Essentially a long, sophisticated book report on the most important song in American history. Margolick has done his homework but that's about all. There's very little soul here, about how the song feels, how it is structured, how it has had the effect it has other than being about lynching. I know that's difficult ("dancing about architecture and whatnot. Look it up) but I figure that's part of compiling a "biography of a song?" ( )

How much a song can do to bring something out into the open! This song and its fascinating history also make for a deeper understanding of Billie Holliday and her times. ( )

very interesting book~tho i love Billie Holiday i never really listened to to the lyrics to this song enough to appreciate their full meaning.
Truely makes you think ( )

3959. Strange Fruit: Billie Holiday, Cafe Society, and an Early Cry for Civil Rights, by David Margolick (read 1 Dec 2004) This little book tells of a 1939 song made famous by Billie Holiday, sometimes described as "the most moving jazz singer of her day," entitled Strange Fruit. The words were:

Southern trees bear a 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

Pastoral scene of the gallant South,
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth,
Scent of magnolia sweet and fresh,
And the sudden smell of burning flesh!

Here is a fruit for the crows to pluck,
For the rain to gather, for the wind suck,
For the sun to rot, for a tree to drop,
Here is a strange and bitter crop.

The book tells how people reacted to the song, some being very offended (not wanting to be reminded of the fact that lynchings occurred, apparently). Billie Holiday had a tumultuous life, dying in 1959. But since she has been on a postage stamp (U.S. #2856). A little book well worth reading. ( )