Knoxville Girl

I met a little girl in Knoxville, a town we all know well
And every Sunday evening out in her home I'd dwell
We went to take an evening walk about a mile from town
I thought of how she cheated me so I knocked that fair girl down

She fell down on her bended knees for mercy she did cry
"Oh please, my dear, don't kill me here, I'm unprepared to die"
She never spoke another word, I only beat her more
Until the ground around me with thinner blood did flow

I took her by her golden curls and I dragged her round and round
Throwing her into the river that flows through Knoxville town
Go down, go down, you Knoxville girl with the dark and roving eyes
Go down, go down, you Knoxville girl, you could never be my bride

I started back to Knoxville, got there about daylight
My mother she was worried and woke up in a fright
Saying, "Dear son, what have you done to bloody your clothes so?"
I told my anxious mother I was bleeding at my nose

They took me down to Knoxville and they locked me in a cell
My friends all tried to get me out but none could go my bail
I'm here to waste my life away down in this dirty old jail
Because I killed that Knoxville girl, the one I loved so well