It was the t^F7hird of June, Another s^Cm7leepy, dusty, delta ^F7day I was out choppin' cotton and my b^Cm7rother was bailin' ^F7hay And at d^Bb7inner time we stopped and walked back to the house to eat And Mama h^F7ollered at the back door,"Y'all re^Cm7member to wipe your ^F7feet." Then she sai^Bb7d,"I got some news this mornin' from Choctaw Ridge Today B^F7illy Joe McAllister jumped ^Eb7off the Tallahatchee ^FBridge." Papa said to Mama, as he passed around the black-eyed peas "Well, Billy Joe never had a lick o'sense, pass the biscuits please There's five more acres in the lower forty I've go to plow." And Mama said it was a shame about Billy Joe anyhow Seems like nothin' ever comes to no good up on Choctaw Ridge And now Billy Joe McAllister's jumped off the Tallahatchee Bridge. Brother said he recollected when he and Tom and Billy Joe Put a frog down my back at the Carrol Country 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 Billy Joe jumped off the Tallahatchee Bridge. Mama said to me, "Child, what's happened to your appetite? I 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 an' Billy Joe was throwin' somethin' off the Tallahatchee Bridge." A year has come and gone since we heard the news 'bout Billy Joe Brother married Becky Thompson, they bought a store in Tupelo There was a virus goin' 'round, Papa caught it and died last spring And now Mama doesn't seem to want to 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 Tallahatchee Bridge.