Protest Music: Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit"

Protest Music: Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit"

Mr. Clark's History Class

Bio: Billie Holiday

Billie Holiday, born April 7, 1915 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was a superstar of her day. She first rose to prominence in the 1930’s with a unique style that reinvented the conventions of modern singing and performance. More than 80 years after making her first recording Billie’s legacy continues to embody what is elegant and cool in contemporary music. Holiday’s complicated life and her genre-defining autobiography “Lady Sings the Blues” made her a cultural icon. The evocative, soulful voice which she boldly put forth as a force for good, turned any song she sang into her own. Today, Billie Holiday is remembered for her musical masterpieces, her songwriting skills, creativity and courageous views on inequality and justice.

Bio: Billie Holiday (cont'd)

In the 1930’s, during her epic run at Barney Josephson’s Cafe Society in Manhattan, she was introduced to the poem “Strange Fruit,” a horrific depiction of lynching in the Southern United States. The music was written just for Billie and it became the hallmark of her concerts. It’s considered by scholars to be the first protest song of the civil rights era. The lyric was so controversial that her record label wouldn’t record it. So she jumped over to the independent Commodore Records where she could record and sing as she pleased. “Strange Fruit” immediately became a cultural spark-point and a hit record too.

Billie Holiday's Strange Fruit: Lyrics Pt. 1

Stanza #1

Southern trees bear a strange fruit

Blood on the leaves and blood at the root

Black bodies swingin' in the Southern breeze

Strange fruit hangin' from the poplar trees

 

 

Open Ended

Define METAPHOR

Open Ended

Line 1: Southern trees bear a strange fruit

In line 1, what are the strange fruit a metaphor for?

Open Ended

Line 2: Blood on the leaves and blood at the root

In line 2, where is the blood on the leaves and at the root coming from?

Open Ended

Line 3: Black bodies swingin' in the Southern breeze

In line 3, what is happening that Black bodies are swinging in the Southern breeze?

Open Ended

Line 4: Strange fruit hangin' from the poplar trees

In line 4, why is it significant to mention that the trees were specifically ‘poplar trees’?

Open Ended

Line 4: Strange fruit hangin' from the poplar trees

In line 4, with the second reference of strange fruit, what can we now say this first stanza is about?

Billie Holiday's Strange Fruit: Lyrics Pt. 2

Stanza #2

Pastoral scene of the gallant South

The bulgin' eyes and the twisted mouth

Scent of magnolias sweet and fresh

Then the sudden smell of burnin' flesh

Open Ended

Line 5: Pastoral scene of the gallant South

In line 5, what is a pastoral scene?

Open Ended

Line 5: Pastoral scene of the gallant South

In line 5, what is the gallant South?

Open Ended

Line 6: The bulgin' eyes and the twisted mouth

In line 6, whose bulgin' eyes and twisted mouth are being referenced?

Open Ended

Define JUXTAPOSITION

Open Ended

Lines 7 & 8:

Scent of magnolias sweet and fresh

Then the sudden smell of burnin' flesh

Lines 7 & 8 are juxtaposed, describe the juxtaposition

Billie Holiday's Strange Fruit: Lyrics Pt. 3

Stanza #3

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 the tree to drop

Here is a strange and bitter crop

Open Ended

Define CONNOTATION

Multiple Choice

Do crows, rain, wind, sun and tree have negative or positive connotations?

• Yes, they have negative connotations.

• Yes, they have positive connotations.

Multiple Choice

Do pluck, gather, suck, rot and drop have negative or positive connotations?

• Yes, they have negative connotations.

• Yes, they have positive connotations.

Open Ended

Lines 9 through 13

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 the tree to drop

Do lines 9 through 13 have negative or positive connotations? Explain why.

Open Ended

Line 14: Here is a strange and bitter crop

What makes this ‘crop’ strange and bitter?

Open Ended

What makes Billie Holiday's Strange Fruit a protest song? Explain your answer.

Homework

Due Tuesday, September 29th: You will write your own protest song/poem. It can protest something in the present or something from the past. Minimum of 10 lines. No, it does not have to rhyme but it can. The title of your song/poem should give us some understanding of what it is you are protesting.