Old Tree

Old tree
Dark tree, sinister tree
I know ‘bout you
And them secrets you like to keep
Behind leaves so green
And flowers so fresh
But that ain’t nothing but lies and falsehoods
‘Cause when the spring goes by
And that winter come
I see you for what you are
For what you done

That’s right, Old Tree
With your branches bare
With your trunk scarred
You can’t hide behind yo’ leaves
You can’t hide behind no spring renewal
‘Cause I know about you, Old Tree
What you done
What you hung
From branches so strong
They held the weight of a man
An innocent man
A black man

Oh, yea, I remember,
Old Tree
How you used to give us shade
Used to keep us from the sun
When we made love
And you pretended you was our friend,
Our tree
But you was his tree
That white man’s tree
And when that white man come
With that rope so thick
That rope so strong
You gave him a branch
You gave him an arm
And you let that white man steal a life,
Old Tree
You let him take my love...