Lynchin' Party

(album: 500 Miles Away From Home - 1963)

The Lynch mob gathered in the square across from the jail
Young Billy watched them from his cell and felt his courage fail
Bill swore he wasn't guilty but the evidence was plain
Tomorrow he would go on trial for killing Mary Jane.

They shouted beat the prisoner hardy
We're gonna have a Lynching party
Gonna hang him high
Watch him die for killing Mary Jane.

The mob is closer to the jail excitement all around
The deputies kept moving back afraid to hold their ground
Then the young girl cried you cowards but the Lynch mob searched ahead
Dragged young Billy from that jail and soon the kid was dead.

They shouted beat the prisoner hardy
We're gonna have a Lynching party
Gonna hang him high
Watch him die for killing Mary Jane.

The weeks went by and no one spoke about it anymore
Or seemed to see the wreath Bill's mother hung upon the door
Then one night they dragged a ragged hobo from a train
And he confessed he was the one who killed young Mary Jane.

They shouted beat the prisoner hardy
We're gonna have a Lynching party
Gonna hang him high
Watch him die for killing Mary Jane.

Gonna hang him high
Watch him die for killing Mary Jane...