Intro

Verse

I went down to Taneytown.

I went down to Taneytown.

To see what I could see.  

My mama told me never go,

I’m damn near 22 years old

Sometimes I feel this hollow swallowin’ me.

She ran off to Gettysburg.

Went off with that new beau of hers.

I snuck off after dark.   

It’s a long way down the county road.

The stars were bright and the moon was low.

Down to where the black top highway starts.

Solo

Verse

Now everybody stared at me.

You’d think that they ain’t never seen,

A colored boy before.  

Well they jumped at me and they called me names,

And they’d a whoopped me sure but the sheriff came.

I slipped off n’ ran through the dry goods store.

Now, I ran down Division Street,

And some of them boys followed me,

Down to the railroad track.  

Well, there was four of them, and I can’t fight,

But I got out my old Randall knife.

I cut that boy, and I never did look back.

Solo

Verse

Across the fields and woods I run

Like a bullet from a rabbit gun

Back home to my bed  

Now Ma come in from Gettysburg

Her and that new beau of hers

Boy you look like hell is all she said

A month went by without a word

Somebody down the holler heard

Bout 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

Outro

I went down to Taneytown

I went down to Taneytown

I ain’t going back there anymore.