Final Project "Strange Fruit"

Leyla Liguori

STRANGE FRUIT:

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. [1]

-Abel Meeropol

“Strange Fruit” began as a poem written in 1936 by Abel Meeropol, a Bronx school teacher and political activist. Under the pen name Lewis Allen, he published the poem, then entitled “Bitter Fruit”, in The New York Teacher[2]. The poem would become a social anthem of sorts. Meeropol put the poem to music, and it was performed in local civil rights social circles. With Billie Holiday’s performance of the song in 1939, “Strange Fruit” became a sacred song, responding to the horrors of racism and raising national awareness about lynching. Eventually, a variety of African-American artists would take inspiration from the song; writers, dancers, and other musicians would all take their turns interpreting the work. In 1944, Lillian Smith entitled a novel after the song. Pearl Primus choreographed a dance inspired from the original poem in 1945, which helps make her famous[3]. Nina Simone recorded her own version of the song in 1965. The poem and subsequent song had so much of a social impact that Time magazine named it the greatest song in the twentieth century in 1999. The song has enough cultural resonance that it is still widely known today. By examining the changing social attitudes and reactions towards the song, why this particular song has so much of an impact on both musical cultural and society at large can become clearer.

Critical and public receptions of the various versions of “Strange Fruit” reflect progressing attitudes about racism and the practice of lynching. From its roots as a poem, the piece captured the attention of the progressive civil rights movement. Meeropol’s first publishing was in a union magazine and was performed as a song and as a poem in left wing social gatherings. The song had gained notoriety for giving a voice to the horrors and supported the outcry for making these acts illegal. During the time, lynching was gaining a lot of attention from a variety of newspapers, from Southern white supremacist papers to the national media[4]. The practice of lynching had also been growing in savagery. Victims were now often tortured and burned. Tarring and other forms of mutilations were also becoming part of this twisted ritual. The mainstream national media’s response was mixed, but included a very strong movement for abolishing the crime and getting justice for the victims. Meeropol’s original poem was a response to these types of stories circulating in the press during the 1930s.

Meeropol’s original song gained almost no national attention, though. Its effect was contained to his immediate New York audience. It did gain the attention of Barney Josephson who was putting together entertainment for the Café Society club in New York City, one of the first integrated clubs in New York City. Meeropol had approached Josephson with the idea of have Billie Holiday sing the song[5]. Eventually, Josephson approached Billie with the song and she agreed to add it to her show at the café Society. Her first performances of the song were so striking and successful that Josephson requested that she close each set with the song. He also had all service in the club stop and all lights extinguished during the performance, with the exception of a single spotlight on Holiday as she sang[6]. Holiday performed the song with a stirring brilliance and finally created the perfect voice for what Meeropol wanted conveyed in the piece. He said, “Billie Holiday’s styling of the song was incomparable and fulfilled the bitterness and shocking quality that I hoped the song would have”[7]. Holiday performed the song so well that it gained national attention and helped make her a star on the national landscape. Eventually, when her fame led her to leave the Café Society, Holiday kept the song as a mainstay of her show. The song represented a shift for her musically, as she started to do only carefully arranged pieces that showcased her vocal talents alone[8]. It also became her signature song and while Holiday’s fame grew so did “Strange Fruit”, and awareness and public discourse on the subject of lynching increased.

The original critical reaction to Holiday’s version of “Strange Fruit” was mixed and reflected American’s divided opinions on the issue of race at the time. In the 1930s and 1940s, many mainstream media outlets were indifferent and even dismissive of the evils of lynching and the violence against African-Americans. In many ways, “Strange Fruit” was the first of the many protest songs that would become so popular two decades later. It was one of the first songs to address a major social evil in a vivid and clear way[9]. For this reason, some critics as well as music fans were turned off by the song. Some patrons walked out on the original performance of the piece because the subject was too political and gloomy, at the time nightclubs were thought of as a place exclusively for entertainment. The idea of a controversial and dramatic descriptions of human suffering seem out of place to many music fans that expected a night a frivolity at the club. Some musical critics agreed. Variety called Holiday’s performance, “basically a depressing piece”[10]. Other publications at the time cited it as misinformation used by the political left to sway support to the cause of the African-American. Time magazine called it, “a prime piece of musical propaganda”[11]. Racism was such a prevailing attitude at the time that the issue of lynching was downplayed by many in the media who supported white supremacy. Nonetheless, the song did gain a great deal of positive publicity as well. The song released as a single became a hit despite numerous radio stations refusing to play it. The haunting tone and unpleasant imagery made it an unlikely hit. Audiences for the most part were captured by the song and gave it their full attention and respect. The New York Times gave Holiday’s performance a great review[12].

