1) ‘Strange Fruit’ was inspired by lynchings that took place in 20th-century America The song was first written as a poem and published under Abel Meeropol’s pseudonym, Lewis Allan, in 1937. Bloch was informed of the Meeropols’ request to adopt the boys through Shirley Graham Du Bois, wife of W.E.B. In October 1939, Samuel Grafton of the New York Post said of "Strange Fruit", "If the anger of the exploited ever mounts high enough in the South, it now has its Marseillaise. Through this daisy chain of personal ties, the Meeropols were ultimately able to adopt Robert and Michael. [7], Meeropol published the poem under the title "Bitter Fruit" in January 1937 in The New York Teacher, a union magazine of the Teachers Union. It is long past time that we claimed our past, and publicly narrated our stories—stories like Abel and Anne Meeropol’s—and won back the (currently Sorkinized) political ground in the popular imagination. I would instead focus my story on the left-wing community in New York City who rallied around the Rosenberg family. They were the famous sons of communist spies. Hardy. However, its delusionally “pragmatic” messaging had a real effect on liberal political discourse and practice. So, he met them, he liked them, and he said, “OK, you can adopt them!”. My story would focus not on the government’s case against the Rosenbergs, nor Bloch’s defense. “At that point, right-wing groups tried to have us taken from Abel and Anne, and a court custody battle developed,” Robert Meeropol told me. Maybe you already know that these people flew in the same circles because they were at some point either members of the Communist Party or, at the very least, friendly to the socialist cause in America. Abel Meeropol (February 10, 1903 - October 30, 1986) was an American writer, teacher and song-writer, best known under his … The song's best known recordings and performances were by Billie Holiday and Josh White. It was also in this period that Abel Meeropol wrote the poem, “Beloved Comrade.” The poem, at eight lines, is even shorter and sparer than “Strange Fruit.” Addressing a dead friend (“To you, beloved comrade, we make this solemn vow / The fight will go on”), it comforts them in the knowledge that the struggle that they had fought and died for would continue until the final victory (“Sleep well, beloved comrade, our work will just begin / The fight will go on till we win”). At that point we had been shuttled around so much… we said OK. Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were the first U.S. civilians to be executed for espionage during peacetime. This piece’s history is compelling. [9][10] Though Meeropol had asked others (notably Earl Robinson) to set his poems to music, he set "Strange Fruit" to music himself. For that movement to grow, however, it needs to be able to tell its stories to the uninitiated. In the poem, Meeropol expressed his horror at lynchings, inspired by Lawrence Beitler 's photograph of the 1930 lynching of Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith in Marion, Indiana. But there was only so much protection a network of friends could provide each other. For the rest of us, the saga of the songwriter and the sons of the murdered “spies” seems like a secret history, a potshard buried beneath the sand that speaks of a whole fallen civilization. Leftist solidarity was a theme that ran throughout Abel’s songwriting career and political life. It was through the union that they came to know teacher and Party member, Alice Citron. “We were actually seized by New York City police and sent to an orphanage. 3 The photograph so haunted Meeropol that he wrote a poem about it entitled "Bitter Fruit," published in 1937 in The New York Teacher, the journal of the teachers union. Holiday approached her recording label, Columbia, about the song, but the company feared reaction by record retailers in the South, as well as negative reaction from affiliates of its co-owned radio network, CBS. The writers David Margolick and Hilton Als dismissed that claim in their work Strange Fruit: The Biography of a Song, writing that hers was "an account that may set a record for most misinformation per column inch". It was very artistic. Meeropol, a member of the American Communist Party, using the pseudonym, Lewis Allan, published the poem in the New York Teacher and … With Dorothy Thigpen, Milton Gabler, Farah Jasmine Griffin, C.T. [27] Nina Simone recorded the song in 1965,[28] a recording described by journalist David Margolick in the New York Times as featuring a "plain and unsentimental voice". Ecosystem Destruction Fueled the Pandemic. It first appeared as a poem, “Bitter Fruit,” in the New York Teacher, a publication for the New York City Teachers Union. “Strange Fruit” This anti-lynching poem was written by Abel Meeropol, a teacher, songwriter, and member of the American Communist Party. [3], Meeropol set his lyrics to music with his wife and singer Laura Duncan and performed it as a protest song in New York City venues in the late 1930s, including Madison Square Garden. [22], Notable cover versions of this song include Nina Simone (whose version was sampled in Kanye West's "Blood on the Leaves"[23]), René Marie,[23] Jeff Buckley,[23] Siouxsie and the Banshees,[24] Dee Dee Bridgewater,[24] Josh White,[25] UB40,[24] Bettye LaVette[26] and Edward W. He wrote "Strange Fruit" (1937), which was recorded by Billie Holiday. