It was the third of June

Another sleepy, dusty

I was out chopping cotton

And my brother was bailing 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 Talahachee Bridge"