Patricia Barber - Ode To Billy Joe lyrics

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It was the third of June<br />

Another sleepy, dusty Delta day<br />

I was out choppin' cotton<br />

And my brother was balin' hay<br />

<br />

At dinner time we stopped<br />

Walked back to the house to eat<br />

Mama hollered out the back door<br />

"Y'all remember to wipe your feet"<br />

<br />

Then she said, "I got some news<br />

This mornin' from Choctaw Ridge"<br />

"Today Billy Joe Mac Allister<br />

Jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge"<br />

<br />

Papa said to Mama as he passed<br />

Around the black eyed peas<br />

"Well, Billy Joe never had a lick of sense<br />

Pass the biscuits, please"<br />

<br />

"There's five more acres<br />

In the lower forty I've got to plow"<br />

Mama said it was shame<br />

About Billy Joe, anyhow<br />

<br />

Seems like nothin' ever comes<br />

To no good up on Choctaw Ridge<br />

And now Billy Joe Mac Allister's<br />

Jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge<br />

<br />

Mama said to me<br />

"Child, what's happened to your appetite?<br />

I've been cookin' all mornin'<br />

And you haven't touched a single bite"<br />

<br />

"That nice young preacher<br />

Brother Taylor, dropped by today<br />

Said he'd be pleased to have a dinner<br />

On Sunday, oh, by the way"<br />

<br />

"He said he saw a girl that looked a lot<br />

Like you up on Choctaw Ridge"<br />

"And she and Billy Joe were throwing<br />

Somethin' off the Tallahatchie Bridge"<br />

<br />

Well, a year has come 'n' gone<br />

Since we heard the news about Billy Joe<br />

Brother married Becky Thompson<br />

Bought a store in Tupelo<br />

<br />

There was a virus going 'round<br />

Papa caught it and he died last Spring<br />

Now Mama doesn't seem<br />

To wanna do much of anything<br />

<br />

And me, I spend a lot of time<br />

Pickin' flowers up on Choctaw Ridge<br />

And drop them into the muddy water<br />

Off the Tallahatchie Bridge