(Ko-ko Joe)
(Ko-ko Joe)
Son
(Ko-ko Joe)
Go ahead home.
(Ko-ko Joe)
Way up in Appaloosa county,
There's a place called Ko-ko Ridge.
Sets a 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 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)
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)
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.
Son the river water risin',
(Ko-ko Joe)
Washin' up all the bushes,
(Ko-ko Joe)
Well the headlines said,
How a mother said, my son would have 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 swamp 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 swamp rat,
The folks despised him.