Album: The Essential Jerry Reed
(Ko-ko Joe)
(Ko-ko Joe)
(Ko-ko Joe)
Uhh!
(Ko-ko Joe)
Go ahead home
(Ko-ko Joe)
Up in Appaloosa county,
There's a place called Ko-ko Ridge
Sittin' right on the bend,
On the Etowah River
Where the water washed away the bridge
Cotton Mouth Country
(Ko-ko Joe)
A river rat's knee high,
(Ko-ko Joe)
Way up around the back border,
Lived a man,
That the river folks talked about
They said you better stay away from Ko-ko Joe,
'Cause he's cause he's crazy no account
(Ko-ko Joe)
Ko-ko Joe
They called him the Etowah River swamp rat,
The folks despised him
(Ko-ko Joe)
Ko-ko Joe,
He was an awfully peculiar man
The river was his only friend
And the folks didn't understand,
The man called Ko-ko Joe
(Ko-ko Joe)
(Ko-ko Joe)
He'd eat monkey meat and mashed potatoes
He drunk a brew called Mo-jo Claw
That he beat outa roots from old dead stumps,
On the banks of the Etowah
Made him walk a little funny
(Ko-ko Joe)
Made his breath smell funky
(Ko-ko Joe)
Well he never come across the river,
'Cause the folks didn't like him in town
They said his hair was long,
His clothes were dirty,
They didn't want him hangin' around
Ko-ko Joe
They called him the Etowah River rat,
The folks despised him
(Ko-ko Joe)
Ko-ko Joe,
He was an awfully peculiar man
The river was his only friend
And the folks didn't understand,
The man called Ko-ko Joe
(Ko-ko Joe)
(Ko-ko Joe)
Well it happened a year ago Sunday,
And they still talk about it today,
How the dam broke loose,
On the Etowah River
Nearly washin' everybody away
The river water rising,
(Ko-ko Joe)
Washin' up all the bushes,
(Ko-ko Joe)
Well the headlines said,
How a mother said, my son woulda lost his life,
But he was pulled from the mud in the Etowah River,
By the man y'all despised
(Ko-ko Joe)
Ko-ko Joe,
They called him the Etowah River rat,
The folks despised him
(Ko-ko Joe)
Ko-ko Joe,
So be careful what you say, my friend,
About folks you don't understand
Someday you might need a man like Ko-ko Joe
(Ko-ko Joe)
Go ahead home son,
(Ko-ko Joe)
Ko-ko Joe,
They called him the Etowah River rat,
The folks despised him