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 not prepared 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 dragged her round and round
  Throwing her into the river
  That flows through Knoxville Town