lyrics and worksheet for "strange fruit"

In 1937 Abel Meeropol, a Jewish schoolteacher from New York, saw a photograph of the lynching of Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith. Meeropol later recalled how the photograph "haunted me for days" and inspired the writing of the poem, Strange Fruit. Meeropol, a member of the American Communist Party, using the pseudonym, Lewis Allan, published the poem in the New York Teacher and later, the Marxist journal, New Masses.

After seeing Billie Holiday perform at the club, Café Society, in

New York

, Meeropol showed her the poem.

Holiday

liked it and after working on it with Sonny White turned the poem into the song, Strange Fruit. The record made it to No. 16 on the charts in July 1939. However, the song was denounced by Time Magazine as "a prime piece of musical propaganda" for the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP).

Meeropol remained active in the American Communist Party and after the execution of Ethel Rosenberg and Julius Rosenberg he adopted their two sons. He taught at the De Witt Clinton High School in the

Bronx

for 27 years, but continued to write songs, including the Frank Sinatra hit, The House I Live In.

Abel Meeropol, Strange Fruit (1939)

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 to suck,
For the sun to rot, for a tree to drop,
Here is a strange and bitter crop.

Listen and fill in the blanks

Strange Fruit (1939)

Southern ________ bear a strange fruit,
Blood on the __________ and blood at the ___________,
Black___________ swinging in the Southern breeze,
Strange fruit _____________from the poplar trees.

Pastoral ____________ of the gallant South,
The bulging __________ and the twisted ______________,
Scent of magnolia_________ and fresh,
And the sudden _____________ of _________________ flesh!

Here is a ____________ for the crows to pluck,
For the ________ to gather, for the _____________to suck,
For the sun to rot, for a ___________ to drop,
Here is a strange and ______________ crop.

Worksheet for Strange fruit

Global comprehension:

1. in what country does the scene take place?

2. in what region?

3. what fruit normally grows on trees?

Understanding words:

4. pick out 4 words related to plants

5. pick out 3 words related to the weather

6. pick out words which have positive connotations

7. pick out words which are related to violence

Adjectives

Make a list of all the adjectives in the song and classify them into GOOD / BAD

Find synonyms for one of each