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Related: About this forumIt was the third of June, another sleepy, dusty Delta day . . .
It was the third of June, another sleepy, dusty Delta day
I was out choppin' cotton and my brother was balin' hay
[snip]
There was a virus going 'round, Papa caught it and he died last Spring
And now Mama doesn't seem to wanna do much of anything
Producer: Arif Mardin
Drums: Bernard Purdie
Organ: Billy Preston
Guitar: Cornell Dupree
Masterer: Jean Ristori
Producer, Saxophone: King Curtis
Electric Piano: Truman Thomas
Composer: Bobbie Gentry
Contributor: Jerry Jemmott
Arranger: King Curtis
Contributor: Pancho Morales
Contributor: The Memphis Horns
Contributor: Tom Wilkes
It was the third of June, another sleepy, dusty Delta day
I was out choppin' cotton and my brother was balin' hay
And at dinner time we stopped and walked back to the house to eat
And Mama hollered out the back door "y'all remember to wipe your feet"
And then she said "I got some news this mornin' from Choctaw Ridge"
"Today Billy Joe MacAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge"
And Papa said to Mama as he passed around the blackeyed peas
"Well, Billy Joe never had a lick of sense, pass the biscuits, please"
"There's five more acres in the lower forty I've got to plow"
And Mama said it was shame about Billy Joe, anyhow
Seems like nothin' ever comes to no good up on Choctaw Ridge
And now Billy Joe MacAllister's jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge
And Brother said he recollected when he and Tom and Billie Joe
Put a frog down my back at the Carroll County 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 Billie Joe's jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge"
And Mama said to me "Child, what's happened to your appetite?"
"I've been cookin' all morning 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 and Billy Joe was throwing somethin' off the Tallahatchie Bridge"
A year has come 'n' gone since we heard the news 'bout Billy Joe
And Brother married Becky Thompson, they bought a store in Tupelo
There was a virus going 'round, Papa caught it and he died last Spring
And now Mama doesn't seem to wanna 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 Tallahatchie Bridge
Artist: Bobbie Gentry
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It was the third of June, another sleepy, dusty Delta day . . . (Original Post)
Tactical Peek
Jun 2021
OP
Okay, wat we're they throwing off the bridge? Never figure it out. A ring? A dead baby?
Dream Girl
Jun 2021
#1
Dream Girl
(5,111 posts)1. Okay, wat we're they throwing off the bridge? Never figure it out. A ring? A dead baby?
Wat?
LakeVermilion
(1,046 posts)2. My 74th birthday...
but who's counting?
TlalocW
(15,392 posts)3. Ironically
This song has no bridge.
TlalocW
True dat.
mahatmakanejeeves
(57,675 posts)5. Indeed. It had slipped my mind. Thank you. NT