Ode to Billie Joe - Patricia Barber

[00:14.078] It was the third of June
[00:17.683] Another sleepy, dusty Delta day
[00:26.289] I was out choppin' cotton
[00:30.340] And my brother was balin' hay
[00:38.544] At dinner time we stopped
[00:42.657] Walked back to the house to eat
[00:50.657] Mama hollered out the back door
[00:56.255] "Y'all remember to wipe your feet"
[01:04.566] Then she said, "I got some news
[01:06.932] This mornin' from Choctaw Ridge"
[01:14.374] "Today Billy Joe Mac Allister
[01:17.432] Jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge"
[01:28.356] Papa said to Mama as he passed
[01:33.116] Around the black eyed peas
[01:40.342] "Well, Billy Joe never had a lick of sense
[01:45.256] Pass the biscuits, please"
[01:53.733] "There's five more acres
[01:57.621] In the lower forty I've got to plow"
[02:04.494] Mama said it was shame
[02:08.209] About Billy Joe, anyhow
[02:17.281] Seems like nothin' ever comes
[02:19.908] To no good up on Choctaw Ridge
[02:28.356] And now Billy Joe Mac Allister's
[02:32.981] Jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge
[02:42.285] Mama said to me
[02:44.285] "Child, what's happened to your appetite?
[02:54.003] I've been cookin' all mornin'
[02:57.745] And you haven't touched a single bite"
[03:06.770] "That nice young preacher
[03:09.247] Brother Taylor, dropped by today
[03:17.498] Said he'd be pleased to have a dinner
[03:20.125] On Sunday, oh, by the way"
[03:30.822] "He said he saw a girl that looked a lot
[03:33.314] Like you up on Choctaw Ridge"
[03:42.007] "And she and Billy Joe were throwing
[03:46.399] Somethin' off the Tallahatchie Bridge"
[03:56.287] Well, a year has come 'n' gone
[04:00.373] Since we heard the news about Billy Joe
[04:08.446] Brother married Becky Thompson
[04:12.703] Bought a store in Tupelo
[04:20.818] There was a virus going 'round
[04:25.153] Papa caught it and he died last Spring
[04:32.433] Now Mama doesn't seem
[04:35.312] To wanna do much of anything
[04:43.988] And me, I spend a lot of time
[04:47.742] Pickin' flowers up on Choctaw Ridge
[04:55.540] And drop them into the muddy water
[05:16.806] Off the Tallahatchie Bridge