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 within her blood did flow

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


Lyrics submitted by annazoff

Knoxville Girl Lyrics as written by Charlie Louvin

Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.

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Knoxville Girl song meanings
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  • 0
    My Interpretation

    A gentleman and lady are in love, she has blonde hair. He feels pressured to marry her, so instead he kills her and then throws her in the river thinking he is rid of her, but he's not. His mother senses something is wrong because she sees the blood, but he lies to his mother. The killer makes no effort to excuse his own behavior, so he clearly feels remorse, and the tone is sorrowful. He knows that inside he truly loves her even after he killed her, and he knows she didn't deserve to be killed, she was innocent, she truly loved him. His heart, this love, her innocence, her death at his own hands haunts him after he kills her he feels the flames of hell around his bed, he can't sleep, her memory and his own guilt and love haunt him for the rest of his life. So now the killer views the rest of his existence as prison, or he is in real prison either way, but most likely I think it means like he is suffering at his own hand and is in a prison that he created himself that he can't seem to get out of and he feels like he had it coming because look what he did to the girl that he loved most, and the person who loved him the most purely. So he is hurting himself I think. That's my opinion of the song.

    Seraphimgirlon January 25, 2019   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I think she beat him up and took his nickel for milk each week at school, and he finally snapped...

    hobojunctionon July 07, 2023   Link

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