It was the third o' June, another sleepy, dusty Delta day.
I was out choppin' cotton an' my brother was bailin' hay,
And at dinner time we stopped an' walked back to the house to eat,
An' 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 Billie Joe McAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge."