Delta day I was out chopping, cutting
and my brother was bathing hay
The end of dinnertime we stopped
and walked back to the house to eat
And mama hollered at the back door,
you'll remember to wipe your feet
I got some news this morning
Today Billy Joe McAllister
Jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge
Passed around the black -eyed peas
Well Billy Joe never had a lick of sense
And there is five more acres
And Mama said it was a shame
about Billy Joe when he hung
And now Billy Joe McAllister
dreamt of the Tallahatchie Bridge
Her brother said he recollected
when he and Tom and Billy Joe
at the Carroll County Picture Show
And wasn't I talking to him
at the church last Sunday night?
I have another piece of apple pie,
you know, it just don't seem right
I saw her at the sawmill yesterday,
Now you tell me Billy Joes
jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge
what's happened to your appetite?
I've been cooking all morning
and you haven't touched a single bite
That nice young preacher,
that looked a lot like you
And she and Billy Joe were throwin'
something off the teller had she prayed
since we heard the news about Billy Joe
Her brother married Mackie 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
want to do much of anything
And me, I spend a lot of time
picking flowers up and check the grid
And drop them into the muddy water
off the tallow hat she brings
