Strange Fruit by Billy Holliday - Book Report/Review Example

"Strange Fruit" was written during the time when there was still very extreme racism between Blacks and Whites to the point that lynching was condoned. Lynching of Blacks primarily took place in the south, and this is what the song was about, as it is indicated by the lyrics "Southern trees bear a strange fruit." The song told a story of what happened in history between Blacks and Whites. When White felts like it, they'd hang a Black person in the trees. Because so many were killed in this fashion, people prepared to get together to protest.

They wanted an end to the racial terror and the hate crimes. So, the song "Strange Fruit" was written as a protest to such atrocities. The message was loud and clear that it was something that should have never been done and that needed to stop. The song was written during a time when Blacks had to fight to live and possess the same rights to life as the White population, so they could keep from being treated like something that was easily disposed of. They wanted the White race to know that they had enough of such mistreatment, and no matter what it took, they were going to protest it with all of their courage and strength (California Newsreel).

The objective of this song was to get the message out far and wide.The imagery in this song was so powerful that the listeners felt as though they were feeling the anger and pain as such a horrible travesty of justice. It was so powerful that these crimes could no longer go unnoticed and be swept under the rug. Some of the vivid imagery that was used in the song was the sweet smelling Magnolias that were suddenly tainted by the pungent smell of burning flesh, the blood that was absorbed by the leaves and roots of the trees, the bodies of the Black people who were hung swinging in the trees as the wind blew, and the expression that was on the lynched person's face during those last horrid minutes of life-the eyes bulging out of their sockets and their twisted mouths (California Newsreel).

The song also told about what usually happened after a lynching took place. It was stated that the bodies would merely be left there to rot in the sun: or, the rain would fall upon them. When the crows wanted a feast, they'd come by and get their fill (California Newsreel). The use of imagery was so powerful that it made the song seem that if it were screaming for something to be done. Along with the extremely powerful imagery that was used in the song to etch the picture of what was going on into the listeners' brains, Billy Holliday's performance made the message penetrate the soul.

For instance, she sang in such a way that it would be impossible for one not to feel the pain and immense anger towards such hate crimes. In the beginning of the song, she started out singing in a sad soft voice. The purpose of this was to get the listeners to feel the sadness of murdering someone because of their race. Then, by the end of the first verse, when she sang "strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees," she sang in such a way that her anger towards the situation could be felt. The pattern throughout the song continued with her going back and forth between sadness and anger.

On top of that, she sang the words in a very slow manner with pauses between them and with