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