Tom Dooley

Collected, adapted and arranged by Frank Warner, John A. Lomax and Alan Lomax
Rise Up Singing chapter: Hard Times and Blues, p.104
G - - D7 / - - D7C G

Listen to Rob Getzschman's version of this here: http://robgetzschman.com/music/eleven-coming-back
"Buck and a Quarter" is another great one on there. An original, too.


The song is based on the execution of Tom Dula in North Carolina, 1868, for the murder of Laura Foster. Read about it:
http://www.explorewilkes.com/TomDula.htm
http://statelibrary.ncdcr.gov/nc/ncsites/dula.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Dula


Lyrics:
Hang down your head Tom Dooley, hang down your head and cry
Hang down your head Tom Dooley: poor boy you're bound to die

I met her on the mountain, and there I took her life
I met her on the mountain and I stabbed her with my knife

Hand me down my banjo, I'll pick it on my knee
By this time tomorrow it'll be of no use to me

By this time tomorrow, reckon where I'll be
If it hadn't-a been for Grayson I'd-a been in Tennessee
(If it weren't for sheriff Grayson, I'd have been in Tennessee)

By this time tomorrow, reckon where I'll be
Down in some lonesome valley, hanging from a white oak tree