Nina Simone "The High Priestess of Soul”
Nina Simone
"The High Priestess of Soul”
Nina Simone’s 1965 rendition of "Strange Fruit" is widely regarded as one of the most profound and chilling interpretations of the protest song. Originally written as a poem by Abel Meeropol and made famous by Billie Holiday, the song serves as a visceral allegory for the lynching of Black Americans in the Jim Crow South.
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
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
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
Writen by Abel Meeropol under the pseudonym Lewis Allen,1937
Abel Meeropol was born in 1903. He was a white Jewish-American writer, teacher, and songwriter.
