It was the third of June another sleepy dusty Delta day I was out choppin cotton and my brother was a bailin hay At dinner time we stopped and walked back to the house to eat And mama hollered at the backdoor yall remember to wipe your feet She said I got some news this mornin from Choctaw Wridge Today Billie Joe MacAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge Papa said to mama as she passed around the black eyed peas Billie Joe never had a lick of sens pass the biscuits please Thres five more acres in the lower forty I got to plow And mama said it was a shame about Billie Joe anyhow It seems like nothing ever comes to no good upon Choctaw Wridge And now you tell me Billie Joes jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge Brother said he recollected when he and Tom and Billie Joe Put a frog down my back at the Caroll County picture show And wasnt I talkin to him after church last Sunday night Ill have another piece of apple pie you know it dont seem right I saw him at the sawmill yesterday upon Choctaw Wridge And now you tell me Billie Joes jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge Mama said to me child whats happened to your apetite Ive been cookin all mornin and you havent touched a single bite That nice young preacher brother Tailor dropped by today Said hed be pleased to have dinner on Sunday oh by the way He said he saw a girl thats looked a lot like you upon Choctaw Wridge And she and Billie Joe was throwin somethin off the Tallahatchie Bridge One year has come and gone since we heard the news about Billie Joe Brother married Becky Thompson and they bought a store in Tupelo There was a virus goin round and papa caught it and he died last spring Now mama doesnt seem to want to do much of anything And me I spent a lot of time pickin flowers upon Choctaw Wridge And dropped em down into the muddy water off the Tallahatchie Bridge
billie, wridge, tallahatchie, choctaw, joe