Southern trees bear
strange, strange [bad word] 
Blood on the leaves 
And blood at the root,
Black bodies swinging
In the southern breeze,
Strange [bad word] hanging 
From the poplar trees.

Pastoral scenes  of the gallant South,
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth,
Scent of magnolia sweet and fresh,
Then the sudden smell of burning flesh.

Strange [bad word] #33;
Rotten cores!
Racist ideas!
Strange and stupid wars!

Here's [bad word] for the crows to pluck,
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck,
For the sun to rot, for the tree to drop,
Here is a strange and bitter crop.

Strange [bad word] #33;
Rotten cores!
Racist ideas!
Strange and stupid wars!