Knoxville Girl - The Louvin Brothers

[NumbAsAStatue27]

I cant believe ive never listened to these guys before. I heard about the new book on them and decided to check them out. These guys are actually great! This song in particular is real interesting. You dont hear to many tunes like this today. I cant wait to listen to more of their music

[ThePedro1233]

What the Fudge!!!

[karsown]

well...she was fat.

[bunnyruff57]

happiest murder song i ever heard!

[notgrekk]

For those interested, a little interwebz searching tells us, ""The Knoxville Girl" is an Appalachian murder ballad. It is derived from the 19th century Irish ballad The Wexford Girl, itself derived from the earlier English ballad "The Oxford Girl". Other versions are known as the "Waxweed Girl", "The Wexford Murder". These are in turn derived from Elizabethan era poem or broadside ballad, "The Cruel Miller"."

[meiniaLxndr]

i Love  it

[DJMaxwellRelishHand]

This song really makes me feel better about myself.

[safireblu31]

Beautiful song !!!!!!!!

[rexnone]

PFFR

[KnoxvilleNightz]

thats a knoxville night

[thagod2e]

wow

[micmoable]

I just wonder why someone would write such a morbidy song about killing someone you supposedly loved

[billyjoedopesmoker]

@micmoable most murder victims are killed by a family member or someone they know really well. they are singin bout real life as it is lived by many unfortunate people. it was before the disneyfication of the usa.

[freetickeys]

In country music you lose your wife, your dog and your house. In traditional Bluegrass, you just kill everyone who crosses you.

[safireblu31]

@freetickeys ..... only in America LMAO!!!!!!!! can u make money on music, after u have been locked up in prison for killed someone !!!!! I LOVE IT !!!!!!!!!!!

[75freeman]

@freetickeys Best comment on youtube EVER, pure class & kinda true

[FaithfulamI]

horrible song...violent! I thought today's music was violent..wow..incredible!

[guamrugger]

Wow!



[razorblade530]

There are the same guys who did 'Satan is Real'? Nice christian boys ...lol

[monkeynuts76]

THEY'RE SINGING ABOUT A GIRL THAT GAVE THEM S.T.D.

[bonnyvee]

best version in my opinion, thanks bubba :)

[honestbutugly]

i understand there are many differnt verses , and various way this song was done, as in many songs that made it from Irland to the U.S., by imagrants

[psychobollox]

@honestbutugly

yeh... but the connection goes even further back to england... there's a very similar song in the english tradition called the oxford girl...

[ZeroAlphaActual]

@psychobollox

Irish song: Wexford Girl. Girl informs him she's 'with child' and he kills her. Verse about unwed pregnancy removed during Victorian era.

[psychobollox]

@ZeroAlphaActual

thanks for that bit... would have to look out for the unabridged version somewhere... possibly mudcat. wexford girl was based on the oxford girl so there's likely to be some similarities there...

[hiway7boy]

DAM GOOD THING HE DID NOT HATE THE OLD GIRL HE SAID HE LOVED HER BAD WAY TO SHOW HIS LOVE FOR HER

[blackunderscore]

wow... ha ha ...still love the louvin brothers...excellent

[ali2art1]

This song would teach young girls not to sneek out at night with that loving Bo that they truely don't know.Maybe Ma and Pa do know something....You don't ...??Just a thought. :)

[Sasperillasquatch]

the louvin boys are the real deal

[mansonrkmc]

These were known as Murder Ballads. Real things.

[MrRAYMOND1942]

A step above the Wilbun brothers. The Wilburn brothers left a full verse out?

I know this, I lived in Knoxville for a long time before the Wilburn Brs. did this

[SuperVinny55]

@MrRAYMOND1942 everybody to their own,but i much prefered the wilburns

[taariqtaariq]

I am  glad I didn't grow up the deep south of the USA in the 50's. Oh Boy , I can be grateful for that small mercy.

[msymsed]

@taariqtaariq Honey, all you have to do is look at the histories of just about ANY place and stuff like this happened.  But then, I am sure the deep south of the USA in the 50s is happy you weren't there too.

[MariaFantasma]

SOMETIMES I JUST FEEL LIKE HITTING SOMETHING. IT'S A CHICK FROM TENNESSEE; IT'S A CHICK FROM TENNESSEE. ONCE I SET MY EYE ON THE PERFECT WHOOPIN' STICK, ALL BETS ARE OFF.

