it was the 3rd of june another sleepy dusty delta day

i was out choppin' cotton and my brother was bailin' hay.

at dinner time we stopped off on down to the house to eat

and mama hollered out the backdoor y'all remember to wipe your feet.



she said i heard bit of news this mornin' from choctaw ridge

seems that billy joe macallister's jumped off the tallahatchee bridge.



well papa said to mama as he passed around the black eyed peas

billy joe never had a lick of sense, pass the biscuits please

there's 5 more acres in the lower 40 i got to plow

mama said was a shame about billy joe anyhow

seems that nothin' never comes to no good up on choctaw ridge and now you

tell me billy joe has jumped off the tallahatchee bridge.



brother recollected when he and tom and billy joe

put a frog down my back at the carol couty picture show

and wasnt i talkin' to him after church last sunday night

i'll have another peice of apple pie but oh it dont seem right

saw him at the sawmill yesterday up on choctaw ridge

and now you tell me billy joe has jumped off the tallahatchee bridge



mama said to me child what's happened to your appetite?

i've been cooking all morning and you havent touched a single bite



that nice young preacher brother taylor dropped by today,

said he'd be pleased have dinner on sunday,

oh by the way

said he saw a girl who looked alot like you up on choctaw ridge

and she and billy joe was throwin' something off the tallahatchee bridge.



a year's come and gone since we heard the news about billy joe

brother married becky thompson and they bought a store in tupelo

was a virus goin round and papa caught and he died last spring

now mama doesnt