Southern trees
Bearing strange fruit
Blood on the leaves
And blood at the r oot
Black bodies swinging in the southern breez e
S trange fruit hanging f rom the popla r trees
Pastoral scene o f the gallow so uth
And the bulging eyes and the twisted mouth
The scent o f magnolia s weet and fre sh
Then the sudden smell o f burn ing flesh
Here is a fruit fo r the crows to plu ck
For the rain to gather
For the wind to suck
For the sun to rot
For the trees to d rop
Here is a stran ge a nd bitter c rop