As time passed, this version of the song grew in fame. It is heralded as one of the greatest jazz songs (although it is not really so much jazz influenced as folk influenced) and is included on many ‘greatest’ song lists. The fame of the song and its emotion impact on African-American artists inspired many works, which only kept the song and poem within the cultural attention span. In 1944, Lillian Smith published a book about an interracial couple in the segregated South named after the Holiday song. The book was publically criticized and banned in some cities, but was nonetheless a bestseller[13]. During an era were conflicting ideas about race captured the attention of most of America, merely citing “Strange Fruit” and tying it to a work of art brought a great deal of attention from the public. In 1945, Pearl Primus choreographed a new style of dance performance. Primus drew inspiration from many iconic Black works at the time, including the poetry of Langston Hughes, the New Orleans blues, and Holiday’s performance of “Strange Fruit”[14].

Pearl Primus’s dancing was revolutionary for its time. Primus work as an anthropologist led her to meticulously research the subject matter before it became a theme in one of her dances. Beyond simply researching cultural dances and traditions, Primus researched political and literary themes that she wanted to incorporate into her dance. In 1945, Primus too worked at the Café Society and was inspired by the original poem of “Strange Fruit”. Her background in history and personal experience as a Black immigrant in America made the piece especially powerful for her[15]. At the time, many of her dances dealt with the issues of racism and she attempted to channel the injustice in her life into dance. Primus’s dancing raised many critical opinions at the time. Most reviewers saw the dancing as scandalous Black sexuality and denounced it. Modern dance critics inside the inner circle of the dance world applauded Primus, recognizing the detail and historic influences inside of her solo performances[16]. Primus’s exuberance and energetic performance style, along with her apt athleticism, made her performances all the more popular. “Strange Fruit”, along with other dances inspired by the art within Black communities, caused Primus’s fame to rise. Her dancing set up the foundation of African dance inside of America, and promoted it as a proper form of dance, worthy of the same study as European dance. Eventually, Primus would earn grants to study dance throughout the American South and all though Africa. Primus’s dances were so astounding to audiences that many attitudes toward African dance were changed by her audacious solo performances. “Strange Fruit” itself became a signature piece for her and continued to raise public awareness around the race issue and lynching in America.

As time progressed, the power of “Strange Fruit” did not seem to diminish. In the midst of the civil unrest of the 1960s, Nina Simone released a recording of the song[17]. The force of the song reawakened “Strange Fruit” to a new generation of music fans. The song had not lost any of its emotional power. Once again, “Strange Fruit” had become intertwined with the social improvement of the blacks in America. In the wake of the civil rights movement, people have looked back on the song and marked it as significant in changing the mainstream public’s view on lynching and the need to defend the human rights of American-Americans.

At this time, mainstream media and public opinion had begun to sway more behind the civil rights movement. This new version of the song was received as a cultural reminder of the past. The emotional resonance of the song still held true (even though many hold that Nina Simone’s version pales in comparison to Holiday’s). “Strange Fruit” had become such a part of the social memory that this record rekindled the emotions of the evils that happened throughout the African-American struggle for equality. Popularity of the song was renewed again. Many people returned to the original version sang by Holiday and recognized it as the definitive version of this tale of violence and evil. Nonetheless, the power of the song was significant enough to make it a hit for Simone and proved again the special enchantment that this song holds over the American culture.

From its inception, “Strange Fruit” was conceived as a way to shock the audience into recognizing a real tragedy within the country. It was intended to be a bitter eulogy to the victims of lynching and a warning about what hatred and bigotry can make people do. Various interpretations, and the reactions to these interpretations, show the public’s infatuation with the topic. The piece seems to show how, as a people, Americans were horrified and shocked, and simultaneously dismissive and trivializing, towards the issue of race in America. Particularly when racism surfaced is such an ugly manner as lynching, reaction to a piece of art that confronts the issue directly shows a nation struggle of conscious. While some part of the national psyche wants to ignore and turn a blind eye to the realities of the violence and evil that it is responsible for, another more humanist side of the countries demand that, as a people, America confront this issue and confront our country’s inner demons and hatred. “Strange Fruit” highlights and underscores this battle that still continues in America today.

All Forms of Strange Fruit:

Billie Holiday: Strange Fruit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9FZMHNhJ80

Nina Simone: Strange Fruit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqbXOO3OiOs

Lillian Smith’s Novel Cover: