Strange Fruit

 The Harlem Renaissance consisted of African American culture through art, music, literature and even food. My favorite of these is when artists took many of these elements together and combined them into one piece. Food and music, food and art, art and literature, a great example of this is Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit". The lyrics are as following,

[Verse 1]
Southern trees bear a strange fruit
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root
Black bodies swinging in the Southern breeze
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees

[Verse 2]
Pastoral scene of the gallant south
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth
Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh
Then the sudden smell of burning flesh

[Verse 3]
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 the tree to drop
Here is a strange and bitter crop

In a quite short tune, Holiday uses metaphors of fruit and imagery to make a stark contrast, emphasizing the social conflicts during that time. Specifically the line "Black bodies swinging in the Southern breeze

Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees," holds a tremendous amount of meaning. Released in 1939, the song directly compares African Americans to fruit hanging from trees describing the lynching and violent assaults they were facing. The jazz and blue genre of this song also adds to melancholy mood and serious tone. Her song eventually led to protests, and despite receiving numerous threats, she continued to sing at night clubs spreading her message. This is just one of the many artists during the Harlem Renaissance that used their voice and their artistry to not only entertain during difficult times but to spread a message and express their concerns.