a discomfiting stillness as servers stood motionless and the audience was left in perplexed paralyzation.1

Piano keys broke the silence, and Billie’s voice, raw and sporadic, grasped the attention of the audience members, whose discomfort had only just begun. Although Holiday’s voice had its way of tugging at the ears of her listeners, the lyrics had contested their souls. These lyrics were unlike any that they were likely to have heard. They articulated a story familiar to some and foreign to others. The piece eradicated the distance between its listeners and the tragic deaths at the hands of racism. “Strange Fruit” tensed the muscles and welled tears behind the eyes of each listener, as the verses unfolded the graphic sorrows of the lynchings within the United States.2

Within the year 1939, the same year that “Strange Fruit” made its appearance, campaigning for antilynching policies emerged. Lynchings had increased rampantly in the years following the Civil War. White mobs would assemble and murder black men and, at times, women with inconceivable barbarity, “often in a carnival-like atmosphere.”3 It is reported that approximately 3,436 lynchings transpired between the years 1882 and 1950. The song “Strange Fruit” illustrated in detail the horrendous nature of these murders with one event in particular.4

In Marion, Indiana, Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith were severely beaten and lynched on August 7, 1930. A photograph exhibiting this tragedy circulated rapidly throughout the United States.5 The disturbing image made its way to Abel Meeropol, a teacher and writer based in New York. He was haunted by the scene of the torn and bloody spectacles hanging from a tree. Beneath these souls were the unapologetic white men and women, proud of their accomplished work. Days thereafter, Meeropol composed a poem expressing the atrocity that he had glimpsed in this photo, titled, “Bitter Fruit:”6

Lynching of Thomas Shipp & Abram Smith | August 7, 1930 | Marion, Indiana | Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Southern trees bear a 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 magnolia sweet and fresh,/And the sudden smell of burning flesh!

Here is a fruit for the crows to pluck,/For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck/For the sun to rot, for a tree to drop,/Here is a strange and bitter crop.7

“Bitter Fruit” was published under Meeropol’s pseudonym “Lewis Allen,” as he was a closeted Communist.8 The New York teacher was the first to publicize the poem in 1937, and in the two years following, it debuted in the New Masses, a magazine associated with the American Communist Party.9 Meeropol eventually arranged the poem to music, as he did with most of his poetry. Though his wife was first to begin singing “Strange Fruit,” Meeropol began to search for an artist who could reach masses of listeners.10

As Abel Meeropol set out looking for this someone, he was led to Cafe Society, where Holiday made her most frequent earlier appearances. He ushered her towards the piano and played the song for her. According to Meeropol, after delivering this grave ballad, her response was simply, “What does ‘pastoral’ mean?”11 This response of indifference was similar to that of the owner of Cafe Society, Barney Josephson, to whom Holiday said, “You wants me to sing it, I sings it.”12

Photo of Blues and Jazz Singer Billie Holiday | Courtesy of Pixabay

Similar to Holiday’s reception of the song, the first audiences did not know how to react to the graphic message of this song either. After pouring herself into the song’s premiere at Cafe Society that January night in 1939, the room was flooded with a stale silence. Holiday reported, “there wasn’t even a patter of applause when I finished. Then a lone person began to clap nervously. Then suddenly everyone was clapping.”13 It soon became a routine piece concluding Holiday’s performances. Josephson, owner of Cafe Society, strictly directed the performance, instructing all waiters, cashiers, bartenders, and busboys to remain completely stationary during its performance. The room would dim, and Holiday would release the cries of the lynchings, and immediately she would exit the stage once she had finished.14 And although Holiday appeared apathetic when first introduced to the song, her performances of it conveyed otherwise. Her use of diction and consistent vibrato paired powerfully with her rich and distinctive voice. It was a mixture assorted to narrate an emphatic story portraying the traumas that Black Americans faced.15

