Strange fruit

By Lewis Allen*

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.

*(Imortalizado na voz de Billie Holiday, com
base num poema de um professor judeu de Nova York. Ninguém queria
gravar a música, até que ela conseguiu um selo alternativo. É
considerada hoje em dia uma das músicas mais importantes da
cultura americana. Ouça aqui)