a C
I went down to taneytown
G a
I went down to taneytown
C G a e G
To see what I could see

My mama told me never go
I4m almost twenty-two years old
Sometimes I feel this holler swallow me

She went off to Gettysburg
Went off with that new beau of her
I snuck off after dark
Long way down the country road
Stars were bright the moon was low
Down to where the blacktop highway starts

Everybody stared at me
You4d think that they ain4t never seen
A colored boy before
They chunked at me called me names
They4d have whipped me sure but the sheriff came
I slipped off right throught the drygoods store

I ran dowm division street
Some of them boys followed me
Down to the railroad track
Four of them an i can fight
But I had my old randall knife
I cut that boy and never looked back

B-part: D

Cross the fields and wood I ran
Like a bullet from a rabbit gun
Back home to my bed
Ma came in from Gettysburg
Her and that new beau of hers
Boy you look like hell wass all she said

A month went by without a word
Somebody down the holler heard
About that boy they hung
He begged those men to spare his life
But I dropped my bloody randall knife
He picked it up so they thought he was the one