(Version by Nina Simone)

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 popular 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 cry

Strange Fruit was written by Bronx school teacher Abel Meeropol (under pseudonym Lewis Allan) in 1936. He and his wife later adopted Robert and Michael, sons of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg after their execution. The song was first popularised by Billie Holiday who sang it as the closing song of her set:

Strange Fruit – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

When she was ready to begin it, waiters stopped serving, the lights in the club were turned off, and a single pin spotlight illuminated Holiday on stage. During the musical introduction, Holiday would stand with her eyes closed, as if she were evoking a prayer.