Blood on the leaves and blood at the roots

The first time Billie Holiday performed “Strange Fruit”: “Nobody applauded ….”

“Strange Fruit” would sit comfortably in a list of the top 20 songs of all time, let alone a list of the top 20 political songs. Holiday has arguably the greatest voice in the history of popular music, and it stretches to breaking point on the line “Here is a strange and bitter crop”.

It is not, though, a song that invites applause.

The lyrics come from a poem written by Abel Meeropol in response to lynching in the American South, and with Holiday it found its purest expression. The central metaphor allowed a dangerous taboo to be discussed nearly thirty years before Nina Simone and Dylan would sing about Medgar Evers.

The detachment of the lyric — “Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees” — is juxtaposed with the vocal emotion of Holiday, who was said to break down after singing it.