Songwriter: Abel Meeropol
Producer: Gil Askey
[Verse 1:]
Southern trees bear a strange fruit
Blood on the leaves and blood at the roots
Black bodies swingin'
In the southern breeze
Strange fruit hangin'
From the poplar trees
[Verse 2:]
Pastoral scene of
The gallant south
The bulging eyes and twisted mouth
Scent of magnolias
Sweet and fresh
And the sudden smell
Of burning flesh
[Verse 3:]
Here is the 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
Southern trees bear a strange fruit
Blood on the leaves and blood at the roots
Black bodies swingin'
In the southern breeze
Strange fruit hangin'
From the poplar trees
[Verse 2:]
Pastoral scene of
The gallant south
The bulging eyes and twisted mouth
Scent of magnolias
Sweet and fresh
And the sudden smell
Of burning flesh
[Verse 3:]
Here is the 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
more tracks from the album
Stolen Moments: The Lady Sings... Jazz and Blues
- Good Morning Heartache
- Little Girl Blue
- Fine and Mellow (Reprise)
- Mean to Me
- God Bless the Child
- Strange Fruit
- My Man
- You’ve Changed
- Gimme a Pigfoot (And a Bottle of Beer)
- Lover Man (Oh Where Can You Be)
- Love Is Here to Stay
- What a Little Moonlight Can Do
- Fine and Mellow
- Don’t Explain
- I Cried for You
- Them There Eyes
- The Man I Love
- ’T Ain’t Nobody’s Bizness If I Do
- There’s a Small Hotel
From the albums
Diana Ross popular songs
- I’m Coming Out
- Upside Down
- Ain’t No Mountain High Enough
- Ease on Down the Road #1
- It’s Your Move
- If We Hold On Together
- The Boss
- Missing You
- Theme from Mahogany (Do You Know Where You’re Going To)
- When You Tell Me That You Love Me
- Chain Reaction
- He Lives in You
- Love Hangover
- Touch Me in the Morning
- Do You Know Where Youre Going To
- It’s My House
- I’m Still Waiting
- A Brand New Day
- Always and Forever
- If You’re Not Gonna Love Me Right (Crenshaw Records version)
- Once in the Morning
- That’s How You Start Over
- Love Me (Japanese quadraphonic edition)
- Ain’t Nothin’ But a Maybe