Strange Fruit (Arr. for Voice & Chamber Ensemble by Jonathan Bingham)

Southern trees bear strange fruit

Blood on the leaves, blood at the root

Black bodies swinging in the summer breeze

Summer breeze

Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees

Pastoral scene of the gallant south

The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth

Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh

Sweet and fresh

Sudden smell of burning flesh

Here is the fruit for the crows to pluck

For the rain to gather, wind to suck

For the sun to rot, tree to drop

Here's a strange and bitter crop