He was on his way home from Candletop
Been two weeks gone and he thought he'd stop
At Web's and have him a drink 'fore he went home to her
Andy Wo-Lo said, "Hello", he said, "Hi, what's new?"
And Wo said, "Sit down, I got some bad news that's gonna hurt"
"Now, I'm your best friend and you know that's right
But your young bride ain't home tonight
Since you've been gone, she's been seeing that Amos boy, Seth"
Now he got mad and he saw red
Andy said, "Boy, don't you lose your head
'Cause to tell you the truth, I've been with her myself"
That's the night that the lights went out in Georgia
That's the night that they hung an innocent man
So, don't trust your soul to no backwoods Southern lawyer
'Cause the judge in the town's got bloodstains on his hands
Andy got scared and left the bar
Walking on home 'cause he didn't live far, you see
Andy didn't have many friends and he just lost him one
Brother thought his wife must have left town
He went home and finally found
The only thing Daddy had left him, and that was a gun
So he went off to Andy's house
Slipping through the backwoods quiet as a mouse
Came upon some tracks too small for Andy to make
He looked through the screen at the back porch door
He saw Andy lying on the floor
In a puddle of blood, and he started to shake
The Georgia patrol was making their rounds
So he fired a shot, just to flag 'em down
A big-bellied sheriff grabbed his gun and said
"Why'd you do it?"
The judge said "guilty" on a make-believe trial
Slapped the sheriff on the back with a smile
Said, "supper's waiting at home and I got to get to it"
That's the night that the lights went out in Georgia
That's the night that they hung an innocent man
So, don't trust your soul to no backwoods Southern lawyer
'Cause the judge in the town's got bloodstains on his hands
They hung my brother before I could say
The tracks he saw while on his way
To Andy's house and back that night were mine
And his cheating wife had never left town
That's one body that'll never be found
You see, little sister don't miss when she aims her gun
That's the night that the lights went out in Georgia
That's the night that they hung an innocent man
So, don't trust your soul to no backwoods Southern lawyer
'Cause the judge in the town's got bloodstains on his hands