Amalfi Coast Strange Fruit
[Verse 1] Spring light on the Amalfi Coast My brown skin glistening like a shadow in the citrus trees Baby, it’s a heavy crown to bring Postcard views can’t cover what the sirens sing Bodies in the water Names lost in the sea Madre, can you pray Over ghosts like me? Tourists toast rosé While a black girl drowns In a silk sundress In a foreign town [Chorus] Blooming where the strange fruit falls White stone walls hear midnight calls Blood in the roots of these marble streets Golden resorts on forgotten grief Sweet sea breeze, but the air tastes wrong Dark red stains in a summer song I sip my wine while the church bells ring And I hum low blues for the suffering [Verse 2] Designer bags on the cobblestone But my ancestors’ cries still rattle through my bones Brown hands scrub these villa floors So the rich don’t see what the rain pours I see a waiter with my father’s face Serving smiles in a foreign place Every tip feel like a chain link weight Every joke hide a quiet ache [Chorus] Blooming where the strange fruit falls White stone walls hear midnight calls Blood in the roots of these marble streets Golden resorts on forgotten grief Sweet sea breeze, but the air tastes wrong Dark red stains in a summer song I sip my wine while the church bells ring And I hum low blues for the suffering [Bridge] Lemon trees sway like they know our names (yeah) Salt on my tongue still tastes like pain (mmm) Brown girl shining in a borrowed dream But the ocean keeps the secrets I’ve seen (ooh) Postcard perfect, but the sky feels bruised All this luxury, all this noose If the waves could talk, they’d testify To every dark rose that was left to die [Chorus] Blooming where the strange fruit falls White stone walls hear midnight calls Blood in the roots of these marble streets Golden resorts on forgotten grief Sweet sea breeze, but the air tastes wrong Dark red stains in a summer song I sip my wine while the church bells ring And I hum low blues for the suffering [Outro] Vacay on the Amalfi Coast, I see How the past still walks right beside of me I thank God for my life, it’s a movie scene Shot in color over histories unseen Every shoreline kiss is a quiet proof Paradise grows from a bitter root So I sing soft under the moonlit sky For the strange fruit that still learns to fly