Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees
Blood on the leaves

I just need to clear my mind now
It's been racin' since the summertime
Now I'm holdin' down the summer now
And all I want is what I can't buy now
'Cause I ain't got the money on me right now
And I told you to wait
Yeah I told you to wait
So I'mma need a little more time now
'Cause I ain't got the money on me right now
And I thought you could wait
Yeah, I thought you could wait
These bitches surroundin' me
All want somethin' out me
Then they talk about me
Would be lost without me
We could've been somebody
Thought you'd be different 'bout it
Now I know you not it
So let's get on with it

We could've been somebody
Instead you had to tell somebody
Let's take it back to the first party
When you tried your first molly
And came out of your body
And came out of your body
Running naked down the lobby
And you was screamin' that you love me
Before the limelight tore ya
Before the limelight stole ya
Remember we were so young
When I would hold you
Before the glory
I know there ain't wrong with me
Something strange is happening

You could've been somebody
We could've ugh, we could've been somebody
Or was it all our first party
When we tried our first molly
And came out of our body
And came out of our body
Before they call lawyers
Before you tried to destroy us
How you gon' lie to the lawyers?
It's like I don't even know ya
I gotta bring it back to the 'Nolia

Fuck them other niggas 'cause I'm down with my niggas
Fuck them other niggas 'cause I'm down with my niggas
Fuck them other niggas 'cause I'm down with my niggas
I ride with my niggas, I'll die for my

To all my second string bitches, tryna get a baby
Trying to get a baby, now you talkin' crazy
I don't give a damn if you used to talk to Jay-Z
He ain't with you, he with Beyoncé, you need to stop actin' lazy
She Instagram herself like #BadBitchAlert
He Instagram his watch like #MadRichAlert
He only wanna see that ass in reverse
Two-thousand-dollar bag with no cash in your purse
Now you sittin' courtside, wifey on the other side
Gotta keep 'em separated, I call that apartheid
Then she said she impregnated, that's the night your heart died
Then you gotta go and tell your girl and report that
Main reason 'cause your pastor said you can't abort that
Now your driver say that new Benz you can't afford that
All that cocaine on the table you can't snort that
That going to that owing money that the court got
On and on that alimony, uh, yeah yeah, she got you homie, yeah
'Til death but do your part, uh, unholy matrimony


Lyrics submitted by strykerchick

Blood On The Leaves Lyrics as written by Antony Von Williams Craig Stephen Lawson

Lyrics © MUSIC SALES CORPORATION, Ultra Tunes, WARP MUSIC LIMITED, BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, REACH MUSIC PUBLISHING, Hipgnosis Songs Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.

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Blood on the Leaves song meanings
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6 Comments

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  • +1
    General Comment

    Firstly, I love this song.

    Now, I don't know if I'm reading too much into this, but I think that this is a perfect comment on the trivialisation of the past. "Strange Fruit" by Billie Holiday (covered here by Nina Simone), is used at the bridge, a very key element of the song. It's about lynching — something horrific and awful. "Strange Fruit" is a powerful, haunting song that cuts deep to the roots of the USA's torrid and racist past. Yet here Kanye is rapping about nothing much, it's very trivial (on the surface), and doesn't relate at all to "Strange Fruit".

    It is in this contrast that I think the true comment of the song is being made, I think that this is looking at music, and society at the moment, and how we are conveniently forgetting the past. We are living in a world where the majority of people are willing to turn a blind eye to history, we like to forget what happened to black people in the past, we like to forget that the South was racist as all living hell (and still is), we like to forget the lessons of Malcolm X and MLK, we like to forget the sacrifices that they and countless others before them made. And through the use of Nina Simone's version of "Strange Fruit" in such a seemingly careless fashion really highlights this.

    If you look at other songs on the album, he talks about injustices, and the use of "Strange Fruit" would have been a perfect background for those songs, yet here he is, rapping about running naked in the lobby.

    The juxtaposition here seems very powerful to me, and just stands out because the differences are so stark. As I said, I might be reading too much into this, but looking at the rest of the content on the album, there seems to be a subversive intelligence that remains hidden unless you are looking for it, and regardless, I think the song makes the comment whether Kanye intended it or not (I hope he did).

    Ahamkaraon June 17, 2013   Link

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