"Ode to Billy Joe" Key of F, Common Time "With a beat" Words and music by Bobbie Gentry It was the third of June, Another sleepy, dusty, I was out choppin' cotton And my brother was bailin' hay And at dinner time we stopped and walked back to the house to eat And Mama hollered at the back door, "Y'all remember to wipe your feet." Then she said, "I got some news this mornin' from Choctaw Ridge Today Billy Joe McAllister Jumped off the Tallahatchee Bridge." Michael shaw