He was on his way home from Candletop
Been two weeks gone and he thought he'd stop
At Webb's and have him a drink 'fore he went home to her
Andy Wolloe said "Hello"
And he said "Hi, what's doin', Wo?"
Said, "Sit down, I got some bad news and it's gonna hurt"
He said "I'm your best friend and you know that's right"
"But your young bride ain't home tonight"
"Since you been gone she's been seein' that Amos boy, Seth "
Well, he got mad 'n' he saw red and Andy said "Boy, don'tcha lose your head"
" 'cause to tell ya the truth, I been with her myself"

That's the night that the lights went out in Georgia
That's the night that they hung an innocent man
Well, don't trust your soul to no backwoods Southern lawyer
'cause the judge in the town's got bloodstains on his hands

Well, Andy got scared and left the bar
Walkin' on home 'cause he didn't live far
See, Andy didn't have many friends and he'd just lost him one
Brother thought his wife musta left town
So he went home and finally found
The only thing Papa had left him, that was a gun

And he went off to Andy's house
Slippin' through the backwoods quiet as a mouse
Came upon some tracks too small for Andy to make
He looked through the screen at the back-porch door
And he saw Andy lyin' on the floor
In a puddle of blood and he started to shake

Well, the Georgia Patrol was a'makin' their rounds
So he fired a shot just to flag 'em down
And a big-bellied sheriff got his gun and said "why'dya do it?"
And the judge said "Guilty" in a make-believe trial
And slapped the sheriff on the back with a smile
Said' supper's waitin' at home and I gotta get to it"

That's the night that the lights went out in Georgia
That's the night that they hung an innocent man
Well, don't trust your soul to no backwoods Southern lawyer
'cause the judge in the town's got bloodstains on his hands

Well, they hung my brother before I could say
The tracks he saw while on his way
To Andy's house and back that night were mine
And his cheatin' wife had never left town
And that's one body that'll never be found
See, little sister don't miss when she aims her gun

That's the night that the lights went out in Georgia, oh-oh-aah
That's the night that they hung an innocent man, ah-huh-unh
Well, don't trust your soul to no backwoods Southern lawyer

FADE
'cause the judge in the town's got bloodstains on his hands


Lyrics submitted by bono_212, edited by npod, SWLinPHX

The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia song meanings
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  • +1
    General Comment

    I love this track, but the story makes NO sense:

    1.) Andy does Seth (his best friend) a solid by tipping him off to his wife's cheating on him with Amos, and confesses his own indiscretion with her. And Seth repays this honesty by trying to kill Andy? Shouldn't he be angrier at Amos? (I won't even touch the "Amos & Andy" thing.)

    2.) Little sister decides to off Andy (again, poor honest Andy, not Amos) on the very same night that her brother comes home and goes gunning for Andy himself. She couldn't have set him up better if she tried.

    3.) "They hung my brother before I could say..." What? Even a "make-believe" trial should've given her plenty of time to say, "Uh... judge?... by the way, I did it, not my brother."

    UNLESS... Little Sister was abused by her brother (who was probably a drunk -- first place he hits on returning to town is the bar) and this is her genius plan to get him back AND take out a few other weasels while she's at it. (It is the South, after all.)

    jeffrey111on February 18, 2014   Link

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