I know it hasn't been that long since I posted this, but dadgummit, it really fits today.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Trouble me

Disturb me with all your cares and your worries.

Trouble me

On the days when you feel spent.
Why let your shoulders bend underneath this burden when
My back is sturdy and strong?
Trouble me.

Speak to me

Don't mislead me,
The calm I feel means a storm is swelling.

Speak to me

Theres no telling where it starts or how it ends.

Speak to me

Why are you building this thick brick wall to defend me?

Speak to me

When your silence is my greatest fear?

Why let your shoulders bend underneath this burden when my back is sturdy and strong?
Speak to me.

Let me

Let me have a look inside these eyes while Im learning.

Let me

Please dont hide them just because of tears.

Let me

Send you off to sleep with a there, there, now stop your turning and tossing.

Let me

Let me know where the hurt is and how to heal.

Spare me? Spare me? Don't spare me anything troubling.

Trouble me

Disturb me with all your cares and you worries.

Speak to me

And let our words build a shelter from the storm.

Let me

And lastly, let me know what I can mend.
Theres more, honestly, than my sweet friend, you can see.
Trust is what Im offering
If you trouble me.

I break the silence with my voice
and everyone turns around
to see the source of all the noise
and here i stand

its not as thought i mean to upset you
with the things i say and do
i should know better but i said so anyway

its easier to play a part
and read your lines
than freely speak what's
in your heart and in your mind

Is it me?
who says these things that so offend you?

Innapropriate ???

i'd say I'm sorry
but it's hard to speak
with both feet in your mouth



all hail the king of dunces
You best hold on
I'm opening up my mouth
bring out the maypole
and tie up and shut me out
devil knows what possessed me
to shoot my arrow straight into the sky
string me to the mast and
hoist me up and hang me high
i put no blame on you
i brought this all upon myself
it's just this thing i do
at times like this
i wish i was someone else



there's a lever inside head
between my mouth and my brain
keeps me from hearing
what i've said until its too late
now it's too late

smear my lips with vaseline
because i'm a vocal libertine
I try to explain but even
i'm not quite sure what i mean



all hail the king of dunces
You best hold on
I'm opening up my mouth
bring out the maypole
and tie up and shut me out
devil knows what possessed me
to shoot my arrow straight into the sky
string me to the mast and
hoist me up and hang me high
i put no blame on you
i brought this all upon myself
it's just this thing i do
at times like this
i wish i was someone else



I don't know what to say
i was only trying to make you smile
and bring some needed levity
to your world for a while
i never meant to make you cry
but i did it all by myself
its just this thing i do
at times like this
i wish i was someone else



All hail the king of dunces...
All hail the king of fools
This boy's been bad
let's keep him after school
send me to the blackboard
and write a hundred times i am the dunce

devil knows what possessed me
to shut my mind and open up my mouth
string me to the anchor
and watch me drown in myself

For a friend:
-------------------

You say it's your birthday
It's my birthday too--yeah
They say it's your birthday
We're gonna have a good time
I'm glad it's your birthday
Happy birthday to you.

Yes we're going to a party party
Yes we're going to a party party
Yes we're going to a party party.

I would like you to dance--Birthday
Take a cha-cha-cha-chance-Birthday
I would like you to dance--Birthday
Dance

You say it's your birthday
Well it's my birthday too--yeah
You say it's your birthday
We're gonna have a good time
I'm glad it's your birthday
Happy birthday to you.
------------------------
(It's not my birthday really! )

What happened here as the New York sunset disappeared
I found an empty garden among the flagstones there
Who lived here
He must have been a gardener that cared a lot
Who weeded out the tears and grew a good crop
Now it all looks strange
It's funny how one insect can damage so much grain

And what's it for, this little empty garden by the brownstone door
And in the cracks along the sidewalk nothin' grows no more
Who lived here
He must have been a gardener that cared a lot
Who weeded out the tears and grew a good crop
And we are so amazed, we're crippled and we're dazed
A gardener like that one no one can replace

And I've been knockin' but no one answers
And I've been knockin' most of the day
Oh and I've been callin' oh hey hey Johnny
Can't you come out to play

