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 I knocked that fair girl down

She fell down on her bended knees
For mercy she did cry
"Oh Willy, dear, don't kill me yet
I'm unprepared to die"

She never spoke another word
I only beat her more
Until the ground around me
With her blood did flow

I took her by her golden curls
And I dragged her 'round and 'round
Throwing her into the river
That flows from Knoxville town

Go down, go down, you Knoxville girl
With your dark and roving 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 up your clothes?"
I told my anxious mother
Was bleeding in my nose

I called for me a candle
And I called for me a bed
And I called for me a handkerchief
To bind my aching head

I rolled and thrashed the whole night through
All horrors I did see
The devil stood at the foot of my bed
Pointing his finger at me

They carried me down to Knoxville
And put me in a cell
My friends all tried to get me out
But none could grow my bail

I'm here to waste my life away
Down in this dirty old jail
Because I murdered that Knoxville girl
Girl I loved so well