These chains of sorrow   They are heavy, it is true   And these locks cannot be broken   No, not with one thousand keys      O Jailer, you're dragging   Ball and chain, you cannot see   You can lay your burden on me      You can lay down your burden on me   You can bring burden down upon me   But you can't lay down your memories, no      Here I go, knockin' on Joe   This square foot of sky will be mine til I die   Knockin' on Joe, all down the row   Knockin' on Joe      O Warden, I surrender to you   Your fists can't hurt me anymore   You know, these hands will never mop   Your dirty 'Death Row' floors      Preacher, come closer   You don't scare me anymore   Just tell Nancy not to come here   O, tell her not to come   And let me die in the memory of her arms      All down the row, knockin' on Joe   O you Kings of halls, ends of halls   You will die within these walls   And I'll go, all down the row, knockin' on Joe      O Nancy's body is a coffin   She wears my tombstone at her head   Her body is a coffin   She wears my tombstone at her head      She wears her body like a coffin   She wears a dress of gold and red   She wears a dress of gold and red   She wears a dress of red and gold      Grave robbers at my coffin   Before my body's even cold   It's a door for when I go   Knockin' on Joe      O, these hands will never mop   Your dirty row floors   No and you can hide, you can run   You can run, you can hide      You'll stay, you'll come   O but your trial is yet to come   O you can run, you can hide   But you have yet to be tried      You can lay your burdens down here   You can lay your burden down   Knockin' on Joe      You can lay your burden upon me   You can lay your burden on me   Knockin' on Joe      You can lay it down here   You can bring burden down   Knockin' on Joe      You can't hurt me anymore, no   You can't hurt me anymore, no   Knockin' on Joe      You can bring burden down   You can bring burden down