Strange Fruit
by Billie Holiday
Southern trees bear strange fruit,
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,
Black bodies swinging in the southern 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,
Then the sudden smell of burning flesh.
Here is fruit for the crows to pluck,
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck,
For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop,
Here is a strange and bitter cry.
Change Myself
by Todd Rundgren
Half of me wants to knock you out
Half of me wants to tell you that I'm sorry, so sorry
Meanwhile, half of the world wants to scream and
shout at half of the world
Just like you and I
Just another fact of life
We plan and we scheme
'Til there's nothing left of our little dream
But half of the time I can't decide and
Half of the time I'm petrified
I want to change the world
I want to make it well
How can I change the world
When I can't change myself
Try again tomorrow
I'd love to change your mind
Capture your citadel
How could I change your mind
If I can't change myself
Try again tomorrow
Both of us want to win this fight
Both of us think the other is mistaken, so mistaken
Meanwhile, everyone wants to take up sides
So everyone helps us to fall apart
Just another fact of life
It's hard to play fair
And it's so easy to pretend to care
But if nobody wants to share the blame
Then everyone gets more of the same
If I want more peace in the world
Then I must make peace with myself
If I want more trust in the world
Then I've got to trust in myself
If I want more love in the world
I must show more love to myself
Universal Soldier
by Forence Reece (performed by Pete Seeger and Natalie Merchant)
Come all you good workers
Good news to you I'll tell
Of how the good old union
Has come in here to dwell
Which side are you on boys?
Which side are you on?
My daddy was a miner
He's now in the air and sun
He'll be with you fellow workers
Until the battle's won
Which side are you on boys?
Which side are you on?
They say in Harlan County
There are no neutrals there
You'll either be a union man
Or a thug for J. H. Claire
Which side are you on boys?
Which side are you on?
Oh workers can you stand it?
Oh tell me how you can
Will you be a lousy scab
Or will you be a man?
Which side are you on boys?
Which side are you on?
Don't scab for the bosses
Don't listen to their lies
Poor folks ain't got a chance
Unless they organize
Which side are you on boys?
In the state of Mississippi many years ago
A boy of 14 years got a taste of southern law
He saw his friend a hanging and his color was his crime
And the blood upon his jacket left a brand upon his mind
Too many lies too many empty words were said
Too many times for too many angry men
Oh let it never be again
His name was Medgar Evers and he walked his road alone
Like Emmett Till and thousands more whose names we'll never know
They tried to burn his home and they beat him to the ground
But deep inside they both knew what it took to bring him down
*chorus*
The killer waited by his home hidden by the night
As Evers stepped out from his car into the rifle sight
he slowly squeezed the trigger, the bullet left his side
It struck the heart of every man when Evers fell and died.
*chorus*
And they laid him in his grave while the bugle sounded clear
laid him in his grave when the victory was near
While we waited for the future for freedom through the land (*)
The country gained a killer and the country lost a man
*chorus*
Notes:
Written by Phil Ochs, Bob Gibson • Copyright © Universal Music Publishing Group, The Bicycle Music Company
