“Strange Fruit” by Billie Holiday is a very popular protest song from the 1930s and is still talked about today. It was recorded in 1939 and was originally a poem written by Abel Meeropol in 1937. This essay will evaluate the context of the song's lyrics in relation to events that were occurring in American society, such as racism, politics and lynchings. Also find out why Billie sang Strange Fruit to bring awareness to many people about issues surrounding race in its true darkness. Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essay “Strange Fruit” author Abel Meeropol, a Jewish school teacher and member of the Communist Party, wrote it as a statement against racism and lynchings. black people in America. His inspiration for writing "Strange Fruit" came from a photo of Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith, which shows them being hanged from a tree after being lynched. Meeropol had presented "Strange Fruit" to Barney Josephson, who asked if he could show it to Billie Holiday. Billie had performed the song at Cafe Society in Harlem, where Meeropol was in attendance, and said, "She gave a surprising, most dramatic and effective performance that could shake an audience anywhere out of its complacency," mused. he marveled. “It was exactly what I wanted the song to do and why I wrote it.” Holiday wasn't too sure about performing Strange Fruit at first due to the negative reactions it could potentially cause, but she was determined to perform it in memory of her father who died at age 39, because it had been turned down in a whites-only hospital. and Holiday are very important figures in popular music culture, which Meeropol wrote on the theme of "Strange Fruit" and Holiday entertaining him musically and it shows a very dark and detailed picture of the lynchings that were happening in America at that time, what they are advertising racism in America. “The trees of the South bear strange fruits, Blood on the leaves and blood at the roots, Black bodies swaying in the South breeze.” These dark lyrics describe black bodies hanging from a tree, covered in blood. However, the lyrics do not mention lynching, but it is clear that they describe the image Meeropol had seen of Shipp and Smith hanging from a tree. Besides Holiday's prominence, she had been the victim of racism because a naval officer had called her a nigger and she retaliated by smashing a beer bottle and threatening to stab him with a sharp glass. This shows that racism affected her emotionally, the racist remarks people made, and in addition to her father's refusal of treatment in a whites-only hospital, she can express all of her emotions in Strange Fruit, giving her a very strong connection and touching the public. showing them his pain. Barney Josephson established a few rules for Holiday, while performing "Strange Fruit", i.e. she would close all her sets with it, waiters would have to stop serving during the song, the room had to be dark and with only Holidays face lit up and finally she had to end the show with this song without encores. “People had to remember Strange Fruit and burn their insides.” As a listener the impact would be very dark and haunting, even if the audience were white they would almost certainly feel uncomfortable as the song indicates racism against black people that was due to white people which is exactly the idea of ​​making people feel that lynching is the wrong way to punish someone for crimes, or.