Tori Amos - Hereinmyhead.com

southern trees bear strange fruit
blood on the leaves
blood at the root
black bodies swinging in the southern breeze
strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees
pastoral scene of the gallow south
the bulging eyes and the twisted mouth
the scent of magnolia sweet and fresh
then the sudden smell of burning flesh
here is a fruit for the crows to pluck
for the rain to gather
for the wind to suck
for the sun to rot
for the tree to drop
here is a strange and bitter crop

n/a

"Strange Fruit is there because that is the South, where I was born and raised, and here I directly experienced that kind of racism myself. As a white woman in the South I experienced many forms of racial hatred, deeply, and my grandfather did, because of his Cherokee background. I understand the energy of those racial tensions so well and that's what I tapped into for Strange Fruit which I recorded at 5:30 am, having been called out of bed by forces, to do so."
-- Tori; Hot Press Magazine, Feb 23, 1994

"But the thing is, in the morning...I recording something at 5:30 in the morning, Strange Fruit, Billie Holliday, for a British import. And the reason is because I need that 'Sou-uh-thern lea-ves bear stra-ange fruit.' You have to have a certain quality to your voice."
-- Tori; KITS "Live 105" radio interview 8/30/94

"Ummm, when I would hear her [Billi Holiday] sing. There was almost a memory that happened with me when I would here her sing. And I would remember things that I didn�t even know I had experienced. I�m sure some of you have had that, whether it�s a scent sometimes a smell or something that you hear. Just for a minute the veil lifts, and she has always done that for me."
-- Tori; Wadsworth Theater Press Conference, Mar 22, 1994