It was the third of June another sleepy dusty Delta day I was out choppin' cotton and my brother was bailin' hay And at dinner time we stopped and walked back to the house to eat And mama hollered at the backdoor y'all remember to wipe your feet And then she said I got the news this mornin' from Choctaw Wridge Today Billie Joe Macallister's jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge Papa said to mama as he passed around the black eyed peas Well Billie Joe never had a lick of sense pass the biscuits please There's five more acres in the lower forty I got to plow And mama said it was a shame about Billie Joe anyhow Seems like nothing ever comes to no good upon Choctaw Wridge And now Billie Joe Macallister's jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge Brother said he recollected when he and Tom and Billie Joe Put a frog down my back at the Carroll County picture show And wasn't I talkin' to him after church last Sunday night I'll have another piece of apple pie you know it don't seem right I saw him at the sawmill yesterday upon Choctaw Wridge And now you tell me Billie Joe has jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge Mama said to me child what's happened to your apetite Well I've been cookin' all mornin' and you haven't touched a single bite That nice young preacher brother Tailor dropped by today Said he'd be pleased to have dinner on Sunday oh by the way He said he saw a girl that looked a lot like you upon Choctaw Wridge 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 virus goin' 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 spent a lot of time pickin' flowers upon Chotaw Wridge And dropped 'em into the muddy water off the Tallahatchie Bridge
It was the third of June another sleepy dusty Delta day I was out choppin' cotton and my brother was bailin' hay And at dinner time we stopped and walked back to the house to eat And mama hollered at the backdoor y'all remember to wipe your feet And then she said I got the news this mornin' from Choctaw Wridge Today Billie Joe Macallister's jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge Papa said to mama as he passed around the black eyed peas Well Billie Joe never had a lick of sense pass the biscuits please There's five more acres in the lower forty I got to plow And mama said it was a shame about Billie Joe anyhow Seems like nothing ever comes to no good upon Choctaw Wridge And now Billie Joe Macallister's jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge Brother said he recollected when he and Tom and Billie Joe Put a frog down my back at the Carroll County picture show And wasn't I talkin' to him after church last Sunday night I'll have another piece of apple pie you know it don't seem right I saw him at the sawmill yesterday upon Choctaw Wridge And now you tell me Billie Joe has jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge Mama said to me child what's happened to your apetite Well I've been cookin' all mornin' and you haven't touched a single bite That nice young preacher brother Tailor dropped by today Said he'd be pleased to have dinner on Sunday oh by the way He said he saw a girl that looked a lot like you upon Choctaw Wridge 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 virus goin' 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 spent a lot of time pickin' flowers upon Chotaw Wridge And dropped 'em into the muddy water off the Tallahatchie Bridge