Ode To Billy Joe chords by Dorothy Moore

SimplifiedC · F · Bb · Gm · Bbsus4

GuitarPianoUkulele

C
F
Bb
Gm
Bbsus4

Verse 1
C 
It  (C major) was the 3rd of June,
another sleepy, dusty day out today
I was out chopping cotton
and my brother was baling hay
F 
At din (F major) ner time we stopped
and walked back to the house to eat
C 
and mama hol (C major) la at the back door
y 'all remember to wipe your feet
and then she said
F 
 (F major) I got some news this morning
from Choctaw Ridge today
C 
Billy  (C major) Joe McAllister
Bb 
C 
Jumped  (B flat major) off the Tallahatchie Bridge  (C major) 
And Papa said to Mama
Gm 
C 
As he  (G minor) passed around the Black Eyed Peas  (C major) 
Well Billy Joel never had a lick of sense
Gm 
C 
 (G minor) Pass the biscuits please  (C major) 
F 
There were  (F major) five more acres
in the lower forty
I got to plow
C 
And mama said  (C major) it was a shame
About Billy Joe anyhow
F 
Seems like  (F major) nothing ever comes to no good
Up there on Choctaw Ridge
C 
And now Billy  (C major) Joe McAllister
Bb 
Bbsus4 
C 
Jumped  (B flat major) off the  (B flatsus4) Tallahatchie Bridge  (C major) 
And brother said he recollected when he
Gm 
C 
 (G minor) And Tom and Billy Joe  (C major) 
Put a frog down my back
Gm 
C 
At the  (G minor) Carroll County Picture Show  (C major) 
F 
And wasn't I  (F major) talking to him
At the church last Sunday night
C 
I have another  (C major) piece of that apple pie
You know it don't seem right
F 
I  (F major) saw him at the sawmill yesterday
On Choctaw Ridge
C 
And now you  (C major) tell me Billy Joe's
Bb 
C 
Jumped off  (B flat major) the Tallahatchie Bridge  (C major) 
And Mama said to me, child,
Gm 
C 
What  (G minor) happened to your appetite?  (C major) 
I've been cooking all morning
Gm 
And you  (G minor) haven't touched
C 
a single bite  (C major) 
F 
That  (F major) nice young preacher,
Brother Taylor dropped by today
C 
Said  (C major) he pleased to have dinner on Sunday
Oh, by the way
F 
He said he  (F major) saw a girl
that looks a lot like you
Up on Choptown Ridge
C 
And she and  (C major) Billy Joe was
blowing something
Bb 
C 
And  (B flat major) on  that Tallahatchie Bridge  (C major) 
A year has come and gone
Gm 
Since we  (G minor) heard the news
C 
About Billy Joe  (C major) 
And brother married Becca Thompson
Gm 
C 
They bought  (G minor) a store In Tupelo  (C major) 
F 
There was  (F major) a virus going round
Papa caught it
And he died last spring
C 
And now Mama  (C major) doesn't seem to
want to do much of anything
F 
And  (F major) me, I spend a lot of time
picking flowers
up there on Choctaw Ridge
C 
And  (C major) drop them into the muddy water
Bb 
C 
C 
off  (B flat major) the Tallahatchie Bridge  (C major)  (C major) 
You