Knoxville Girl Lyrics - Nick Cave

I met a little girl in Knoxville 

A town we all know well 

And every Sunday evening 

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 

She woke up in a fright 

Saying, "dear son, what have you done 

To bloody up your clothes?" 

I told my anxious mother 

That I 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 

The girl I loved so well