[martinrayjr]

country and bluegrass is about real things and history if you don,t like the reality of life hide your head in the sand.

[kapacon]

This was written as a warning to cheating girls back in the day.

[LindaLuigi]

@MuddLoverr It was the way they all sung back then... It was the Era, that's all. My Mom sung it but not as a lullaby. LOL It was a beautiful song in my opinion. Check out others, their all heart rending ballad. The people of that era loved them, Jimmy Rodgers, Woody Guthrie, Hank Williams....etc. Maybe you're too young to remember. Just give'm a listen and remember the times were hard and these appealed to them. Kindest regards, Linda

[sunstopper]

That's some real gansta shit!!

[REYXXXVEZ]

I PICKES UPA STICK UP AND NOCKED THT KNOXVILLE BITCH DOOOOOWN!!!

[1MG0DZ1LL4]

My grandma sang this to me when I was little... XD

They played this at her funeral.

[RichAdams21]

There's a long tradition of murder ballads in Appalachian music which has it's roots in the music of our ancestors in England & Ireland. Life isn't always "La-La-La I Love You."

[TheTony1947]

Great music Bubba, have you ever heard them sing (I knew a lady) i got the cd, i searched the internet trying to find the lyrics. my mother in law turns 90 in a couple months, she can't hear to good and i would love to have the lyrics for her to read!

thanks for any help!!

[guitarpickerful]

i have chilzzzzz!

[stanleybadams]

One of early murder ballads from Europe, from the Oxford Girl. This is a historical song of American Music.

[areology]

Such scary lyrics from such a beautiful band. I love it.

[engraver41]

That flows through Knoxville, i love it there is nothing like on record.

Eat you heart out Garth Brooks, try and sound like this with all the help you have from Nashville !!!!!!

[craps2010]

MegaTravis9, you are correct. Good for you!

[SinCityMadman]

Wow....just wow....

[nighttraker]

this song is one of the best in blue grass gotta love blue grass

[lemonhead8510]

Awsome song my dad used to sing this to me when i was little i never really knew what the lyrics were now that ive really listened ha ha how funny and sick at the same time thanks daddy!!!

[pduncan742]

Aw hell she probably deserved it. Everyone knows how mouthy those Knoxsville girls can be.

[MegaTravis9]

The Rock N Roll of the 50s sounded more like old time country than this crap today they call country.

[shar2001ca]

Very brutal, my dad use to play this song with i was younger, never paid attention to the lyrics, but I found these guys voices soothing.

[MegaTravis9]

The song doesn't mention anything about throwing her ass into the river, you idiot

[bluefishtwofish]

@MegaTravis9 Oh, but I think it does...swimming with da fishes!

[shar2001ca]

@MegaTravis9 THROWING HER INTO THE RIVER

[shar2001ca]

@MegaTravis9 "THROWING HER INTO THE RIVER THAT FLOWS"

[Duckieisthebestenitt]

@MegaTravis9 From 1:32 ;

Throwing her into the river, that floats through knoxville town.

[spookbmerriman]

i been singing this song since i waslittle my papa taught me how to play it on guitar it was one of my first songs to learn i love it

[ThubanDraconis]

Gangsta bluegrass… Love the song, but I use it as an example when people say music today is way too violent.

[MVillani1985]

@ThubanDraconis A key difference though is that a lot of morbid songs today don't have justice served in the end like in Knoxville Girl.

[MegaTravis9]

@MVillani1985 I have news for you, Todays music they call country is noway country. I grew up on real country Hank Williams Sr. He is country Johnny Horton he is country , George Jones And many others of the period. However Knoxville Girl is a little morbid I have to agree Butit is still country.

[MVillani1985]

@MegaTravis9 I meant the stuff they call violent music today, like rap, which rarely has justice served (if anything, the songs brag about the events that took place, while Knoxville Girl and similar songs serve more as cautionary tales IMO). But I agree 100%, the last anything resembling country music came out in the early 90s. The stuff that passes for modern country reminds me a lot of 90s alternapop acts like Natalie Imbruglia and Jewel, which is fine, but it shouldn't call itself country.

[MrHappyTurtle]

@MVillani1985 If you look hard at hip hop and rap etc. (especially British) you'll see that violence isn't glorified. Yes, it is the subject of many-a-song, but all successful rap artists are against violence and the death-trap that is the drug industry for example. I think that the reason there is violence in their music is either to condone it, or to show that it is something that deserves attention. At the very least it is to tell stories about the places where they grew up.