And through their tears some say he farmed his best in younger years
But he'd have said the roots have grown stronger if only he could hear
Who lived there
He must have been a gardener that cared a lot
Who weeded out the tears and grew a good crop
And now we pray for rain and with every drop that pours
We hear, we hear your name

And I've been knockin' but no one answers
And I've been knockin' most of the day
Oh and I've been callin' oh hey hey Johnny
Can't you come out to play

Johnny, can't you come out to play, in your empty garden

Just spent a weekend in Portmeirion, North Wales which is where the TV series 'The Prisoner' was filmed. Therefore, I submit this for your entertainment:
------------------------
"We want information, information, information."
"Who are you?"
"The new number two."
"Who is number one?"
"You are number six."
"I am not a number, I am a free man."
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA."

I'm on the run, I'll kill to eat,
Starving now, feeling dead on my feet.
Going all the way, I'm nature's beast.
Do what I want, I do as I please.

Run, you've gotta fight, to breathe, it's tough.
Now you see me, now you don't.
Break the walls, I'm coming out.

I'm not a prisoner, I'm a free man,
And my blood is my own now.
Don't care where the past was,
I know where I'm going...out.

If you kill me, it's self defence.
If I kill you, then I call it vengeance.
Spit in your eye, I will defy.
You'll be afraid when I call out your name.

Run, you've gotta fight, to breathe, it's tough.
Now you see me, now you don't.
Break the walls, I'm coming out.

I'm not a prisoner, I'm a free man,
And my blood is my own now.
Don't care where the past was,
I know where I'm going.

I'm not a number, I'm a free man,
I'll live my life how I want to.
You'd better scratch me
from your black book,
'Cause I'll run rings around you.

Well brunettes are fine man
And blondes are fun
But when it comes to getting the dirty job done

I'll take a red headed woman
A red headed woman
It takes a red headed woman
To get a dirty job done

Well listen up stud
Your life's been wasted
Til you've got down on your knees and tasted

A red headed woman
A red headed woman
It takes a red headed woman
To get a dirty job done

Tight skirt, strawberry hair
Tell me what you've got baby, waiting under there
Big green eyes that look like, son
They can see every cheap thing that you ever done

Well I don't care how many girls you've dated, man
But you ain't lived till you've had your tires rotated

By a red headed woman
A red headed woman
It takes a red headed woman
To get a dirty job done

I'm not sure I'm even old enough to read the lyrics of that last one. Whew.

A St. Paddy's Day offering- the first Irish folk song I ever heard. After that I was hooked and now I know hundreds...

I sat within the valley green
I sat with my true love
My sad heart had to choose between
Old Ireland and my love
I looked at her and then I thought
How Ireland was torn
While soft the wind blew down the glen
And shook the golden corn

T'was hard the woeful words to bring
To break the ties that bound
But harder still to bear the shame
Of English chains around
And so I said, the mountain glen
I'll seek in early morn
And join the brave united men
While soft winds shook the corn

While sad I kissed away her tears
My fond arms round her clung
A British shot burst in our ears
From out of the wild woods round
One bullet pierced my true love's side
A rose pierced by a thorn
And in my arms in blood she died
While soft winds shook the corn

So blood for blood without remorse
I've taken in the glen
I placed my true love's clay cold corpse
I joined true Irish men
But around her grave I wander drear
Sometimes in early morn
And with breaking heart sometimes I hear
The wind that shakes the corn

So here I am with my thoughts of you
And this world I've left for me
Stoic faces when I think of you
And how I once believed
So now you call me, but you know I won't let you through
I've myself to decieve

So leave the memories alone
I don't want to see
The way it is, as to how it used to be
Leave the memories alone, don't change a thing
And I'll hold you here in my memory

So I find me in your garden now
A sad smile for the scene
And all the flowers that we planted now
Taken by the weeds
But in my minds eye, you know they still bloom for me
They stand tall there, in that summer breeze

Leave the memories alone
I don't want to see
The way it is, as to how it used to be
Leave the memories alone, don't change a thing
And I'll just hold you here in my memory

You'll never change

Not the happiest song but it keeps me sane at work.

