> If memory serves, the guy who collaborated on "Strange Fruit" was a
> commie who wound up adopting the Rosenberg children.
>
> I used to teach "Strange Fruit" in English Comp...back in my days as
> an English Prof....as a
> perfect example of a Renaissance conceit (extended metaphor),
> translated to modern times.
>
> joanna
> ---------------
> 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.
>
That was the song, according to a bbc special, that caused the FBI to begin spooking her, which it has been isinuated, was one of the forces that kept her need for powders going. (cf. Lenny Bruce)
I might have a mp3 rip of that bbc special around... I'll check.
Nope... But I did find this: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/soldonsong/songlibrary/covers/strangefruit.shtml
Leigh http://www.leighm.net
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