I Washed My Hands In Muddy Water

I was born in Macon, Georgia, met my dad in a Macon jail

He said, "Son, if you keep your hands clean

You won't have them bloodhounds on your trail"

I fell in with bad companions, robbed a man in Tennessee

Sheriff caught me way up in Nashville

And they locked me up and they threw away the key

Refrain:

I washed my hands in muddy water

I washed my hands but they didn't come clean

Tried to do what my daddy told me

But I must have washed my hands in a muddy stream

I asked the jailer when my time's up, he said, "Son, we won't forget

If you try to keep your hands clean

We may make a good man of you yet."

I couldn't wait to do my sentence, I broke out of the Nashville jail

I just crossed the line of Georgia

And I can hear those bloodhounds on my trail

Refrain (2 times)