I met a little girl from Knoxville down beyond the well
And every Sunday evenin’ inside her home I dwelled
We went to take an evenin’ stroll 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 Willard 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 it her blood did flow

I grabbed her by her golden curls and drug her round and round
Throwing her into the river that runs through Knoxville town
Go there go there you Knoxville girl with dark and rollin’ eyes
Go there go there you Knoxville girl you can never be my bride

I rolled and tumbled the whole night through, my dreams were livin’ Hell
And then they came from Knoxville to carry me to jail
I’m here to waste my life away down in this dirty old cell
Because I killed that Knoxville girl, that girl I loved so well!