Ode To Billy Joe

<br>it was the 3rd of june another sleepy dusty delta day <br>i was out choppin` cotton and my brother was bailin` hay. <br>at dinner time we stopped off on down to the house to eat <br>and mama hollered out the backdoor y`all remember to wipe your feet. <br><br>she said i heard bit of news this mornin` from choctaw ridge <br>seems that billy joe macallister`s jumped off the tallahatchee bridge. <br><br>well papa said to mama as he passed around the black eyed peas <br>billy joe never had a lick of sense, pass the biscuits please <br>there`s 5 more acres in the lower 40 i got to plow <br>mama said was a shame about billy joe anyhow <br>seems that nothin` never comes to no good up on choctaw ridge and now you <br>tell me billy joe has jumped off the tallahatchee bridge. <br><br>brother recollected when he and tom and billy joe <br>put a frog down my back at the carol couty picture show <br>and wasnt i talkin` to him after church last sunday night <br>i`ll have another peice of apple pie but oh it dont seem right <br>saw him at the sawmill yesterday up on choctaw ridge <br>and now you tell me billy joe has jumped off the tallahatchee bridge <br><br>mama said to me child what`s happened to your appetite? <br>i`ve been cooking all morning and you havent touched a single bite <br><br>that nice young preacher brother taylor dropped by today, <br>said he`d be pleased have dinner on sunday, <br>oh by the way <br>said he saw a girl who looked alot like you up on choctaw ridge <br>and she and billy joe was throwin` something off the tallahatchee bridge. <br><br>a year`s come and gone since we heard the news about billy joe <br>brother married becky thompson and they bought a store in tupelo <br>was a virus goin round and papa caught and he died last spring <br>now mama doesnt seem to wanto do much of anything <br>me i spend alot of my time pickin flowers up on choctaw ridge <br>and throw `em into the muddy water off the tallahatchee bridge.