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Strange Fruit. I felt rejuvenated and included. “Strange Fruit” is a poem written by American-Jewish songwriter and poet Abel Meeropol in 1937, and was famously covered and recorded by Billie Holiday (Eleanora Fagan) in … There was always a stream of writers and artists and performers coming and visiting. Robert Meeropol suspects that Abel and Anne only quit the Party in order to adopt him and his brother. However, before the adoption had been formalized, Bloch suffered a heart attack and died. We can see the current left movement’s need for such works in the wildly successful career of a writer like Sorkin. Lynching was a practice that involved mob-style execution without trial, most often by hanging, and almost exclusively of … The Meeropols were living back in New York City in 1954 when they adopted the Rosenberg boys. [15] When Holiday's producer John Hammond also refused to record it, she turned to her friend Milt Gabler, owner of the Commodore label. Du Bois. Abel changed the title to “Strange Fruit” and set the poem to music in November of 1938. [23] LA Times noted that Siouxsie and the Banshees's version contained "a solemn string section behind the vocals" and "a bridge of New Orleans funeral-march jazz" which enhanced the singer's "evocative interpretation". Abel Meeropol (February 14, 1903 – October 29, 1986) was an American songwriter and poet whose works were published under his pseudonym, Lewis Allan. Robert and Michael were raised in a loving, quirky, left-wing home. Manny [Emanuel Hirsch] Bloch knew about Abel’s reputation as the author of “Strange Fruit” and knew that Abel and Anne were both supportive of my birth parents, Robert Meeropol told me. When put to music by composer Fred Katz, “Beloved Comrade” became an anthem sung at socialist funerals. Abel had a spare, imagistic style and could use simple language to devastating emotional effect. Robert Meeropol believes that this is exactly how Abel intended the song to be used. "[21] In an attempt to have a two-thirds majority in the Senate that would break the filibusters by the southern senators, anti-racism activists were encouraged to mail copies of "Strange Fruit" to their senators. “We were told that we were going to go live with them,” Robert Meeropol, the youngest son of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, recently told me of meeting his adoptive parents for the first time. Meeropol was a member of the American Communist Party, but would later quit. A Land Grant in Maine: The Gift That’s Been Giving Since 1767, Let’s Get Serious About Inequality and Socialism, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Considering the vivid images and sustained metaphor of the song “Strange Fruit,” it shouldn’t be surprising that it began as a poem. The tragic effect gets embodiment in the poem by the use of Meeropol’s bitter irony. Diana Ross recorded the song for her debut film, the Billie Holiday biopic Lady Sings the Blues (1972), and it was included on the chart topping soundtrack album. Billie Holiday Original label Abel Meeropol . Strange Fruit: The most shocking song of all time? Perhaps you already know what the Du Bois’, the Meeropols, and the Rosenbergs all had in common. Abel Meeropol watches as his sons, Robert and Michael, play with a train set. She was one of the trustees of the fund that was raised for Robert and Michael’s upbringing. [20] Holiday's 1939 version of the song was included in the National Recording Registry on January 27, 2003. 50+ videos Play all Mix - Strange Fruit by Abel Meeropol YouTube The Negro Speaks of Rivers poem by Langston Hughes music by Margaret Bonds - Duration: 4:07. I think that misses the truth. It covers a range of contemporary themes: children separated from parents, the political persecution of dissidents, and social justice warriors doing battle against a racist, xenophobic, increasingly fascistic America. To acknowledge this fact is to acknowledge the need for ambitious left-wing storytelling that can act as a counternarrative. It’s December 1953. She said that singing it made her fearful of retaliation but, because its imagery reminded her of her father, she continued to sing the piece, making it a regular part of her live performances. 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