Another Look Knoxville Girl pt 3

Previous posts can be found here and here.



Just as a reminder, here are the lyrics from Knoxville Girl.

As I've said before I'm not a music historian so finding other's perspectives on certain songs I love is a joy.  While fuddling around on the internet a while back.  I discovered Murder By Gaslight, which had a post on my beloved Knoxville Girl.


Turns out, while the ballad does have it's origins in England and Ireland, Americans imprinted an actual murder on the song.


Murder By Gaslight led me to the fantastic article "Not Prepared to Die: Knoxville Girl" which talks about many of the things I did in my first post, although far more eloquently then I every could:

The killer didn't just visit this girl's home on Sunday evenings, he dwelt there, which carries a definite suggestion that he stayed the night. Faced with imminent death, the girl says she's “unprepared to die”, which tells us she's not yet had a chance to make her peace with God about some recent sin that's troubling her mind. Her “dark and roving eye” hints that - in the killer's mind at least - she's a bit of a temptress. Although she can now never be his bride, that possibility's evidently been raised, or why else would he mention it?  - Paul Slade

Paul Slade also mentioned another great version, Charlie Louvin's version from his 2007 album, Charlie Louvin.  It features Will Oldman as well.  The song can be found here

Used to Love Her

Random Guns N' Roses Talk 

I used to love GNR a lot.  I was thirteen, so think about your basic Justin Bieber fangirl and replace it with Axl Rose.  Then I discovered Bikini Kill and feminism.  I started wearing  combat boots, writing bad poetry and moved on.

Too bad.  Appitie for Destruction was a great album.  That being said, Axl Rose is an ass.  They could have made a lot of great albums, instead they made one great album, two sort of good albums, one dull covers album, and one bargin bin laughing stock.  

Talk Over

I hesitated before deciding to discuss the Guns' N Roses song, Used to Love Her.  Listening to it makes me feel guilty, the same way that liking the work that Tina Turner did with Ike more than her solo output makes me feel guilty.  While Axl Rose has never killed anyone, there's more than enough evidence out there that he has physically abused his partners.   

What makes this song any different than the other killing women type songs?  Besides the fact it's sung by a man who is an abuser?    The woman in Used to Love Her is disposable.

The women in Deila's Gone and 99 to Life are killed for withholding their very powerful affection.  The poor Knoxvile Girl is possibly killed for an unplanned pregnancy.  The woman in "Used to Love Her"? "She bitched so much, she drove [him] nuts." She became an annoyance, so the man simply killed her and buried her in his backyard.   And he's "happier this way".

The killers in Deila, Knoxvile and 99 pay for their crimes.  All suffer from remorse.  Haunted by ghosts and devils around their beds.   They all go to prison.  Axl Rose's killer is untouched by the law.

Yet the song, in my opinion is pretty damn funny.

I'd knew I'd miss her
so I had to keep her
she's buried right in my backyard

I still can't help but feel conflicted.  I give a lot of other songs a pass.  But not this one.  Is it fair?  Maybe not, but I'm sure that's human nature.

Another Look: Knoxville Girl

Original Knoxville Girl post here.

One of my favorite scenes from the movie "Searching for the Wrong Eyed Jesus".

Knoxville GIrl

I met a little girl in Knoxville

a town we all know well

And every Sunday evening

out in her home I'd dwell

We went to take an evening walk

about a mile from town

I picked a stick up off the ground and

knocked that fair girl down.

- Knoxville Girl, Traditional

She's been from Wexford and Oxford. When the Irish brought her to America she made Knoxville her home. No matter her where she's from, it always ends the same; beaten with a stick (or a fence post), dragged by her hair and tossed in the river.

Why did he do it? Little reason is given, expect for her "dark and rovin' eyes".

While the details are lurid, the music is sweet and haunting. I think that this juxtaposition of music and lyrics is why I find the song so fascinating. Some versions I've heard almost sound like a lullaby.

Arthur Tanner and His Corn Shuckers, who recorded it in 1927, are a good example of this. Tanner's voice is simple, straightforward and sad.

My personal favorite version however is by the Louvin Brothers.

Ira Louvin might have been a violent drunk, but damn he had a good sense of harmony. The high low sound, beautiful.

Other versions worth checking out are Brett Sparks With the Pine Valley Cosmonauts which can be found on The Executioner's Last Song, a fantastic album, containing much of the material that this blog is about, and Nick Cave's version which was a B-Side to "Henry Lee" another great song.

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Knoxville Girl Lyrics

Wexford Girl Lyrics