Ode To Billie Joe
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 walked back to the house to eat
And mama hollered out the back door, "Y'all remember to wipe your feet"
And then she said, "I got some news this mornin' from Choctaw Ridge
Today Billie Joe McAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge"
And 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 plough"
And mama said it was shame about Billie Joe, anyhow
Seems like nothin' ever comes to no good up on Choctaw Ridge
And now Billie Joe McAllister'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 on Choctaw Ridge
And now you tell me Billie Joe's jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge
And mama said to me, "Child, what's happened to your appetite?
I've been cookin' all mornin', 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, oh, by the way
He said he saw a girl that looked a lot like you up on Choctaw Ridge
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
And brother married Becky Thompson, they bought a store in Tupelo
There was a virus goin' '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
I was out choppin' cotton and my brother was balin' hay
And at dinner time we stopped and walked back to the house to eat
And mama hollered out the back door, "Y'all remember to wipe your feet"
And then she said, "I got some news this mornin' from Choctaw Ridge
Today Billie Joe McAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge"
And 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 plough"
And mama said it was shame about Billie Joe, anyhow
Seems like nothin' ever comes to no good up on Choctaw Ridge
And now Billie Joe McAllister'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 on Choctaw Ridge
And now you tell me Billie Joe's jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge
And mama said to me, "Child, what's happened to your appetite?
I've been cookin' all mornin', 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, oh, by the way
He said he saw a girl that looked a lot like you up on Choctaw Ridge
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
And brother married Becky Thompson, they bought a store in Tupelo
There was a virus goin' '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
Credits
Writer(s): Bobbie Gentry
Lyrics powered by www.musixmatch.com
Link
Other Album Tracks
- Mississippi Delta
- I Saw An Angel Die
- Chickasaw County Child
- Sunday Best
- Niki Hoeky
- Papa, Won't You Let Me Go To Town With You
- Bugs
- Hurry, Tuesday Child
- Lazy Willie
- Ode To Billie Joe
All Album Tracks: The Girl From Chickasaw County - The Complete Capitol Masters >
Altri album
- Courtyard (Live On The Ed Sullivan Show, February 18, 1968)
- Niki Hoeky (Live On The Ed Sullivan Show, December 24, 1967)
- He Made A Woman Out Of Me/Up On Cripple Creek (Medley/Live On The Ed Sullivan Show, December 27, 1970)
- Papa, Won't You Let Me Go To Town With You?/Ode To Billie Joe (Medley/Live On The Ed Sullivan Show, March 29, 1970) - Single
- Benjamin (Live On The Ed Sullivan Show, November 1, 1970)
- Your Number One Fan (Live On The Ed Sullivan Show, November 1, 1970)
- I Want You Back (Live On The Ed Sullivan Show, November 1, 1970)
- I Wonder As I Wander (Live On The Ed Sullivan Show, December 24, 1967) - Single
- The Way I Do (Demo)
- The Bobbie Gentry Collection (1967 - 1968)
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