A song for dog lovers--and jailbreakers

There are some country songs I love and a whole bunch of others I don't like at all, but every afternoon, driving home from work, I switch back and forth between two country music stations and listen for something new. If neither station is playing anything interesting, I switch to an oldies-but-goodies station. If that doesn't work, I switch to a CD. The rock/talk station I listen to in the morning is too jarring for afternoon traffic.

Yesterday, on one of the country stations, I heard a song I'd forgotten about. I like the lyrics so much I decided to post them here for those of you who may not have heard this song. Even if you don't like country music, I think you'll enjoy the story this one tells.

Ol' Red
As sung by Blake Shelton.
Written by James Bohon, Don Goodman and Mark Sherrill.

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 tracking 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.

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 tree'd before the mornin' come."

Well, I paid off the guard and I slipped out a letter
To my cousin up in Tennessee.
Oh, an' 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 evening run,
I'd just drop him off and wait.

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 tree'd before the mornin' come."

Now Ol' Red got real used to seeing
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 'em turn Red out.
'Cause I was headed north to Tennessee,
And Ol' Red was headed south.

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 tree'd before the mornin' come."

Now there's red-haired blue ticks all in the South.
Love got me in here and love got me out.