2. Billie Holiday: 'Strange Fruit' – Abel Meeropol, a Jewish high school teacher from the Bronx, wrote the haunting song in response to the lynching of two black men Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith in August 1930. Condemning American racism and the lynching of blacks in Southern states, in her inimitable voice Holiday opens with the incredibly evocative lines: “Southern trees bear strange fruit, Blood on the leaves and blood at the root, Black body swinging in the Southern breeze, Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.”
19 of 20
Nicki Minaj backs Westwood following 1Xtra axe.jpg)
Pete Doherty injected heroin on set of movie debut
Keira Knightley engaged to Klaxons James Righton
'Spinal Tap' star hospitalised after traffic accident
U2's Bono calls billionaire reports 'a joke'
Bono 'severely hampered' Spider-Man musical
Mystery musicians revealed: unmasked and no make up
The sexiest women in music: the 30+ edition.jpg)
The many faces of Jessie J: volume two
~ by theumpteenthtimes 5/1/2010 Report