If southern trees could talk they would tell a tale
Of the things they have seen and heard
Black bodies hanging from devils' ropes
And they couldn't say a word

Their limbs have held the bodies
Of thousands of our kin
But none of them could testify
To the sins of evil men

Their roots are stained with tears and blood
Their bark has bore the skin
Of Blacks that were tied up to its trunks
Who were beaten, maimed and lynched

I wonder if they would tell us
How their limbs would snap and break
They would bend, and shake and quiver
Because they couldn't hold the weight

I've finally found the reason
Why trees they sometimes cry
Because of the pains they had to bear
While watching Black folks die

Remember...