Taneytown - Steve Earle

I went down to taneytown

I went down to taneytown

To see what I could see

My mama told me never go

But I’m almost 22 years old

Sometimes I fear this holler swallow me

She ran off to Gettysburg

Went off with that new beau of hers

I snuck off after dark

Long way down the county road

Stars were bright

The moon was low

Down to where the black top highway starts

I could see everybody stared at me

You’d think that they ain’t never seen

A coloured boy before

They chunked at me at me

Called me names

They’d have whipped me sure but the sheriff came

I slipped off through the dry goods store

I ran down division street

Some of them boys followed me

Down to the rail-road track

Four of them and I can’t fight

But I had my old randall knife

I cut that boy and I never did look back

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