What do you call it
when another forces your hand
and what will they say
when they find me here this way
and know, no no no it wasn't my idea
no it wasn't my idea
but oh,just to see your face
when you find me here like this
now there's no time for wondering
darkness is now at my door
rapping with bony fingers
he's come to take me home
he'll envelope me in sleep
wrapped in black feathery wings

but before we fly, here's my goodbye

I get the last word
i get the last laugh
as sure as the room is growing cold
I'll have the last word
I'll have the last laugh
as sure as my blood is running cold

they won't call it suicide
because i've got the killer's name
engraved so deeply in my veins
they will call it homocide
because i've got your name
so clearly carved into my wrist
the weak and the lame will find their way
to escape but why should i
leave all this beauty behind
and forfeit the joy in my life
in the name of an enemy

I'll have the last word
I'll have the last laugh
as sure as the room is growing cold
I'll have the last word
I'll have the last laugh
as sure as your blood is running cold

far be it for I to leave all this beauty behind
i will stay to watch you wither away
and with any luck you may be hit by a truck
and i will remain to dance upon your grave
oh, look, can't you see how much your death means to me
please won't you play in a busy street

Far be it for I to leave all this beauty behind
I will remain to dance upon your grave

The screen door slams
Mary's dress waves
Like a vision she dances across the porch
As the radio plays
Roy Orbison singing for the lonely
Hey that's me and I want you only
Don't turn me home again
I just can't face myself alone again
Don't run back inside
darling you know just what I'm here for
So you're scared and you're thinking
That maybe we ain't that young anymore
Show a little faith, there's magic in the night
You ain't a beauty, but hey you're alright
Oh and that's alright with me

You can hide 'neath your covers
And study your pain
Make crosses from your lovers
Throw roses in the rain
Waste your summer praying in vain
For a savior to rise from these streets
Well now I'm no hero
That's understood
All the redemption I can offer, girl
Is beneath this dirty hood
With a chance to make it good somehow
Hey what else can we do now
Except roll down the window
And let the wind blow back your hair
Well the night's busting open
These two lanes will take us anywhere
We got one last chance to make it real
To trade in these wings on some wheels
Climb in back
Heaven's waiting on down the tracks
Oh oh come take my hand
Riding out tonight to case the promised land
Oh oh Thunder Road, oh Thunder Road
oh Thunder Road
Lying out there like a killer in the sun
Hey I know it's late we can make it if we run
Oh Thunder Road, sit tight take hold
Thunder Road

Well I got this guitar
And I learned how to make it talk
And my car's out back
If you're ready to take that long walk
>From your front porch to my front seat
The door's open but the ride it ain't free
And I know you're lonely
For words that I ain't spoken
But tonight we'll be free
All the promises'll be broken
There were ghosts in the eyes
Of all the boys you sent away
They haunt this dusty beach road
In the skeleton frames of burned out Chevrolets

They scream your name at night in the street
Your graduation gown lies in rags at their feet
And in the lonely cool before dawn
You hear their engines roaring on
But when you get to the porch they're gone
On the wind, so Mary climb in
It's a town full of losers
And I'm pulling out of here to win.

Stay out super late tonight,
picking apples, making pies.
Put a little something in our lemonade
and take it with us.
We’re half-awake in a fake empire
We’re half-awake in a fake empire

Tiptoe through our shiny city
with our diamond slippers on,
do our gay ballet on ice,
bluebirds on our shoulders.
We’re half-awake in a fake empire
We’re half-awake in a fake empire

Turn the light out, say goodnight,
no thinking for a little while.
Let's not try to figure out everything at once.
It’s hard to keep track of you falling through the sky ...
We’re half-awake in a fake empire
We’re half-awake in a fake empire

Times are tough there baby there
It's getting tougher now
This world is rough honey it's
Just getting rougher now

Their on top there baby
Just tryin' to score-well
Seen enough, honey I don't
Wanna see no more
Drop on down and cover me
On down and cover me

Sometimes girl I just wanna
Leave it all behind us, yeah
Hold me in your arms tonight let's
Let our love blind us, yeah

Inside I feel the pain that
The hatred and the sorrow
I wanna shut the light, baby
C'mon and shut the door
Drop on down and cover me
On down and cover

