Mystery of Tallahatchie Bridge
Rodger White
Writer cannot be determined at either ASCAP, BMI, or SESAC,
but you can bet your bippy that Gentry was paid for the music at least-
this tune uses the exact same music.
Answer song to Bobby Gentry's smash country/pop hit "Ode To Billie Joe"
from two months earlier.
Peaked at # 123 in 10/67
It's such a cold September Sunday and the rain keeps on a-pourin' down
And all the people, soakin' wet, they're coming in from miles and miles around
And I'm sure surprised to see ole Spider Jackson comin' through that door
There's never been so many flowers decoratin' up this country church before
Here comes them Tupelo reporters down for pictures up on Choctaw Ridge
I bet they think they're gonna solve the mystery of Tallahatchie Bridge
I overheard old Mrs. Trimble gossipin' to Lucy Miles
While she was shakin' her umb-a-rella makin' puddles in the center aisle
She said that Billie Joe MacAllister was always kinda crazy anyhow
And Bobbie Jean would get herself in trouble if she followed him around
Then whiskey-drinkin' Jed MacAllister, he staggered to the altar's edge
And as he stood and stared at Bobbie Jean he cussed the Tallahatchie Bridge
I took my place there in the pulpit and the congregation settled down
And through the window I could see ole Luther diggin' up the muddy ground
"Good friends, you all knew Bobbie Jean, it was a shame she had to die"
And as I read the holy scriptures Becky's baby started in to cry
Now it's September and there ain't a flower growin' up on Choctaw Ridge
But she won't need 'em since she followed Billie off the Tallahatchie Bridge
The services are over and the congregation's all gone home
Out in the pourin' rain I'm standin' here above you and we're all alone
And I'm the only one alive who knows I married you and Billie secretly
And Bobbie Jean, you never hafta worry 'cause they'll never, ever learn the truth from me
I wouldn't tell about the seeds of love you and Billie sowed on Choctaw Ridge
And how you died inside the day you threw 'em off the Tallahatchie Bridge
source: Robin Hood
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