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It was the third of June
another sleepy,

dusty, delta day
I was out choppin' cotton
and my brother was
bailin' hay

And at dinnertime we
stopped and walked back
to the house to eat
And Mama hollered at the
back door,

Ya'll remember to wipe
your feet
And then she said, I got
some news this morning
from Choctaw ridge.

Today Billy Joe McAllister
jumped off the
Tallahatchee bridge.
And Papa said to Mama as
he passed around the

black-eyed peas,
Oh, Billy Joe never had a
lick of sense,pass the
biscuits, please.

There's five more acres in
the lower forty I've got
to plow.
Seems like nothin' ever
comes to no good up on
And Mama said it was a
shame about Billy Joe
anyhow.
Seems like nothin' ever
comes to no good up on
Choctaw ridge

And now Billy Joe
McAllister's jumped off the
Tallahatchee bridge.
And brother said he
recollected when he and

Tom and Billy Joe
He put a frog down my back
at the Carroll County
And brother said he

recollected when he and
Tom and Billy Joe
He put a frog down my back
at the Carroll County
picture show

And wasn't I talkin' to him
after church last
Sunday night
I'll have another piece of
apple pie, you know it don't

seem right.
I saw him at the sawmill
yesterday up on
Choctaw ridge,

And now you tell me Billy
Joe has jumped off the
Tallahatchee bridge.
And Mama said to me,
Child, what's happened to

your appetite?
Why, I been cookin' all
morning and you haven't
touched a single bite.

That nice young preacher,
Brother Taylor dropped
by today,
Said he'd be pleased to
have dinner on Sunday,
Oh, by the way,he said he
saw a girl that looked a lot
like you up on Choctaw
tdge,
And she and Billy Joe was
throwin' somethin' off the
Tallahatchee bridge.

A year has come and gone
since we heard the news
'bout Billy Joe.
There was a virus goin'
'round, Papa caught it and
And Brother married Becky
Thompson, they bought a

store in Tupelo.
There was a virus goin'
'round, Papa caught it and
he died last spring,

And now Mama doesn't
seem to wanna do much
of anything.
And me, I spend a lot of
time pickin' flowers

up on Choctaw ridge,
And droppin' 'em into the
muddy water off the
Tallahatchee bridge.
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Title
Ode To Billy Joe
Artist
Bobby Gentry
Brand
Idol Makers
(3 Other Versions)
Code
IM018-15