Strange Fruit Lyrics

Bettye Lavette

Blackbirds

Lyrics to Strange Fruit
Southern trees
Bear a strange fruit
Blood on the leaves
And blood at the root
Black bodies swingin'
In the southern breeze
Strange fruit hangin'
From the poplar trees

Pastoral scenes
Of the gallant south
Bulging eyes
And twisted mouth
The scent of magnolias
Sweet and fresh
Then the sudden smell of
Burning flesh

Here is a fruit
For the crows to pluck
The rain to gather
For the wind to suck
The sun to rot
For the trees to drop
Here is a strange
And bitter crop
Here is a strange
And bitter crop
Here is a strange
And bitter crop
It's a bitter crop
It's a bitter crop

Oh, oh
Oh, oh
Oh, oh
Oh
Oh, oh, oh-oh
Oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh