Tom Dooley

Lyrics as performed by The Kingston Trio, El Paso, TX, 1958, first published by John and Allan Lomax in 1947 "Folk Songs USA"

"One afternoon in 1957, the Trio heard this song at a Purple Onion audition. It told of Tom Dula, a Civil War veteran returned home to the Blue Ridge Mountains who was wrongfully hanged for murder in 1868. They recorded it in February 1958 for their debut album, The Kingston Trio, and when several disc jockeys picked up on the song, Capitol Records released it as a single. No one could have foreseen the results: It shot to No. I, gained the group a Grammy for Best Country and Western Vocal Performance and helped keep The Kingston Trio album on the charts into 1961. It also inspired the 1959 film The Legend of Torn Dooley, which starred Michael Landon."

INTRO:
Throughout history, there've been many songs written about the eternal triangle. This next one tells the story of a Mr. Grayson, a beautiful woman, and a condemned man named Tom Dooley...
When the sun rises tomorrow, Tom Dooley... must hang...

Hang down your head, Tom Dooley,
Hang down your head and cry;
Hang down your head, Tom Dooley,
Poor boy, you're bound to die.

I met her on the mountain,
There I took her life;
Met her on the mountain,
Stabbed her with my knife.

Hang down your head, Tom Dooley,
Hang down your head and cry;
Hang down your head, Tom Dooley,
Poor boy, you're bound to die.

This time tomorrow,
Reckon where I'll be;
Hadn't a-been for Grayson,
I'd a-been in Tennessee.

Hang down your head, Tom Dooley,
Hang down your head and cry;
Hang down your head, Tom Dooley,
Poor boy, you're bound to die.

This time tomorrow,
Reckon where I'll be;
Down in some lonesome valley,
Hangin' from a white oak tree.

Hang down your head, Tom Dooley,
Hang down your head and cry;
Hang down your head, Tom Dooley,
Poor boy, you're bound to die.

Poor boy, you're bound to die;
Poor boy you're bound to die;
Poor boy, you're bound to die...