[MVillani1985]

@MrHappyTurtle I will say this, though, it depends on the context. Sometimes it uses examples to speak against violence, drugs, and prostitution, but there's just as much that seems to glorify it. Even if that wasn't the intent with the remainder of it, sometimes you get misaimed fandom, where the song's message isn't subtle enough for the majority of listeners, like how "I Fought The Law" is misinterperted to be about going against "The Man" but it's really about the results of robbing people.

[MrHappyTurtle]

@MVillani1985 You know what? I think I'm inclined to agree with you. Music in general is such a vast medium that you do get great music with great artists talking about great things, but it can only have value if the listener gives it value. And, for that, we need great listeners who can interpret them and get something out of them. I don't think it matters which genre of music you're talking about, you will hear great songs. But you'll also hear complete shite :p

[ThubanDraconis]

Gangsta bluegrass… Love the song, but I use it as an example when people say music today is way too violent.

[MegaTravis9]

Thats ok. I was just a kid when this song came out. I liked it very much. I use to hear it on the radio. I can remember my dad use to come into my room when i was playing it real loud and said son why are you listening to that morbid song?

[MegaTravis9]

Sorry about that idiot remark, I guess it was just the way you put it. You know, throwing her ass in the river. I know the song didn't say that. Have a nice day.

[imaStonesFan]

@flybreath Oh no it wasn`t my friend lol i thought someone was calling us a troll :)

[imaStonesFan]

@flybreath yea what were they thinking singing that to us lol?

[MegaTravis9]

Yes it is a very sweet song don't appreciate your comment about throwing her ass in the river. Thats not what the song said, IDIOT. Listen to all of the song. Not like todays so called country. This is real country.

[TheFriendlyGod]

@MegaTravis9 I'm pretty sure that the song does say he murders her and and then throws her "into the river that flows through Knoxville town". So I wouldn't call anyone an idiot over it.

[citicotobe]

I grew up in Knoxville...my Grandma used to sing this song to us when I was a kid 40 years ago! The song actually is derived from Britain.

[imaStonesFan]

@citicotobe uh yes my grand ma sing it to me also until my mom got on her and told her i was having bad dreams lol i like the song now but i sure didn`t when i was little

[WallyVanRiper1]

Their influence is still heard today.

[pookey1237]

great song from great artists!

[rambam1204]

Charlie Louvin died a few days ago.

[imaRoLLingStonzFan]

This song gives me chills!!

[bravebelt67]

gotta love those womyn killin songs!!! lol

[mountainat85]

great old blues and high harmony

[ambras1]

RIP Charlie,thanks for the music

[daviswhitetrash]

RIP MR LOUVIN thank you 4 great music you'll live forever in our hearts

[latokatn506]

taylo swiffer is pop

[knoxvillesongwriters]

yeah!

[fucdemas]

even old gay queens from NYC love the louvin bros. good music transcends all types.

[imwanderwoman]

I remember Charlie in the later '70s at the Exit/In in Nashville always playing to a packed house of other musicians. So sad he's gone. He was such a great songwriter/singer and was a sweet, soulful and funny guy. Vince Martin just let me know he's gone...listening & watching Charlie & his brother on YouTube, remembering so many lovely moments.

[pennylame]

brutal

[sothewind]

very sweet song about beating a chick to death and throwing her ass in the river.

[thegodmotherm]

Singin' it for God and the angels.

This music is from the heart and soul of these men and you won't hear anything so heartfelt as this music.

[DeepSouthWrestling1]

Rest in Peace, Charlie...

[jbjumpback]

Thanks for the music.

[chbillgr]

RIP Charlie Louvin

[Bama2506]

RIP - Sand Mountian will always remember you

[moszna20]

POP country is WAY WAY overproduced. Just look at any "arrangement" on any stage. Tens, dozens of musicians, to play what could be played by two people, like the Louvin brothers, IF they were actually competent musicians, which country musicians usually aren't, they're just a pretty body or pretty face with a half-way decent voice in front of a HUGE array of other "musicians". This arrangement thing is at its funniest especially during a slow song. Why all the people on stage for a slow song

[corvus13]

@moszna20 Taylor Swift comes to mind when I think of what you're saying here. When she sings by herself without all of the overproduction, she really can't carry a note.

