Title: Strange Fruit
1Strange Fruit By Billie Holliday
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2http//www.liu.edu/cwis/cwp/library/african/2000/l
ynching.htm
Southern trees bear a strange fruit
3Blood on the leaves and blood at the roots
4Black body swinging in the Southern breeze
5Strange fruit hanging from the Poplar trees
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ynching.htm
6Pastoral Scene
7Of the gallant South
8 The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth
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ynching.htm
9http//www.mytho-fleurs.com/images/magnolias/page_
02.htm
Scent of magnolia, sweet and fresh
10 And the sudden smell of burning flesh!
http//www.liu.edu/cwis/cwp/library/african/2000/l
ynching.htm
11Heres a fruit for the crows to pluck
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ynching.htm
12For the rain to gather for the wind to suck
13For the sun to rot, For a tree to drop Here is a
strange and bitter crop.
14Lynching murder for supposed crime to seize
somebody believed to have committed a crime and
put him or her to death immediately and without
trial, usually by hanging MSN Encarta Dictionary
15On a piece of paper write Strange Fruit by
Billie Holliday. Then, write your initial
reaction to the song and slides. Try to include
examples or comments from the actual song and
slides.
16Overview Music can help people express a range
of feelings and topics. Many early
African-American songs, such as "The Drinking
Gourd," were used to pass secret messages during
the period of slavery. As Reconstruction passed
into the Jim Crow Era, African-American music
such as jazz and blues evolved. This music
explored the feelings of frustration, poverty,
and depression that many African-American
communities experienced. This music also began
advocating for social change.
http//art4children.com/DAWN/blues.html
17Songs that promoted social activism were rare
before the mid 1960s. One of the earliest of
these songs, "Strange Fruit," was sung by the
blues singer, Billie Holiday--she first sang it
in a New York club in 1938. Though it was
popular, Holiday's recording company, Columbia
Records, refused to produce the song due to its
controversial nature. A small record company
picked it up, and it has now been commonly
accepted as Holiday's signature song.
18(No Transcript)