I just wanna close my eyes and
Let your love surround me
I wanna close my heart to
To this world around me

The anger and the heartlessness
All the good things guilty
Come closer baby
Now-closer still now
Drop on down and cover me
On down and cover me

Missed the Saturday dance,
Heard they crowded the floor
Awfully different without you,
Don't get around much anymore

Thought I'd visit the club,
Got as far as the door
Couldn't bear it without you,
Don't get around much anymore

Darling I guess, my mind is more at ease
But nevertheless, why stir up memories

Been invited on dates,
Might have gone, but what for
Couldn't bear it without you,
Don't get around much anymore

I see a red door and I want it painted black
No colors anymore I want them to turn black
I see the girls walk by dressed in their summer clothes
I have to turn my head until my darkness goes

I see a line of cars and they're all painted black
With flowers and my love both never to come back
I see people turn their heads and quickly look away
Like a new born baby it just happens evry day

I look inside myself and see my heart is black
I see my red door and it has been painted black
Maybe then I'll fade away and not have to face the facts
It's not easy facing up when your whole world is black

No more will my green sea go turn a deeper blue
I could not foresee this thing happening to you
If I look hard enough into the setting sun
My love will laugh with me before the morning comes

I see a red door and I want it painted black
No colors anymore I want them to turn black
I see the girls walk by dressed in their summer clothes
I have to turn my head until my darkness goes

Hmm, hmm, hmm,...
I wanna see it painted, painted black
Black as night, black as coal
I wanna see the sun blotted out from the sky
I wanna see it painted, painted, painted, painted black

Of all things malign,
An accident on the assembly line today
Cut him to the bone,
"But what can you expect from clumsy 8-year-olds?" I'm told.
Look outside the window.
See the growing crowd
Of kids with missing arms and feet?
Nothing to eat?
What cold heartless beast
Can sit and have his feast every night,
While their plight's always in his sight?

Robber Baron in the tower,
Counting all his gold.
You know while he goes unchecked
And stays in power,
He's never gonna let,
He's never gonna let,
He's never gonna let us go!

Marching in the streets,
The mighty hammer of the Baron's own police.
With their flags and guns,
And guns and drums and boots,
And blood red banners, dogs and guns.
Black-shirts pound the pavement,
With their bold insignias of wolves,
And bats and snakes,
And birds of prey.
Filling us with fear.
Our hearts are full of tears.
Who so vain, for his gain,
Causes so much pain?

Robber Baron in the castle,
Basking in his greed.
You know while he breaks no sweat,
And gets no hassle,
He's never gonna let,
He's never gonna let,
He's never gonna let us free!

Robber Baron in the tower,
Counting all his gold.
You know while he goes unchecked,
And stays in power,
He's never gonna let,
He's never gonna let,
What do you want?
(FREEDOM!)
When do you want it?
(NOW!)
Only we can make us free.

Nice. Good to see it coming from someone just up the road from Leadville:)

Yes, I know you're not that close. Just being cheeky.

LOL. Here's the song after that.

Stakes and torches,
Scimitars and bayonets,
Scythes, pitchforks,
A sickle with a sharpened edge.
Swords and spades,
And mallets that are made of lead.

Anything at hand,
Anything they can,
Help us to remove the head
Of that filthy rich,
Fat son of a (Censored),
While he's sleeping in his bed.

Storm the steps,
We break into the palace hall.
It's so majestic,
We are frozen in our awe.
Grandmother cries as she crumples to her knees,
says, "I can understand,
That the rich demand,
An amount of luxury.
But I'd have never dreamed,
It was so extreme,
While we had nothing to eat."

From my angst filled, jr. high Simon and Garfunkel days -when it seemed the world was bright with possibilities and I would at least tip my hat to every one of them...

Its a still life
water color
Of a now late afternoon,
As the sun shines through the curtained lace
And shadows wash the room.
And we sit and drink our coffee
Couched in our indifference,
Like shells upon the shore
You can hear the ocean roar
In the dangling conversation
And the superficial sighs,
Are the borders of our lives.