[fountaintown43]

@corvus13 why would you take this time to run down a young budding star? think if taylor swift was your child. i guess next you will say shes not a talented song writer !?

[wuuuuurd]

RIP

[VEveyHammond]

I remember my dad, playing this so loud the house shook. He was drunk as shit! He read the story behind this song in the paper long ago. True story. Strange thing, I miss those times slightly, sometimes briefly. Dad was from Tennessee!

[daviswhitetrash]

na just dont like bitches like you coming on here putting down something when nobody invited you in the first place

[ChristIllusion731]

back when people were violent

[a1countrybluegrass]

Une chanson que mon grand-père ecoutait souvent.

[bosszeroboss]

That's funny, this is the same thing I did to my second wife.

I wonder what his wife did to make him so upset?

[MuddLoverr]

i love this song. My grandaddy used to sing me this all the time when i'd sit on his knee and i'm so glad youtube had it so i can learn it and sing it to my kids && always have a pieve of my Grandaddy with me :)

[imaRoLLingStonzFan]

@MuddLoverr My mom sing this to me when i was little bitty when rocking me

,but when i got old enough to know what she was saying one night it made me cry she never sing it to me no more. Good song though.Surprises me what our parents use to sing to us!!!Geeeee this was brutal lol.

[1psoas9]

could somebody please post "RObe of White"?

[susanghilton75]

I absolutely love the Louvin Brothers...I remeber playing my Dad's old records, actually wearing them out, singing along with this song. I have listened to the words and still love it!

[tcoreyb]

It's a classic death ballad. Most of these were taken from old English ballads. They have survived forever because they are gripping tragedies, as deep as Shakespeare or Euripides. Why did he kill her, even though he loved her? The answer is, he was gripped by the drama of life.

[missemilylou]

Reminds me of my grandpa <3

[Duckieisthebestenitt]

Have you listened to the lyrics?

The only reason it wasn't banned is because there were no f'ing or b'ing, this is sick if you listen to it.

WTFF!?

[HardKnox333]

Hey, I'm a Knoxville girl. Love this song. :p

[Adelaideboiisgay]

omg i never have listend to the lirics, what a terrible song

[Papafuz]

This is an old English folk song. The original title was "The Wexford Girl" It has been done using many different cities' names.

[KevTheImpaler]

@Papafuz I think this was a broadside originally, a song printed on a side of paper and sold for a penny or so. It was Oxford Girl in England, Wexford Girl in Ireland, Knoxford Girl in America. Well done to the Americans for keeping these songs alive is what I think.

[MrBuck62]

the old country will never die

[rockandroll4evermore]

She would have floated right along Cherokee Boulevard, I guess.

[BCShimDaddy]

@thefingones I agree! cant beat those harmony's.

were blessed to be able to listen to this music.

[noodlejet]

@kartofflenbrain Suppose I'd said "some" or "certain" people? You think maybe nobody hides things like violent tendencies and other unpleasant things behind religion?

[BCShimDaddy]

@thefingones I know thats why im religious!

[thefingones]

@BCShimDaddy The religion issue aside, the Louvin Bros. singing can't be beat.

[proposals]

These lyrics are... terrifying. Gotta love a murder ballad.

[thefingones]

These guys sing a lot of Christian songs. Is this the other side, why people get so religious, to make up for violent tendencies?

[PleaseShakeWell]

@thefingones This song wasn't written by The Louvin Brothers, it's an old traditional tune. It is kind of typical country to sing dark songs such as this. The Louvin Brothers would never do such a thing, but they sure as hell will sing a haunting song about doing it!

[LittleBrownGuitars]

dang... kinda scary

[MrBuck62]

the louvins........one of the greatest duoes in country music

[jpcountrymusic1]

Love this song!!!

[catfishcool]

this is an old tune we would sing at family gatherings.....of course the music is ripped from the old gospel tune of the lifeboat.

[jfcowboy42]

My grandmother used to sing this when i was a young boy, she played the organ and sang this many times brings back memories

[Tscholing]

Die! This Music Sucks balls

[daviswhitetrash]

@Tscholing you suck balls! you little homo! why dont you die! nobody asked your ass to listen to it. i see your infatuated with corvettes what happened you ost your ass cherry in one? faggot!

[Tscholing]

@daviswhitetrash

Hmm...frustrated?