The song’s popularity expanded as it became a vessel offering a voice to a social danger that African-Americans were forced to suffer silently. Not only did the song serve its purpose of speaking for the Black community, but it also brought lynching to the attention of the whites they were surrounded with. “It implicated its audience in a shared guilt for the violence done to black men and women,” explains John Carvalho, a music philosopher and author.16 Billie Holiday and “Strange Fruit” became significant instruments magnifying the atrocities targeting African-Americans. The song intended to reach anyone who would listen and prompt them to examine the society they took part of. “‘Strange Fruit’ was an unforgiving and uncompromising look at lynching, the crop harvested by a segregated society that encouraged racial violence,” commented Paul Gelpi, Jr., a journalist writing of a murder case and trial in Louisiana, which proved a suspected black man innocent. W. C. Williams escaped the death penalty with his innocence, but was lynched by a white mob shortly after he was released.17

As the song increased in fame, Billie Holiday sought to have it recorded, to disperse the message farther than she could simply from appearances in nightclubs. However, the song had a concerning backlash that often targeted Holiday herself. Her contracted recording label, Columbia Records, declined the production of the gruesome verses as it became increasingly controversial. Keeping “Strange Fruit” as her finale, audience members had been known to act out with hostility. Many walked out of the performance, some had screamed or muttered slurs while she sang, and others waited until she left the stage to confront her. A white woman had once followed Holiday into the restroom, tearing Billie’s dress, claiming her song had ruined her “night of fun.”18 When traveling the country, she at times had to stop her performance and leave town because of the enraged backlash. Perhaps just as detrimental as those who voiced their disdain for the song were the white men and women who had accepted its message half-heartedly. One of the intended demographics were the white people who had distanced themselves from the lynchings that endangered Black Americans. Regardless, “‘Strange Fruit became a means for white people to use a black woman’s body to absolve their guilt for ‘civilizing’ crimes of racism…” as Carvalho explained.19 Rather than participate in the movement to construct policies criminalizing lynching, most white audiences felt they had serviced their Black neighbors by listening to their take on the traumas they endure.

Record released in 1939 by Commodore Records | ”Strange Fruit” | Billie Holiday and her Orchestra | Courtesy of Wikipedia

Billie Holiday finally recorded “Strange Fruit” under Commodore Records, although they doubted that it was significant enough to stand alone. Commodore hired a well-known band to play along with Holiday while also producing another song on Side B of the record. “Strange Fruit” and “Fine and Mellow” became hits and the records sold rapidly. However, Holiday began to perform the song less and less throughout the 1940s as the abuse she weighed from the audience’s disapproval along with her personal life became too heavy to bear. Billie Holiday had a strenuous history of mistreatment from men, and of drug and alcohol abuse. She had been arrested countless times for the possession and use of narcotics, and eventually was “barred” by the New York City police from performing anywhere that alcohol was served.20 The visits and performances at nightclubs, Holiday’s usual scene, would no longer support her. “Strange Fruit” exclusively made appearances when she felt she was struggling to restrain her emotions, and her life bore heavy. It became a separate vessel for Holiday’s sour heartaches channeling hatred and hostility towards her audience through the gruesome lyrics and her violent voice.21

As Billie Holiday’s drug use worsened leading to her death in 1959, “Strange Fruit” persisted to be the anthem of the antilynching movement. It has also become an iconic composition from Holiday’s numerous sensations. Renditions of the song have kept the message alive to the present day. African-American artists such as Josh White, Nina Simone, Abbey Lincoln, and hundreds of others have harbored the ballad through the Civil Rights Movement and many later protests against racism.22 Carvalho adds, “It acquired wider and wider audiences on whom it had the searing effect of imposing silence where there was noise, of reenacting the violence and death that silenced so many voices in the name of preserving a ‘gallant’ way of life.”23 “Strange Fruit” will continue to teach a narrative of the tragic lynching era and the cries of fear, pain, and anguish that African-Americans bore, although no longer silently, in a manner that no textbook ever could.

