The song begins with the morbid statement, "Southern trees bear a strange fruit". Instead of the imagery conveying light and joy, the tress are shown to have "Blood on the leaves and blood at the root." The gory imagery then shifts to explicitly describe the realities of lynching’s for African Americans, as "Black bodies swinging in the Southern breeze."
Words such as “gallant” and “breeze” are at odds with the topic of choice and contrast with the vivid images of death and pain. The Speaker morbidly describes the decomposing dead bodies as the “The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth” remain for everyone to see. Despite the “Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh”, there is a more overpowering smell of “burning flesh.”
Ultimately, no one cares about the hanging bodies; instead, they seem to serve as purpose as they are “a fruit for the crows to pluck”.
