I was born in Macon, Georgia   They kept my dad in the Macon jail   Dad said son if you keep your hands clean   You won't hear them bloodhounds on your trail      But I fell in with bad companions   We robbed a man in Tennessee   The sheriff caught me way up in Nashville   They locked me up and threw away the key      I asked the jailor when's my time up   He said son we won't forget   And if you try to keep your hands clean   We may make a good man of you yet      I couldn't wait to do my sentence   I broke out of the Nashville jail   I just crossed the line of Georgia   And I can hear them bloodhounds on my trail      I washed my hands in muddy water   I washed my hands but they didn't come clean   I tried to do like Daddy told me   But I must have washed my hands in a muddy stream      Yes I must have washed my hands in a muddy stream