I was born (*) in Macon, Georgia 

They kept my Daddy in the Macon jail

He said, Son, if you keep your hands clean, uh huh

You wont hear those bloodhounds on your trail



Verse 2

I fell in with bad companions

I robbed a man up in Tennessee

And I got caught way up in Nashville, uh huh now

And they locked me up and threw away the key



CHORUS

I washed my hands in muddy water

I washed my hands, but they didnt come clean

I tried to do like my daddy told me, now

I must have washed my hands in a muddy stream



Verse 3


I asked the jailer, said Whens my time up?

He said Son, you know we wont forget

And if you try and just keep your hands clean, uh huh

Why we may just make a good man of you yet



Verse 4

But I didnt wait to get my time in

I broke down, broke out the Nashville jail

I just crossed Atlanta, Georgia, oh now

And I can hear those bloodhounds on my trail



I washed my hands in muddy water

I washed my hands, but they didnt come clean

I tried to do like my daddy told me, now

I must have washed my hands in a muddy stream