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
A river rats knee high
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
They called him the Etowah River swamp rat
And folks despised him
Ko-Ko-Joe
He was an awfully peculiar man
The river was his only friend
And the folks didn't understand
The man Ko-Ko-Joe
He eat monkey meat and mashed potatoes
He drunk a brew called the Mojo Claw
That he beat outta roots
From old dead stumps
On the banks of the Etowah
Made him walk a little funny
Made his breath smell funky
Well, he never came 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 hanging around
Ko-Ko-Joe
They called him the Etowah River swamp rat
And folks despised him
Ko-Ko-Joe
He was an awfully peculiar man
The river was his only friend
And the folks didn't understand
The man 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 washing everybody away
Son the river water rising
Washing up all the bushes
Well, the headlines read 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 you all despise"
Ko-Ko-Joe
They called him the Etowah River swamp rat
And folks despised him
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
Go ahead home son
Ko-ko Joe
They called him the Etowah River swamp rat
And folks despised him