Lyrics:

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 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 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
I dragged her round and round
Then threw her in the river
That flows through Knoxville town

Go there, go there, you Knoxville girl
With dark and roving 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