Southern Tree Bears a Strange Fruit

Strange Fruit

Errol McKinson

Oil on Canvas 20 x 20 GW

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

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

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

Originally written in 1937 by Abel Meeropol, “Strange Fruit” is a dark and profound song centered around the lynching of African Americans in the Southern United States during the Jim Crow Era.

Song by Billie Holiday

Cheers,

Errol