Little Sadie lyrics

Song information

Artist: Doc Watson
Album: The Best Of Doc Watson

Lyrics

Went out one night for to make a little round
I met little sadie and I shot her down
Went back home and I got in my bed
Forty-four smokeless under my head

Waked up the morning 'bout a half past nine
The hacks and the buggies all standing in line
The gents and the gamblers standing all round
Taking little sadie to her burying ground

I begin to think what a deed I'd done
I grabbed my hat and away I run
Made a good run but a little too slow
They overtook me in jericho

I's standing on the corner, reading the bill
When up stepped the sheriff from thomasville
And he said, "young man, ain't your name brown?
Remember that night you shot sadie down?"

I said, "yes, sir, my name is lee
And I murdered little sadie in the first degree
First degree and the second degree
If you got any papers, won't you read 'em to me?"

They took me downtown, dressed me in black
To put me on the train and started me back
Cram me back in that thomasville jail
And I had no money for to go my bail

The judge and the jury, they took their stand
The judge had the papers in his right hand
Forty-one days and forty-one nights
Forty-one years to wear the ball and the stripes