Well I caught my wife with another man
And it cost me ninety-nine
On a prison farm in Georgia
Up close to the Florida line
Well I've been here for two long years
I finally made the warden my friend
So he sentenced me to a life of ease
Taking care of Ol' Red

Now Ol' Red, he's a damnedest dog
That I've ever seen
Got a nose that could smell a two-day trail
He's a four-legged tracking machine
You can consider yourself mighty lucky
To get past the gators and the quicksand
But all these years since I've been here
Ain't nobody got past Red

And the warden sang: Come on somebody, why don't you run?
Ol' Red's itching to have a little fun
Get my lantern, get my gun
Red'll have you treed 'fore the morning comes

Well I paid off the guards and I slipped out a letter
To my cousin up in Tennessee
Well and he brought down a bluetick hound
She was pretty as she could be
And they penned her up in the swampland
'Bout a mile just south of the pen
And I'd take Ol' Red for his evening runs
I'd just drop him off on his way

And the warden sang: Come on somebody, why don't you run?
Ol' Red's itching to have a little fun
Get my lantern, get my gun
Red'll have you treed 'fore the morning comes

Now Ol' Red got real used to seeing
His lady every night
So I kept him away for three or four days
Waited till the time got right
Well I made my run with the evening Sun
And I smiled when I heard 'em turn Red out
'Cause I was headed north to Tennessee
And Ol' Red was headed south

Yeah, and the warden sang: Come on somebody, why don't you run?
Ol' Red's itching to have a little fun
Get my lantern, get my gun
Red'll have you treed 'fore the morning comes

Now there's red-haired, blueticks all in the south
Love got me in here
And love got me out