verse 1
Well Up in Appaloosa county
There's a place called Ko ko Ridge
Sittin' right on the bend Of 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)
verse 2
Way up around the back border Lived a man
That the river folks talked about
They said you better stay away from a Ko ko Joe
'Cause he's cause he's crazy no 'count (Ko ko Joe)
Ko-ko Joe They called him the Etowah River swamp rat
The folks despised him (Ko ko 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 drunk a brew called a 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 Ko Ko Joe)
Made his breath smell funky (Ko ko Joe)
verse 4
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 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 rising (Ko ko Joe) Washin' up all the bushes
(Ko ko Joe) Well the headlines said
But he was pulled from the mud in the Etowah River
By the man y'all despised (Ko ko Joe)
Outro
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)
Ko-ko Joe They called him the Etowah River swamp rat
The folks despised him