Well I caught my wife
with another man
And it cost me
ninety nine
On a prison
farm in Georgia
Close to the
Florida line
Well I'd been here
for two long years
I finally made the
warden my friend
And so he sentenced me
to a life of ease
Taking care of Ol Red
Now Ol' Red he's
the damnedest dog
that I've ever seen
Got a nose
that can smell
a two day trail
He's a four legged
tracking machine
You can consider
yourself mighty lucky
To get past the gators
and the quicksand beds
But all these years
that I've been here
Ain't nobody
got past Red
And the warden sang
Come on somebody
Why don't you run
Ol' Red's itchin' to
have a little fun
Get my lantern
Get my gun
Red'll have you treed
before the mornin'
comes
Well I paid off
the guard
and I slipped
out a letter
To my cousin up
in Tennessee
Oh and he brought
down a blue tick hound
She was pretty as
she could be
Well they penned her up
in the swampland
'Bout a mile
just south of the gate
And I'd take Ol' Red
for his evening run
I'd just drop him
off and wait
And the warden sang
Come on somebody
Why don't you run
Ol' Red's itchin' to
have a little fun
Get my lantern
Get my gun
Red'll have you treed
before the mornin'
comes
Now Ol' Red got real
used to seeing
His lady every night
And so I kept him
away for
three or four days
And waited till
the time got right
Well I made my run
with the evenin' sun
And I smiled when
I heard 'em let Red out
'Cause I was headed
north to Tennessee
And Ol' Red
was headed south
And the warden sang
Come on somebody
Why don't you run
Ol' Red's itchin' to
have a little fun
Get my lantern
Get my gun
Red'll have you treed
before the mornin'
comes
Now there's red
haired blue
ticks all in the South
Love got me in here
and love got me out