Bobbie Gentry - Ode to billy joe

1. It was t^Ehe third of June, another^D sleepy, dusty Del^Eta day, I was out choppin' cotton and my^D brother was bal^Ein' hay. And at di^Anner time we stopped and walked back to the house to eat, and Mama h^Eollered at the back door, "Y'^Dall remember to w^Eipe your feet!" And then she s^Aaid, "I got some news this mornin' from Choctaw Ridge. Today ^EBilly Joe MacAllister jump^Ded off the Tallahatchi^Ee Bridge."

2. And ^EPapa said to Mama as ^Dhe passed around the blacke^Eyed peas, "Oh, Billy Joe never had a ^Dlick of sense, pass the bi^Escuits, please. There's ^Afive more acres in the lower forty I've got to plough." and Mama s^Eaid it was shame a^Dbout Billy Joe, ^Eanyhow. ”Seems lik^Ae nothin' ever comes to no good up on Choctaw Ridge, and now ^EBilly Joe MacAllister's jump^Ded off the Tallahatch^Eie Bridge.”

3. And B^Erother said he recollected w^Dhen he and Tom and B^Eillie Joe put a frog down my back at the^D Carroll County pictu^Ere show. And wasn't ^A I talkin' to him after church last Sunday night? E - D E "I'll have another piece of apple pie, you know it don't seem right. I sa^Aw him at the sawmill yesterday on Choctaw Ridge, and now you ^Etell me Billie Joe's jump^Ded off the Tallahat^Echie Bridge."

4. And Ma^Ema said to me, "Child^D, what's happened to ^Eyour appetite? I've been cookin' all morning and y^Dou haven't touche^Ed a single bite." That n^Aice young preacher, Brother Taylor, dropped by today, said he'd be ^Epleased to have dinner on Sunda^Dy, oh, by ^Ethe way, he s^Aaid he saw a girl that looked a lot like you up on Choctaw Ridge," And she and ^EBilly Joe was throwing somethi^Dn' off the Tallahat^Echie Bridge"

5. A ^Eyear has come 'n' gone since we^D heard the news 'bout ^EBilly Joe, and Brother married Becky Thompson, t^Dhey bought a store in T^Eupelo. There was a ^Avirus going 'round, Papa caught it and he died last Spring, and now ^EMama doesn't seem to wann^Da do much of a^Enything. And ^Ame, I spend a lot of time pickin' flowers up on Choctaw Ridge, and drop them^E into the muddy wat^Der off the Tallahatch^Eie Bridge.