And you read your Emily Dickinson,
And I my Robert Frost
And we note our place with book markers
That measure what we've lost.
Like a poem poorly written
We are verses out of rhythm,
Couplets out of rhyme,
In syncopated time
Lost in the dangling conversation
And the superficial sighs,
Are the borders of our lives.

Yes, we speak of things that matter,
With words that must be said,
Can analysis be worthwhile?
Is the theater really dead?
And how the room is softly faded
And I only kiss your shadow
I cannot feel your hand,
You're a stranger now unto me
Lost in the dangling conversation.
And the superficial sighs,
In the borders of our lives.

As we marched down to faneri-o
As we marched down to faneri-o
Our captain fell n love with a lady like a dove
And they called her name, pretty peggy-o
Come a runnin’ down the stairs, pretty peggy-o
Come a runnin’ down the stairs, pretty peggy-o
Come a runnin’ down the stairs, combin’ back
Your yellow hair
You’re the prettiest little girl I’ve ever seen-o

In a carriage you will ride, pretty peggy-o
In a carriage you will ride, pretty peggy-o
In a carriage you will ride, with your true love by
Your side
As far as any maiden in the ar-e-o
What will your mother say, pretry peggy-o?
What will your mother say, pretty peggy-o?
What will your mother say, when she finds you’ve
Gone away
To places far and strange to faneri-o?

If ever I return, pretty peggy-o
If ever I return, pretty peggy-o
If ever I return, all your cities I will burn
Destroying all the ladies in the ar-e-o
Destroying all the ladies in the ar-e-o

You’re the prettiest little girl I’ve ever seen-o

This one is in honor of my upcoming vacation.

Gonna kick off my shoes
And run in bare feet
Where the grass and the dirt and the gravel all meet
Goin' back to the well gonna visit old friends
And feed my soul where the blacktop ends

I'm lookin' down the barrel of Friday night
Ridin' on a river of freeway lights
Goodbye city I'm country bound
'Til Monday rolls around

Gonna kick off my shoes
And run in bare feet
Where the grass and the dirt and the gravel all meet
Goin' back to the well gonna visit old friends
And feed my soul where the blacktop ends

Workin' in the grind is an uphill road
Punchin' that clock and carryin' that load
I bust it all week and then I'm free
The weekend belongs to me

Gonna kick off my shoes
And run in bare feet
Where the grass and the dirt and the gravel all meet
Goin' back to the well gonna visit old friends
And feed my soul where the blacktop ends

Give me some fresh air give me that farm
Give me some time with you in my arms
Far away from the hustle and the pressure and the noise

Gonna kick off my shoes
And run in bare feet
Where the grass and the dirt and the gravel all meet
Goin' back to the well gonna visit old friends
And feed my soul, you betcha

Gonna kick off my shoes
And run in bare feet
Where the grass and the dirt and the gravel all meet
Goin' back to the well gonna visit old friends
And feed my soul where the blacktop ends

Where the blacktop ends
Where the blacktop ends
Where the blacktop ends

A worried man with a worried mind
No one in front of me and nothing behind
There's a woman on my lap and she's drinking champagne
Got white skin, got assassin's eyes
I'm looking up into the sapphire tinted skies
I'm well dressed, waiting on the last train

Standing on the gallows with my head in a noose
Any minute now I'm expecting all hell to break loose

[Chorus]
People are crazy and times are strange
I'm locked in tight, I'm out of range
I used to care, but things have changed

This place ain't doing me any good
I'm in the wrong town, I should be in Hollywood
Just for a second there I thought I saw something move
Gonna take dancing lessons do the jitterbug rag
Ain't no shortcuts, gonna dress in drag
Only a fool in here would think he's got anything to prove

Lot of water under the bridge, Lot of other stuff too
Don't get up gentlemen, I'm only passing through

[chorus]

I've been walking forty miles of bad road
If the bible is right, the world will explode
I've been trying to get as far away from myself as I can
Some things are too hot to touch
The human mind can only stand so much
You can't win with a losing hand

Feel like falling in love with the first woman I meet
Putting her in a wheel barrow and wheeling her down the street

[chorus]

I hurt easy, I just don't show it
You can hurt someone and not even know it
The next sixty seconds could be like an eternity
Gonna get low down, gonna fly high
All the truth in the world adds up to one big lie
I'm love with a woman who don't even appeal to me

