Great Joe Bob

Terry Allen · Other Songs - Terry Allen

He was a panhandle prince

Schoolboy football king

I told him "Hi" in the halls

'Cause he could run them balls



But it was rumored down deep he was mean

He dated high tone girls

With frosty pom pom curls

But he never gave out his ring



He was the best of the best

He met the gridiron test

An there ain't nothin'

As American and clean



He was the pride of the backfield

Ah, the hero of his day

Yeah, he carried the ball for the red and blue

They won District Triple-A



And his name made all the papers

As the best they'd ever had

Yeah, so nobody understood it

When the great Joe Bob went bad



First he lost his scholarship

To Texas Tech

For drinking during training

An' breaking the coach's neck



Then he got suspended

Ah, for acting obscene

Around the cum laudy, cum laudy

Daughter of the Dean



So he took up with a waitress

Named Loose Ruby Cole

While she was a hoppin' tables

Down at the Hi D Ho



And he met her on the sly

When her daddy weren't around

Ah, but he stopped making yardage

When he started messin' 'round



He was the pride of the backfield

Ah, the hero of his day

Yeah, he carried the ball for the red and blue

They won District Triple-A



And his name made all the papers

As the best they'd ever had

Yeah, so nobody understood it

When the Great Joe Bob went bad



Yeah, it spread like a country wildfire

That something big had gone all strange

Joe Bob the greatest halfback

Was acting half deranged



He'd been seen out with this woman

Gettin' drunk and havin' fun

Yeah, he growed his hair, then give up prayer

And said, "Football days is done"



Then he and old Loose Ruby

Robbed a Pinkie's Liquor Store

And had a run in with the law

When they's runnin' out the door



And Joe Bob's fate was sealed

For the next century

Yeah, he traded in the pigskin

For the penitentiary



He was the pride of the backfield

Ah, the hero of his day

Yeah, he carried the ball for the red and blue

But [incomprehensible] carried all the way



And his name made all the papers

As the best they'd ever had

Yeah, so nobody understood it and nobody comprehended

When the great Joe Bob went bad