Strange Fruit

by Carmen McRae

From the album: Lover Man and Other Billie Holiday Classics

Track 4 of 14 on Lover Man and Other Billie Holiday Classics (1962).

Duration: 2:46

Lover Man and Other Billie Holiday Classics cover art

Lyrics for Strange Fruit

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 magnolias, 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

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More from Lover Man and Other Billie Holiday Classics

  1. Them There Eyes
  2. Yesterdays
  3. I'm Gonna Lock My Heart (And Throw Away the Key)
  4. Strange Fruit
  5. Miss Brown to You
  6. My Man
  7. I Cried for You (Now It's Your Turn to Cry Over Me)
  8. Lover Man (Oh, Where Can You Be?)
  9. Trav'lin' Light
  10. Some Other Spring
  11. What a Little Moonlight Can Do
  12. God Bless the Child
  13. If the Moon Turns Green
  14. The Christmas Song