Knoxville Girl

I met a little girl in Knoxville,

A town we 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 there, go there, you Knoxville girls

With the dark and shining eyes.

Go there, go there, you Knoxville girl -

You can never be my wife.

I rolled and tumbled the whole night through

My dreams were living hell

And then they came from Knoxville

and carried me to jail

I'm here to waste my life away

and time is passing slow

Because I killed that Knoxville girl

the girl that I loved so