On the eve of our fourth anniversary I caught my beloved in the warm embrace of another

The aftermath of which resulted in my detention for 99 years in state prison

Not far from the border between Ware and Baker counties

Close in proximity to the state line between Florida and Georgia

Over my first two years as ward of the stateI managed to befriend the warden, who, in turn

Repaid in kind with the promise of a lifе spent looking after his dog, Red

Now Ol’ Rеd, he was the damnedest dog I’d ever seen

With a powerful nose that’d smell a two-day trail - a bonafide trackin’ machine

Despite all of the other methods of escaping this hell, past the gators and the quicksand fence

In all my years here I have never seen anybody get past Red

“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 tree’d 'fore the mornin' comes”

So I struck up a plan, payed off the guard and relayed a letter to my cousin in Tennessee

To bring me down a blue-tick hound, the prettiest one he could find

Had ‘em pin her up in the swamplands about a mile just south of the gate

And every evening, while taking Red out for his runs

I’d lead him ‘round, light a cigarette, and just wait

“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 tree’d 'fore the mornin' comes”

After a few weeks Red had gotten mighty accustomed to his evening strolls

So I decided to take a new route. Though he didn’t take kindly to this sudden change

It was 4 days later that I decided to strike out on a run neath the setting sun

I heard the bell as they let Red out and a grin streaked across my face

As I escaped North and Red headed South!

“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 tree’d 'for the mornin' comes”

Red-haired blue ticks

All in the South

Love got me in here

And love got me out