The eclectic rock outfit Fishbone made an appearance at NOFX’s Weekend At Fatty’s live stream on September 19, where they debuted a new song called “Estranged Fruit.” This song was influenced by the Billie Holiday classic “Strange Fruit,” which was later immortalized by Nina Simone and adds a modern day spin to the song’s lyrics.

Whereas the original “Strange Fruit” dealt with the rampant lynchings taking part across the United States during the first half of the 20th century, “Estranged Fruit” discusses widespread police brutality and systemic racism that affects the Black community today. The song opens up with some sad piano chords and a police siren, channeling blues influences, as a spoken word announcement from a civil rights activist plays.

The song’s lyrics references “Strange Fruit” directly, mentioning the poplar trees and the song’s title by name. The song is filled with a bluesy instrumental, backed by a harmonica bluesy guitar chords and organs, while the heavily politicized lyrics call out police brutality and the racism that is fermented across rural White communities within the United States.

“It’s been 35 years and a day since the release of our debut EP, we still at this… still OG, still speaking on it,” the band wrote when they released the video. “Coming soon #EstrangedFruit… you know! Shout out Fat Mike and Fat Wreck Chords… thanks for the love.”

The band is performing to this day with a lineup that is nearly identical their original lineup, sans guitarist Kendall Jones. Check out our review of Weekend At Fatty’s here.

Photo Credit: Boston Lynn Schulz