[Bridge #4]
Mr. Jinx and Miss Lucy, they jumped in the lake
I'm not that eager to make a mistake

[chorus]

I have to block out thoughts of you, so i don't lose my head
They crawl in like a cockroach leaving babies in my bed
Dropping little reels of tape to remind me that I'm alone
Playing movies in my head that make a porno feel like home
There's a burning in my pride, a nervous bleeding in my brain
An ounce of peace is all I want for you, Will you never call again?
And will you never say that you love me just to put it in my face
And will you never try to reach me, it is I that wanted this

Hate me today
Hate me tomorrow
Hate me for all the things I didn't do for you
Hate me in ways, yeah ways hard to swallow
Hate me so you can finally see what's good for you

I'm sober now for 3 whole months, it's one accomplishment that you helped me with
The one thing that always tore us apart is the one thing that I won't touch again
In a sick way I want to thank you for holding my head up late at night
While I was busy waging wars on myself, you were trying to stop the fight
You never doubted my warped opinoins on things like suicidal hate
You made me compliment myself when it was way too hard to take
So I'll drive so [censored] far away that I'll never cross your mind
And do whatever it takes in your heart to leave me behind

Hate me today
Hate me tomorrow
Hate me for all the things I didn't do for you
Hate me in ways, yeah ways hard to swallow
Hate me so you can finally see what's good for you

And when the sad hard eyes say bye to you and wave
Kicking shadows on the street for every mistake that I have made
And like a baby boy I never was a man
Until I saw your blue eyes cry and I held your face in my hand
And then I found out I can't make it go away, just make a smile
Come back and shine just like it used to be
And then she whispered "How can you do this to me?"

Hate me today
Hate me tomorrow
Hate me for all the things I didn't do for you
Hate me in ways, yeah ways hard to swallow
Hate me so you can finally see what's good for you, for you, for you, for you...

verse 1:
I'm so fed up with everyone around me
Noone seems to care
I'm just so far gone and nothings gonna change
I'll never be the same

pre-chorus:
It's always do this do that
Everything they want to
I don't wanna live that way (No)
Every chance they get they're always
Pushing me away

chorus:
It's never enough, no it's never enough
No matter what I say
It's never enough, no it's never enough
I'll never be what you want me to be

verse 2:
It's all so messed up and noone ever listens
Everyone's deranged
I'm just so (censored) up and i'm never gonna change
I lay it all to waste

pre-chorus:
They're always say this say that
Nothing that you want to
I don't wanna live that way (No)
Every chance they get they're always
Shoving me aside

chorus:
It's never enough, no it's never enough
No matter what I say
It's never enough, no it's never enough
I'll never be what you want me to be
I'm done!

verse 3:
In the end we're all just chaulk lines on the concrete
Drawn only to be washed away
For the time that I've been given
I am what I am

verse 4:
I'd rather hate you for everything you are
Than ever love you for something you are not
I'd rather you hate me for everything I am
Than have you love me for something that I can't

outro:
It's never enough, it's never enough
No matter what I say
It's never enough, no it's never enough
No matter who I try to be
It's never enough, no it's never enough
No matter how I try to change
It's never enough, never never enough
I'll never be what you want me to be

A hummable old song by Donovan Leech-



Dear Susan, I know you love me so
But I want to hear it in my ear.
You know I'd be there working at my craft
Had it not been for the draft.
Dry up your tear and feel no fear,
You're here with me like I'm there with you.
To Susan on the West Coast waiting,
From Andy in Vietnam fighting.
To Susan on the West Coast waiting,
From Andy in Vietnam fighting.
I'm writing a note beneath a tree,
The smell of the rain on the greenery.
Our fathers have painfully lost their way,
That's why, my love, I'm here today
Hear me when I say there will come a day
When Kings will know and love can grow.
To Susan on the West Coast waiting,
From Andy in Vietnam fighting.

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"

'n' 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"
'n' 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

'n' 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-a apple pie, you know it don't seem right"
"I saw him at the sawmill yesterday on Choctaw Ridge"
"And now ya tell me Billie Joe's jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge"

'n' 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
'n' 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