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Knoxville Girl Lyrics
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 hankerchief to bind my aching head,
Rolled and tumbled the whole night throught, 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.
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.
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.
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.
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 hankerchief to bind my aching head,
Rolled and tumbled the whole night throught, as troubles was for me,
Like flames of hell around my bed and in my eyes could see.
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.
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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.
@Seraphimgirl I have heard this song many years ago when I was a teen. I am now 52 and I have thought about this song. I feel I have the come to the correct meaning. Think about it. Motives for murder is love, money . This was a crime of passion. Typical human characteristic. he did not kill her because he was pressured, he was in love with her! She toyed with his heart. He found out she was seeing another man. He mulled it over all day knowing they had a date for a walk every...
@Seraphimgirl I have heard this song many years ago when I was a teen. I am now 52 and I have thought about this song. I feel I have the come to the correct meaning. Think about it. Motives for murder is love, money . This was a crime of passion. Typical human characteristic. he did not kill her because he was pressured, he was in love with her! She toyed with his heart. He found out she was seeing another man. He mulled it over all day knowing they had a date for a walk every evening. He planned it . His heart broken so bad. Golden curls meaning she must have been a very beautiful girl. She hit her knees after he struck her with a stick begging him not to kill her because she knew why he struck her in the first place. she knew he found out she was cheating on him. Then after he got back home, Still living with his mother , his mother knew when she saw the blood what he must have done. Because mothers know when her child had been heart broken all day long.Then come back home after the date with blood all over him. If he had just been pressured to marry her, He wouldn't have still loved her after he killed her. What a sad crazy song huh?
I think she beat him up and took his nickel for milk each week at school, and he finally snapped...