G / / / 2 /
                     D
I was home in Macon, Georgia
                   D7             G
They kept my Daddy   in the Macon jail
                                C
He said, "Son, if you keep your hands clean, uh huh
G                    D7                  G
You won't 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 (same pattern as above 2 verses):
I washed my hands in muddy water
I washed my hands, but they didn't come clean
I tried to do like my daddy told me, now
I must have washed my hands in a muddy stream

Verse 3:
E7            A                       E
  I asked the jailer, said "When's my time up?"
             E7                     A
He said "Son,  you know we won't forget
                                  D
And if you try and just keep your hands clean, uh huh
    A                  E7              A
Why we may just make a good man of you yet"

Verse 4:
But I didn't 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

(chorus; same pattern as above 2 verses)

F7            Bb             F
  I washed my hands in muddy water
                   F7                     Bb
I washed my hands,   but they didn't come clean
                            Eb
I tried to do like my daddy told me, now
  Bb                  F7               Bb
I must have washed my hands in a muddy stream