It was the third of June,
another sleepy, dusty Delta day
I was out choppin' cotton and
my brother was balin' hay
And at dinner time we stopped and we walked
And mama hollered at the back door "y'all
remember to wipe your feet"
And then she said she got some news this
mornin' from Choctaw Ridge
Today Billie Joe MacAllister jumped
off the Tallahatchie Bridge
Papa said to mama as he passed
around the blackeyed peas
"Well, Billie Joe never had a lick of sense,
pass the biscuits, please"
"There's five more acres in the lower
Mama said it was shame about Billie Joe,
Seems like nothin' ever comes to no
And now Billie Joe MacAllister jumped
off the Tallahatchie Bridge
Brother said he recollected when
he and Tom and Billie Joe
Put a frog down my back at the Car
And wasn't I talkin' to him after
church last Sunday night?
"I'll have another piece of apple pie,
you know it just don't seem right"
"I saw him at the sawmill yesterday
"And now you tell me Billie Joe's jumped
off the Tallahatchie Bridge"
what's happened to your appetite?"
"I've 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,
"He said he saw a girl that looked a lot like
"And she and Billie Joe was throwing
somethin' off the Tallahatchie Bridge"
A year has come 'n' gone since we heard
the news 'bout Billie Joe
Brother married Becky Thompson,
they bought a store in Tupelo
There was a virus going '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 drop them into the muddy
water off the Tallahatchie Bridge
