He was on his way home from Candletop

Been two weeks gone, and he'd thought he'd stop

At Web's and have him a drink 'fore he went home to her

Andy Warlord said, "Hello"

He said, "Hi, what's doin'?"

Wo said, "Sit down, I got some bad news and it's gonna hurt"

He said, "I'm your best friend, and you know that's right

But your young bride ain't home tonight

Since you been gone, she's been seeing that Amos boy, Seth"

Well 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

Well, don't trust your soul to no backwoods, southern lawyer

'Cause the judge in the town's got blood stains on his hands

Well Andy got scared, and left the bar

Walkin' on home, 'cause he didn't live far

See, Andy didn't have many friends and he just lost him one

Brother thought his wife musta left town

So he went home and finally found

The only thing Papa had left him, and that was a gun

And he went off to Andy's house

And slippin' through the back woods quiet as a mouse

Came upon some tracks too small for Andy to make

He looked through the screen at the back porch door

And he saw Andy lyin' on the floor

In a puddle of blood, and he started to shake

Well, the Georgia patrol was making their rounds

So he fired a shot just to flag 'em down

And a big-bellied sheriff grabbed his gun and said, "Why'd you do it?"

And the judge said "guilty" in a make-believe trial

Slapped the sheriff on the back with a smile

Said, "Supper's waitin' at home, and I gotta get to it"

That's the night that the lights went out in Georgia

That's the night that they hung an innocent man

Well, don't trust your soul to no backwoods, southern lawyer

'Cause the judge in the town's got blood stains on his hands

Well, 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 cheatin' wife had never left town

And that's one body that'll never be found

See, little sister don't miss when she aims her gun

That's the night that the lights went out in Georgia, oh, oh-oh

That's the night that they hung an innocent man, uh huh

Well, don't trust your soul to no backwoods, southern lawyer

'Cause the judge in the town's got blood stains on his hands, oh