(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