Jill Scott performs Billie Holiday classic "Strange Fruit"

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/jill-scotts-powerful-rendition-of-billie-holidays-strange-fruit-is-a-must-watch_56532b09e4b0879a5b0b9035?ncid=newsltushpmg00000003

The lyrics describe the hanging bodies of black men killed by lynch mobs, and their corpses left swaying in the trees.

[libdem4life]

1. There are no words. I'd never heard the song, have always loved Billy Holiday. Can see why the

white experience is so lacking, especially when it comes to our realities.

When my son, only once, but he got caught/pulled over with a bong and a mini-morsel of something in it in the glove compartment, the cops had them all sitting on the street and told them to call their parents. As soon as we picked them up, all was well.

For a few moments here I felt at least some of that deep, haunting sorrow...what a singer. My heart weeps for the parents who didn't get that chance.

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2. The words give me chills.

Strange Fruit

Southern trees bear 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 fruit for the crows to pluck
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck
For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop
Here is a strange and bitter crop

[libdem4life]

3. Her emotion was so raw I missed some of the words. Thanks for the lyrics.

[markpkessinger]

4. Here is Holliday's version . . .

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6. Thank you.

[passiveporcupine]

5. Powerful and horrendous

as a poem or song. And it's about reality. A reality I've never known, and can't even imagine knowing.