  1. John M. Carvalho, “‘Strange Fruit’: Music between Violence and Death,” The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 71, no. 1 (2013): 111–19, https://www.jstor.org. 113.
  2. Zoe Trodd, “‘Strange Fruit,’” in Encyclopedia of African American History, ed. Leslie M. Alexander and Walter C. Rucker, vol. 3 (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2010), 1036–37.
  3. David Margolick, “Performance as a Force for Change: The Case of Billie Holiday and ‘Strange Fruit,’” Cardozo Studies in Law and Literature 11, no. 1 (1999): 19, doi:10.2307/27670205. 94.
  4. David Margolick, “Performance as a Force for Change: The Case of Billie Holiday and ‘Strange Fruit,’” Cardozo Studies in Law and Literature 11, no. 1 (1999): 19, doi:10.2307/27670205. 95.
  5. Zoe Trodd, “‘Strange Fruit,’” in Encyclopedia of African American History, ed. Leslie M. Alexander and Walter C. Rucker, vol. 3 (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2010), 1036–37.
  6. John M. Carvalho, “‘Strange Fruit’: Music between Violence and Death,” The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 71, no. 1 (2013): 111–19, https://www.jstor.org. 111.
  7. David Margolick, “Performance as a Force for Change: The Case of Billie Holiday and ‘Strange Fruit,’” Cardozo Studies in Law and Literature 11, no. 1 (1999): 19, doi:10.2307/27670205. 95
  8. David Margolick, “Performance as a Force for Change: The Case of Billie Holiday and ‘Strange Fruit,’” Cardozo Studies in Law and Literature 11, no. 1 (1999): 19, doi:10.2307/27670205. 111.
  9. Zoe Trodd, “‘Strange Fruit,’” in Encyclopedia of African American History, ed. Leslie M. Alexander and Walter C. Rucker, vol. 3 (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2010), 1036–37.
  10. John M. Carvalho, “‘Strange Fruit’: Music between Violence and Death,” The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 71, no. 1 (2013): 111–19, https://www.jstor.org. 112.
  11. Zoe Trodd, “‘Strange Fruit,’” in Encyclopedia of African American History, ed. Leslie M. Alexander and Walter C. Rucker, vol. 3 (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2010), 1036–37.
  12. John M. Carvalho, “‘Strange Fruit’: Music between Violence and Death,” The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 71, no. 1 (2013): 111–19, https://www.jstor.org. 112.
  13. John M. Carvalho, “‘Strange Fruit’: Music between Violence and Death,” The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 71, no. 1 (2013): 111–19, https://www.jstor.org. 112.
  14. John M. Carvalho “‘Strange Fruit’: Music between Violence and Death,” The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 71, no. 1 (2013): 111–19, https://www.jstor.org. 113.
  15. John M. Carvalho “‘Strange Fruit’: Music between Violence and Death,” The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 71, no. 1 (2013): 111–19, https://www.jstor.org. 112.
  16. John M. Carvalho, “‘Strange Fruit’: Music between Violence and Death,” The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 71, no. 1 (2013): 111–19, https://www.jstor.org. 113.
  17. Paul D. Gelpi Jr., “Strange Fruit: Race and Murder in Small Town Louisiana,” Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association 52 (2011): 80.
  18. John M. Carvalho, “‘Strange Fruit’: Music between Violence and Death,” The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 71, no. 1 (2013): 111–19, https://www.jstor.org. 115.
  19. John M. Carvalho, “‘Strange Fruit’: Music between Violence and Death,” The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 71, no. 1 (2013): 111–19, https://www.jstor.org. 115.
  20. “Billie Holiday,” in Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2nd ed., vol. 7 (Detroit, MI: Gale, 2004), 452–53.
  21. John M. Carvalho, “‘Strange Fruit’: Music between Violence and Death,” The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 71, no. 1 (2013): 111–19, https://www.jstor.org. 116.
  22. Zoe Trodd, “‘Strange Fruit,’” in Encyclopedia of African American History, ed. Leslie M. Alexander and Walter C. Rucker, vol. 3 (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2010), 1036–37.
  23. John M. Carvalho, “‘Strange Fruit’: Music between Violence and Death,” The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 71, no. 1 (2013): 111–19, https://www.jstor.org. 114.

