G Dm G
It was the third of June another sleepy dusty Delta day
Dm G
I was out chopping cotton and my brother was a bailing hay
C
At dinner time we stopped and walked back to the house to eat
G Dm G
And mama hollered at the backdoor y'all remember to wipe your feet
C
She said I got some news this morning from Choctaw Ridge
G F7 G
Today Billie Joe McAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge
Dm G
Papa said to mama as she passed around the black eyed peas
Dm G
Billie Joe never had a lick of sense pass the biscuits please
C
There's five more acres in the lower forty I got to plow
G Dm G
And mama said it was a shame about Billie Joe anyhow
C
It seems like nothing ever comes to no good upon Choctaw Ridge
G F7 G
And now Billie Joe McAllister’s jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge
Dm G
Brother said he recollected when he and Tom and Billie Joe
Dm G
Put a frog down my back at the Carroll County picture show
C
And wasn't I talking to him after church last Sunday night
G Dm G
I'll have another piece of apple pie you know it don't seem right
C
I saw him at the sawmill yesterday on Choctaw Ridge
G F7 G
And now you tell me Billie Joe's jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge
Dm G
Mama said to me child what's happened to your appetite
Dm G
I've been cooking all morning and you haven't touched a single bite
C
That nice young preacher Brother Taylor dropped by today
G Dm G
Said he'd be pleased to have dinner on Sunday oh by the way
C
He said he saw a girl that's looked a lot like you upon Choctaw Ridge
G F7 G
And she and Billie Joe was throwing something off the Tallahatchie Bridge
Dm G
One year has come and gone since we heard the news about Billie Joe
Dm G
Brother married Becky Thompson and they bought a store in Tupelo
C
There was a virus going round and papa caught it and he died last spring
G Dm G
And now mama doesn't seem to want to do much of anything
C
And me I spent a lot of time picking flowers upon Choctaw Ridge
G F7 G
And dropped them into the muddy water off the Tallahatchie Bridge
