Did you ever see a hangman tie a hangknot?
Did you ever see a hangman tie a hangknot?
I've seen it many a time and he winds, he winds
After thirteen times he's got a hangknot

Tell me will that hangknot slip, no it will not
Will that hangknot slip, no it will not
Slip around your neck, but it won't slip back again
Hangknot, hangknot, that hangknot

Did you ever lose your father on a hangknot?
Did you ever lose your father on a hangknot?
They hung him from a pole, and they shot him full of holes
Left him there to rot on that hangknot

Tell me who makes the laws for that hangknot?
Who makes the laws for that hangknot?
Who says who will go to the calaboose?
Get the hangman's noose on a hangknot

I don't know who makes the law for that hangknot
I don't know who makes the law for that hangknot
But the bones of many a men are whistling in the wind
Just because they tied their laws with a hangknot