[deadadelta]

HITLER used High Doses of Fluoride in the Water at the Camps keep people in a Zombie state cut guards 75%, Its causing Brain Damage including Alzeheimers Disease, 7 types of Cancer

NWO has it in Cola's says Sodium really Hex-ACID see films at FluorideAlert & FluorideAction, cost 4cents day take Magnesium before each meal break ADDICTION to cola in two weeks

[cassiescove]

This reminds me of my parents..They would always play this when I was a kid!1I love listening to this now!!

[wovokanarchy]

@cassiescove Mine were drunk were yours?

[cassiescove]

@wovokanarchy yes they were on most weekeneds.

[nsitzlar]

My mother use to sing this song to me when I was a little girl. Though its a sad song I love hearing it because of the warm memories it brings back to me about my mom. i listened to several other copies of the song but this is by far the BEST. It is so much like the original. Thank you for sharing this song and allowing me to once again hear my mother singing this song to me as she did when I was a little girl.

[gfacekilla43]

it's only fitting that this song came with our scot-irish ancestors to america and found a home in the apps.

[BCShimDaddy]

thats a savage song............

[usedtoplay]

My mother had a LP from national geographic that was recorded on the front porches of the Ozarks. This song was performed by some old geezers who Yankees couldnt understand to save their lives. But a more beautiful version of this song Ive never herd since.

[xrollin69x]

monizzle22 he says the fair girl not fat girl

[xIluvJustinBieber101]

that is so mean

[annabelle123dog]

It is sad to read some of these comments about this classic song. :(

[deltabtry]

@annabelle123dog This song goes back almost four hundred years, as the Wexford Girl or possibly the Oxford Girl. The origins is not exactly known but what is, is that it was orginally written in England and then pick up here in the U.S. quite some time ago. Most country, blurgrass are stories written as songs. Sorry for being long on the tooth but lastly I agree with you.

[cocomaun]

If you listened to the words you would know what the song is about ! Her dark and roving eyes !! He loved her and she was cheating on him !! So he kills her. Jealousy, plain and simple.

[JesskaIsGay]

hahahahah omg! thats so funny lol fat girl omg look how dumb i am lol,....wait oh no im calling myself dumb for not growing the hell up and learning new things to say =]

[grayforester]

@ernlay - Maybe you like this because it is not Bluegrass music. It is plenty Hillbilly, though, so you're good to go.

[Galahad505]

I found this song on an online radio station and found myself tapping my toe to the beat after hearing it 2 or 3 times. Then I listened to the lyrics and almost fell off the chair. What a great song, but I guess you just have to keep in mind that it was written in another era when you listen to the words . . .

[Shmior]

can someone tell me what this song is about? killing for the hell of it?

[swtangel3131]

@Shmior life lol

[ChristIllusion731]

@Shmior more or less

[frumplen]

i took a stick up off the ground and knocked that fat girl down hahahahahahahahahahaha

[daggertron]

It's fair girl

[Wendy8574]

@frumplen knocked that fair girl down

[monizzle22]

FAT girl....that's crappin HILARIOUS!!

[Wendy8574]

My momma use to sing old songs to me all the time while we worked in the garden, but this was my very favorite one she sang. I looked for the version she sung for a while and this one is it. My mommas been gone for a while now but that song will be forever burned into my happy memories as a young girl. thank you for posting it here. The original song and version come from Ireland in the early 1700s and it was called Oxford Girl. Thank you again for posting this song.

[sitnstill4now]

@Wendy8574 The Wexford Girl too

[ernlay]

I really do not like that much bluegrass, but the bluegrass, I like I love. This is part of it. Some of the best harmony that ever was. Mack Wiseman is another that is great.

[jambimon]

Louvin Harmonies are some of the best I've ever heard. Killer song

[Dubiousjohnny]

I entered Knoxville Girls hoping to get Kid Congo's band as a result of the search....interesting song. Truly macabre.

[deltabtry]

@Dubiousjohnny  Have you heard the version of Knowville Girl by the Outlaws..it's awesome although a lot of the words have been changed but the tune..awesome truckin music.

[deltabtry]

@Dubiousjohnny Have you heard the version of Knowville Girl by the Outlaws..it's awesome although a lot of the words have been changed but the tune..awesome truckin music.

[plopnod]

This song is as dark as it is pretty.I believe that Leadbelly did the original version of this song,granted it has been altered somewhat.Yes I may be wrong on this