Hills Of Roane County

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[Verse 1]
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In the beautiful hills, way back in Roane County
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There’s where I roamed for many long years
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There’s where my heart’s been tending most ever
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That’s where the first step of misfortune I made


[Instrumental]
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[Verse 3]
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For twenty five years this whole world I rambled
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I went to old England to France and to Spain
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But I thought of my home way back in Roane County
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I boarded a steamer and came back again


[Verse 4]
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I was captured and tried in the village of Kingston
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Not a man in the county would speak one kind word
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When the jury came in with the verdict next morning
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Was a lifetime in prison was the words that I heard


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[Verse 5]
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When the train pulled out poor mother stood weeping
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And sister she sat alone with a sigh
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And the last words I heard was Willie God bless you
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Was Willie God bless you, God bless you, good-bye


[Verse 6]
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In the scorching hot sands of the foundry I'm working
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Toiling and working my whole life away
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They'll measure my grave on the banks of the Cumberland
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As soon as I finish the rest of my days


[Verse 7]
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The jury was grave but the Judge he was better
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There’s better and worse, although you can see
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Boys when you write home from the prison in Nashville
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Place one of my songs in your letter for me