Tags from the story

“Strange Fruit”

Abel Meeropol

Billie Holiday

Lynching

Cecilia Schneider

I am a Sociology major double minoring in both Psychology and English at St. Mary’s University in the Class of 2025. I have a passion for attending to those who are neglected or mistreated by the systems and policies in place in our country. My top priority, however, is to spread and rekindle the idea of empathy into our world.

Author Portfolio Page

Recent Comments

Carlos Hinojosa

I remember hearing this the first time with no context whatsoever and yet I still instantly recognized and deducted that it was about lynching. It still boggles my mind on how people actually thought this was Okay. And then have the nerve to call the people they are lynching the savages yet they themselves are doing acts that haven’t been done in centuries and that they themselves could be called barbaric. Very good article.

reply

29/03/2022

3:33 pm

Serenity Kamenski

What always baffled me was how long it took for people to conclude how harsh and cruel lynching was as an action, and the amount of effort it took for antilynching laws to finally come into place. How was it possible for such an awful punishment remained so long in practice, and constantly needing platforms, like songs, to draw attention to the matter? That said, it is a little amazing how an artist has the ability to render an audience speechless, having an unspoken impact on their views and way of thinking. Billie Holiday and “Strange Fruit” show that this sort of media can do so much more than entertainment. Great article and very well written.

reply

29/03/2022

3:33 pm

Sara Davila

I really loved reading this article and the message behind the poem. The poem highlighted how African Americans were no longer going to be silenced. I comment Billie Holiday for being brave enough to perform this song and deal with the backlash that it received. Im glad that the song made others uncomfortable because it is important to show how everyones history and feelings are valid and deserve to be heard.

reply

03/04/2022

3:33 pm

Vianne Beltran

Hi Cecilia, I’ve always thought the song “Strange Fruit” was beautiful yet chilling. Your article does a good job of highlighting how ignored the topic of lynching was in the minds of white Americans. I did not know the song originated from a poem though. I can’t believe the reactions some people had to it either. It seems so heartless that people thought Billie ruined their night of fun by singing about a real issue that needed more attention.

reply

24/04/2022

3:33 pm

Paula Ferradas Hiraoka

Hello Cecilia, First of all, congratulation on your nomination and getting your article published! When I listened to “Strange Fruit”, I thought it was a really calm song, but never thought to be a poem so deep in meaning. Your article makes a great highlight of how white Americans can ignore this topic, but for the African Americans can be the sign of how they will not tolerate anymore to be silenced. Overall, great work and good luck!

reply

25/04/2022

3:33 pm

Matthew Gallardo

I had no idea the impact a song had on anti-lynching movements. It’s hidden in history but something like this is important to learning about different factors and how they affect current events. it is saddening that most in the white community didn’t engage in movements against lynching, but this disk did so much from 1939 onward in being able to spread the horrors of lynching to the masses, and I knew none of this. I am glad I read this article

reply

26/04/2022

3:33 pm

Anissa Navarro

After learning about this song in class I knew I had to read an article on it. Your article perfectly described this time in history and shared the story of its purpose so beautifully. Your writing was truly great and told this story well.

reply

26/04/2022

3:33 pm

Andrew Ponce

This article is one that definitely not easy on the heart, or the imaginative minds. The author does an amazing job being descriptive and connecting to the reader with what almost feels like a personal connection. Many readers may feel they already understand the premise of slavery and the early 1900’s, however not many know of Billie Holiday and not only her experiences, but how she portrayed her experiences through the arts. The video itself was an amazing touch that not many other authors have done. Great Job!

reply

27/04/2022

3:33 pm

Leave a Reply