Knoxville girl






I met a little girl in Knoxville,

A town you all know well,

And every Sunday evening

Down in her home I'd dwell.

We went to take an evening walk

About a mile from town.

I picked a stick up off the ground

And knocked that fair girl down.



She fell down on her bended knees,

For mercy she did cry,

"Oh, Willie, Dear, don't kill me here

I'm not prepared to die."

She never spoke another word -

I only beat her more,

Until the ground around me

Within her blood did flow.



I took her by her golden curls

And dragged her round and round.

I threw her in the river

That flows through Knoxville town.

Go down, go down, you Knoxville girls

With the dark and shining eyes.

Go there, go there, you Knoxville girl -

You can never be my bride.



I lit for me a candle,

to light my way to bed.

I got for me a pillow,

to rest my weary head.



The police came down from Knoxville

And placed me in a jail.

My friends could not get pardon

Nor could they go my bail.

I'm here to waste my life away

Down in this dreary old cell,

Because I killed that Knoxville girl,

The girl I loved so well.