Knoxville Girl

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I met a liitle 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 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 Willy 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 all her blood did pour

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

I started back to Knoxville, got there about midnight
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

I called for me a candle to light myself to bed
I called for me a handkerchief to bind my aching head
Rolled and tumbled the whole night through, as troubles was for me
Like flames of hell around my bed and in my eyes could see

They carried me down to Knoxville and put 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 murdered that Knoxville girl, the girl I loved so well

Knoxville Girl (unreleased cover)
Written byTraditional
Performed byElvis Costello (1986, 1987 & 2008)
Elvis Costello & The Imposters (2005)

First known performance:
1986-11-28, London, England
Last known performance:
2008-05-06, Knoxville, TN
     (4 known performances)



Category:Unreleased covers1999-00-00 live.jpg


Recordings by other artists

 Artist  Year  Release  Links
 The Blue Sky Boys  1937  "The Story of The Knoxville Girl" Discogs
The Louvin Brothers  1956 Tragic Songs Of Life Discogs
The Wilburn Brothers  1958  B-side of "Which One Is To Blame" Discogs
Stonewall Jackson  1968 The Great Old Songs Discogs
 The Osborne Brothers  1972 Bobby & Sonny Discogs
 Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds  1996  "Henry Lee" CD single Discogs
 The Lemonheads  1996 Car Button Cloth DiscogsWikipedia
Charlie Louvin  2007 Charlie Louvin DiscogsAllMusicAmazon

Internal links

External links