Analyse de Strange Fruit

Strage Fruit is a poem written by Abel Meeropol in 1937. It had had been interpreted by Bilie Holiday in 1939 in a cafe in Ney-York. The genre is jazz blues. Bilie Holiday was born in 1915 and died in 1959, she was nicknamed « Lady Day » by Lester Young a friend. She was an American jazz and blues singer and songwriter. Abel Meeropol was born in 1903 and died in 1983. He was a Jewish teacher of Russian origin.

Abel Meeropol had written Strange Fruit because after he has seen photos of lynching in the South of United States, he decided to denounce that practices in order to stop the lynching. In South the people lynching were Blacks people so the lynchings were racists actions. Then he told to sing the poem to Bilie Holiday. As she was a Black woman, it was a way for unite people against all racists in the South and as she was a star, it was not difficult.

The poeme compare a strange fruit between a Black man hanged to a tree. We can think, the scene takes place in the countryside because we can pick up: “Scent of magnolia sweet and fresh”;”crop”... So the poem mixture the the beauty of the countryside and the atrociousof the lynching.

Finally, I don't like the music beacause it too sad. But I think too Abel Meeropol and Bilie Holiday were courageous beacause of all risks, in United Stades they were lots of racists at this time. And maybe this poem had been for the end of the segregation.