Album: Dusty In Memphis

Willie and Laura Mae Jones

(Tony Joe White)

Willie & Laura Mae Jones
Were our neighbours a long time back
They lived right down the road from us
In a shack just like our shack
The people worked the land together
And we learned to count on each other
When you live off the land
You don't have the time to think about another man's colour
The cotton was high and the corn was growing fine
But that was another place and another time
Sit out on the front porch
In the evening when the sun went down
Willie would play and the kids would sing
And everybody would mess around
Daddy'd bring out his guitar
And play on through the night
Every now and then ol' Willie would grin and say
";Hey, you play all right";
Made me feel so good
I remember the best times of all
When Saturday came around
We all would stop by Willie's house and say
";Do y'all need anything from town?";
He'd say ";No, but why don't y'all stop on the way back through?
And I'll get Laura Mae, yeah, to cook up some barbecue";
And you know that's good
The cotton was high and the corn was growing fine, yes it was
But that was another place and another time
Oh, the years rolled past the land
And took back what they'd given
We all knew we had to move
If we were gonna make a living
So we all moved off
And went about our separate ways
It sure was hard to say goodbye
To Willie and Laura Mae (Jones), oh yeah
The cotton was high and the corn was growing fine, yes it was
But that was another place and another time
I remember so well
The cotton looked so fine
But that was another place and another time
And it felt so good, yes it did