Ol' Red

According to the Ol' Red Songfacts, Shelton came across this song accidentally when he first moved to Nashville. After holding onto it for many years he had to fight his record company to get it on his debut album. Once he got it onto his album, he had to fight to get it released as a single. Then it was another battle to get them to put it out as a video. The reason being that nobody ever thought that type of story song would be something accepted in country radio and by country music fans in general. It became one of Shelton's most commonly-requested tunes in concert, and he considers it his signature song.

[Verse 1] Well I caught my wife with another man And it cost me ninety nine On a prison farm in Georgia Close to the Florida line Well I'd been here for two long years I finally made the warden my friend And so he sentenced me to a life of ease Taking care of Ol' Red Now Ol' Red he's the damnedest dog that I've ever seen Got a nose that can smell a two-day trail He's a four-legged trackin' machine You can consider yourself mighty lucky To get past the gators and the quicksand beds But all these years that I've been here Ain't nobody got past Red [Chorus] And the warden sang Come on somebody Why don't you run Ol' Red's itchin' to have a little fun Get my lantern Get my gun Red'll have you treed before the mornin' comes [Verse 2] Well I paid off the guard and I slipped out a letter To my cousin up in Tennessee Oh and he brought down a blue tick hound She was pretty as she could be Well they penned her up in the swampland 'Bout a mile just south of the gate And I'd take Ol' Red for his evenin' run I'd just drop him off and wait [Chorus] And the warden sang Come on somebody Why don't you run Ol' Red's itchin' to have a little fun Get my lantern Get my gun Red'll have you treed before the mornin' comes [Verse 3] Now Ol' Red got real used to seein' His lady every night And so I kept him away for three or four days And waited till the time got right Well I made my run with the evenin' sun And I smiled when I heard them let Red out Cause I was headed north to Tennessee And Ol' Red was headed south [Chorus] And the warden sang Come on somebody Why don't you run Ol' Red's itchin' to have a little fun Get my lantern Get my gun Red'll have you treed before the mornin' comes [Outro] Now there's red-haired blue ticks all in the South Love got me in here and love got me out