Be Careful Of Stones That You Throw

Porter Wagoner · Y'all Come (RCA Victor) [1963]

(Bonnie Dodd)



A tongue can accuse and carry bad news

The seeds of distrust it will sow

But unless you've made no mistakes in your life

Be careful of stones that you throw.



A neighbor was passin' my garden one day

She stopped and I knew right away

That gossip not flowers she had on her mind

And this is what I heard my neighbor say.



You know that girl down who lived down the street

She oughta be run from our midst

She drinks and she talks quite a lot

But she knows not to speak to my child nor to me

My neighbor then smiled and I thought.



A tongue can accuse and carry bad news

The seeds of distrust it will sow

But unless you've made no mistakes in your life

Be careful of stones that you throw.



A car speeded by and the screaming of brakes

A sound that made my blood chill

My neighbor's one child had been pulled from the path

And saved by a girl lying still.



The child was unhurt and my neighbor cried out

Oh, who was that brave girl so sweet

I covered the crushed broken body and said

That's the bad girl that lived down the street.



A tongue can accuse and carry bad news

The seeds of distrust it will sow

But unless you've made no mistakes in your life

Be careful of stones that you throw...