Favorite Song Lyrics

On the other end of the "favorite" spectrum, here's a brutal lyrical entry which, quite inconceivably, is a hundred times more brutal in the telling. Billie Holiday's vocal is only half the contribution -- the trumpet, piano and ending drum shot -- Jesus....

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

Pastoral scene of the gallant South
The bulgin' eyes and the twisted mouth
Scent of magnolias sweet and fresh
Then the sudden smell of burnin' 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