Nina Jo Smith - Take Me Back to Tennessee

Take Me Back to Tennessee
Words & Music by Nina Jo Smith (BMI
© 2023 Redwood River Music (BMI)

I was born in Coffee County
Got conscripted to the war
Me and the boys marched up to Franklin
I don’t see those boys no more
I don’t see those boys no more

When they marched us up to Franklin
Schofield’s boys was dug well-in
In their hands a Henry rifle
Met us in the slaughter pen
They met us in the slaughter pen

Don’t bury me on Johnson’s Island
It’s so cold and lonely here
My bones can’t rest by old Lake Erie
Take me back to Tennessee
Take me back to Tennessee

On the last day of November
In the year of ‘64
We fought late into the evening
Hand to hand while bullets roared
Hand to hand while bullets roared

Took a bullet before sunrise
They marched us wounded to the train
Rode a boxcar to Ohio
Locked us up in their stockade
They locked us up in their stockade

Don’t bury me on Johnson’s Island
My dear Mary is not here
My bones can’t rest by old Lake Erie
Take me back to Tennessee
Take me back to Tennessee

Just so you know, my name is William
Didn’t do nothing I could win a medal for
I was just one of so many thousands
Lost a battle in a war
I Lost a battle in a war

Don’t bury me on Johnson’s Island
My little Laura is not here
My bones can’t rest by old Lake Erie
Take me back to Tennessee
Take me back,
Take me back,
Take me back to Tennessee

Take me back,
Take me back,
Take me back to Tennessee