(Ko-ko Joe Ko-ko Joe Ko-ko Joe Ko-ko Joe)
Way up in Appaloosa County there's a place called Ko-ko ridge
Sets a right on the bend on the Etowah River
Where the water washed away the bridge
Cotton Mouth Country a river rats knee high
Way up around the back border lived a man that the river folks talked about
They said you better stay away from Ko-ko Joe cause he's crazy no account

Ko-ko Joe they called him the Etowah River swamp rat and folks despised him
Ko-ko Joe he was an awfuly peculiar man the river was his only friend
And the folks didn't understand the man Ko-ko Joe

He eat monkey meat'n mashed potatoes he drunka brew called the Mojo Claw
that he beat outta roots from ol' dead stumps on the banks of the Etowah
Made him walk a little funny made his breath smell funky
Well he never came 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 hanging around

Ko-ko Joe they called him...

Well it happened a year ago Sunday and they still talk about it today
How the dam broke loose on the Etowah River nearly washed everybody away
Son the river water risin' washing up all the bushes
Well the headlines read how a mother said my son would have lost his life
But he was pulled from the mud in the Etowah River by the man y'all all despise

Ko-ko Joe they called him...