| Iron & Wine – Free Until They Cut Me Down Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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The "devil tree" is a real tree in NJ where blacks were lynched by angry white mobs. According to locals the tree possess evil properties and is possibly a portal to hell. Now I don't know about all that hell mumbo jumbo, but it seems to me Sam is referencing this tree, thus making it more likely the song is in fact about a young black man being lynched for sleeping with a white woman. Maybe its a coincidence, but I don't think so given the other lyrics. In either case, Sam grew up in South Carolina, where even today there are areas that you should avoid at night if your black. I grew up in Georgia and went to school in SC, and I can tell you racism is still alive and well in many places in the South. Sam certainly witnessed enough of this sick behavior first-hand to provide motivation for a song. |
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