Knoxville Girl- Louvin Brothers (AL) 1956 REC
[From Capitol Records 1956 recording, Tragic Songs Of Life by the Louvin Brothers.
Charlie and Ira Loudermilk were born in Alabama but changed their last names to Louvin when they began to record music. They started out as gospel singers, but later became popular recording artists. Ira was killed in an automobile crash in 1965. The Louvin Brothers were elected into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001.
This is borrowed with minor changes from the Blue Sky Boy's 1937 recording, which was based on Arthur Tanner's classic 1925 recording. Minor changes include the 6th stanza-- instead of "Go there" the Louvin's have "Go down."
R. Matteson 2016]
THE KNOXVILLE GIRL. Recorded by The Louvin Brothers in 1956.
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 knocked that fair girl down.
She fell down on her bended knees
For mercy she did cry
Oh, Willie 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 'round
Throwing her into the river
That flows through Knoxville town.
Go down, go down, you Knoxville girl
With the 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 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.