Anyone who is familiar with my band Strawberry Cheesesteak knows that I believe that music should be fun, and that I try not to take myself too seriously. That being said, I also believe that music has the power to move people, and right now I can’t in good conscience just write songs about women, weed and house shows.
Initially inspired by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young’s “Ohio,” “Strange Fruit” is a concentration of some of my opinions and reactions to the current socio-political state of America. This was one of those rare occurrences where the song came into my head fully formed and I was able to actually capture it, which as many musicians know, is more difficult than it may seem.
Then came a coincidence. Upon releasing the track art a day before this, a friend of mine, and peer in the local music scene Tommy Barvick, contacted me and asked me if I knew the implications of the term “strange fruit.” I did not, and he enlightened me on the Billie Holiday song of the same title and its history as a protest song against southern lynchings in the 1950's. The first verse paints a haunting picture:
“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”
Below is a link to Billie Holiday performing her “Strange Fruit,” and I highly suggest you take a look into a more in depth history of the song, and Billie.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DGY9HvChXk
In my “Strange Fruit,” America is a sick tree, and racism, pedophilia, and a deep social divide are the strange, diseased fruit that it bears. Love it or hate it, I think there’s a lot of truth in this song.
Thanks for listening.
released August 16, 2020
Written and Performed by Walker (Redding) DesTroismaisons
Mixed by Walker DesTroismaisons
Track art by Hannah Jacobson