Tom Dooley
Traditional


G                                          D7
Hand me down my banjo,  I'll pick it on my knee.
D7                                          G
This time tomorrow night it'll be no use to me.
G                                              D7
I met her on the mountain, I swore she'd be my wife,
D7                                                   G
I met her on the mountain, and I stabbed her with my knife.

Chorus:
G                                                       D7
Hang down your head, Tom Dooley, hang down your head and cry,
D7                                                         G
Hang down your head, Tom Dooley, poor boy, you're bound to die.

G                                     D7
This time tomorrow, reckon where I'll be,
D7                                                    G
Down in some lonesome valley hangin' from a white-oak tree.
G                                                        D7
I had my trial at Wilksboro', and what'd you reckon they done?
D7                                                         G
They bound me over to Statesville and that's where I'll be hung.

Chorus

G                                        D7
The limb bein' oak, boys, the rope bein' strong,
D7                                                       G
Bow down your head, Tom Dooley, you know you're gonna be hung.
G                                 D7
Mammy, O Mammy, don't you weep or cry,
D7                                                       G
I've killed poor Laurie Foster and you know I'm bound to die.

Chorus

G                            D7 
Pappy, O Pappy, what shall I do?
D7                                         G
I lost all my money and kille poor Laurie, too.
G                                            D7
O what my Mammy told me, is about to come to pass,
D7                                               G
Red whisky and pretty women, would be my ruin at last.

Chorus