Steve Earle - Taneytown
(chorus)
I went down to Taneytown, I went down to Taneytown,
To see what I could see,
(verse 1)
My mama told me never go,
Iâm damned near twenty-two years old,
Some times I fear this,
Hollow swallowing me,
She went off to Gettysburg,
Went off with that new boy of hers,
I snuck off after dark,
Itâs a long way down the County Road,
The stars were bright and the moon was low,
Down where the blacktop highway starts,
(chorus)
I went down to Taneytown, I went down to Taneytown,
To see what I could see,
(verse 2)
Now everybody stared at me,
youâd think that they ainât never seen,
A colored boy before.
Well, they jumped at me and they called me names,
theyâd a whupped me sure, but the sheriff came,
I slipped off, ran through the dry goods store.
I ran down Division Street,
But some of them boys followed me,
Down to the railroad track.
There was four of them and I canât fight,
But I got my old Randall knife,
I cut that boy and I never did look back.
(chorus)
I went down to Taneytown, I went down to Taneytown,
To see what I could see,
(verse 3)
Across the fields & woods I run,
like a bullet from a rabbit gun,
Back home to my bed.
Now ma came back from Gettysburg,
her and that new beau of hers,
Boy you look like hell, was all she said.
A month went by without a word,
somebody down in the hollow 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.
(chorus)
I went down to Taneytown, I went down to Taneytown,
To see what I could see,
(chorus)
I went down to Taneytown, I went down to Taneytown,
To see what I could see,