Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit-" A Grave Wealth of Ethos

Upon analyzing the lyrics of Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit," it seems the scene being described- the lynched, lifeless bodies of Black Americans hanging from trees as some type of "strange fruit-" connotes actions that are undoubtedly anything but ethical. Yet, the song's ethos is immense, not in spite of Holiday's disturbing imagery, but rather as a result of it. Holiday, an African American herself, utilizes vivid imagery such as "black bodies swinging in the Southern breeze." These words paint an all-too clearly a picture of the Civil Rights Movement's sometimes fatal end results for it's victims. The language remains strong throughout the song, thus underlining Holiday's understanding of, and possibly personal experiences with, the injustices suffered by Black Americans both prior to and during the Civil Rights era. She does not shy away from the gruesome reality of lynching, and her lyrics are honest, even if through metaphor.

Her use of certain details too adds to the song's effectiveness. The trees, for example, she specifies as "poplar," and the breeze "Southern." These details, based off the fact that the majority of racial discrimination occurred in the southern US, thus offer a geographic specificity, a detail that again further heightens Holiday's ethos.

"Strange Fruit" is proof that, when expatiating upon issues of social injustice, a speaker's ethos can be established through a multitude of outlets. This song demonstrates that one does not have to list credentials to necessarily show credibility. This does not mean, of course, that listing credentials is a weak way to establish ethos. Martin Luther King, Jr., for example, does this in his "Letter from Birmingham Jail," and establishes outstanding credibility as a Civil Rights leader. With "Strange Fruit," you simply have to dig a bit deeper.

-Natalia de Gravelles