Knoxville Courthouse Blues

[Verse 1]
I'm sittin' in Knoxville courthouse
Ain't got a thing to do
I don't wanna go to the movies
Couldn't if I wanted to
'Cause I'm on trial for lovin' you

[Verse 2]
Now this all started in a honky tonk
Just the other side of town
A girl come in took a stool by me
Ordered gin and drank it down
She lit up a cigarette, and turned around

[Verse 3]
Well she said, "My name is Janie"
And asked me, "What was mine?"
I answers "Hank" as I walked to the jukebox
Drop in a dime
And looked at her short dress, no neck line

[Verse 4]
Well, we danced for five or ten minutes
And I held hеr close to me
Kissed hеr lips and squeezed her hips
And judged about twenty-three
She whispered in my ears, I said, "Yes, siree"

[Verse 5]
Now the scene is a little motel
Out on the state highway
And there in room 12
Love is about to take place
And a state trooper breaks down the door
Shines a flashlight in my face

[Verse 6]
I said, "What the hell is this?"
As another man and woman come in
And the girl I'm with starts cryin' and screamin'
And she runs over to them
She said, "Thank God you're here, he tried to hurt me, mama"
I said, "Now, you don't mean?"
The cop says, "Yeah, the girl is seventeen"

[Verse 7]
So that's why I'm in Knoxville courthouse
And the judge passed the sentence on me
And it's ten long years for statutory rape in the state penitentiary
Lord, I can't believe this has happened to me

[Verse 8]
So when next time you give a girl the eye
She gives you that certain smile
Just remember under that woman's breast
May beat the heart of a child
Don't you let yourself be the one to help a mixed up kid go wild
This story happened a lot, that's true
But you better hope and pray it never happens to you