Strange Fruit

JazzProtest 3:03 Iconic Blues & Jazz Age

AlbumStrange Fruit (single)

LabelCommodore

Billie Holiday's haunting indictment of Southern lynching, written by Abel Meeropol. Columbia Records refused to record it; Holiday recorded it on the Commodore label. The NAACP called it 'the greatest anti-lynching song ever recorded.'

Musical Significance

Perhaps the first protest song to break into mainstream consciousness. Time magazine named it the 'Song of the Century.' It forced white America to confront racial terror through the vehicle of music.

Historical Context

Recorded in 1939, when lynching was still practiced in the American South with near-impunity. The Costigan-Wagner anti-lynching bill had been killed in the Senate three times. Holiday reportedly wept after every performance.

Aural Resonances

WWII · 1939

Music served as a vital tool for morale, with Big Band and Swing dominating the airwaves.