The Hills Of Roane County

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In the beautiful hills in the midst of Roane Country
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It's there that I labored my whole life away
                    C         G            F
It’s there that my heart is a-turnin' most ever
               C              G            C    F   C
It's there the first steps of misfortune I made


[Verse 1]

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I’s about thirty years when I courted and married
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Miss Armanda Gilbert to be my fair wife
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For some unknown reason, her brother Tom stabbed me
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And not two months later, I'd taken Tom's life


[Verse 2]

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I's captured and tried in a village of Kingsport
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Not a soul in that village could say a kind word
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When a jury come in with the verdict next mornin'
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"A lifetime in prison," are the words that I heard


[Verse 3}

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Well my mama come down to see me at the station
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My sweet sister Donna stood there by her side
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They turned for to go, but I was chained to the platform
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They said, "Willie, God bless you, God bless you, goodbye"


[Verse 4]

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In the scorching hot sands of a foundry, I'm toiling
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Just a-toilin' and sweatin' my poor life away
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When I die, bury me on the banks of old Cumberland
                        C       G     C      F    C
In the beautiful green hills of east Tennessee


[Verse 5]

                 Em    F      G              C
In the beautiful hills in the midst of Roane Country
                      C                    G   G7
It’s there that I’ve labored my whole life away
                   C     G                 F
It's there that my heart is a-turnin’ most ever
                     C        G            C    F    C
It's there the first steps of misfortune I made