Intro  A            
          (Ko Ko Joe)    (Ko Ko Joe)   Son  (Ko Ko Joe)

          Go ahead home   (Ko ko Joe)

Verse 1

A     
Well Up in Appaloosa county 
          D              
There's a place called Ko ko Ridge
        A                        D
Sittin' right on the bend Of the Etowah River
          E
Where the water washed away the bridge
A
Cotton Mouth Country  (Ko ko Joe)
D
A river rat's knee high  (Ko ko Joe)

Verse 2

A                                                              
Way up around the back border Lived a man 
         D
That the river folks talked about
              A                       C
They said you better stay away from a Ko ko Joe 
                       D         A             B
'Cause he's cause he's crazy no 'count (Ko ko Joe)

Chorus 1

                               D
Ko-ko Joe  They called him the Etowah River swamp rat
          A                           B
The folks despised him   (Ko ko Ko Ko Joe)
                     D
Ko-ko Joe  He was an awfully peculiar man
    C
The river was his only friend
         D                          E                A
And the folks didn't understand The man called Ko ko Joe

(Ko ko Joe)  (Ko ko Joe)

Verse 3


He'd eat monkey meat and mashed potatoes
                               D
He drunk a brew called a Mo-jo Claw
        A                    D
That he beat outa roots from old dead stumps 
       E
On the banks of the Etowah
A                             E
Made him walk a little funny  (Ko ko Ko Ko Joe)
A
Made his breath smell funky  (Ko ko Joe)

Verse 4

A
Well he never come across the river 

'Cause the folks didn't like him in town
                                 C
They said his hair was long  His clothes were dirty 
     D                       A               B
They didn't want him hangin' around  (Ko ko Joe)

Chorus 2

                               D
Ko ko Joe  They called him the Etowah River swamp rat 
          E        A                 B
The folks despised him  (Ko ko Ko Ko Joe)
                    D
Ko ko Joe He was an awfully peculiar man

The river was his only friend
                                    E                A
And the folks didn't understand The man called Ko ko Joe

(Ko ko Joe)  (Ko ko Joe)

Verse 5

A
Well it happened a year ago Sunday 

And they still talk about it today 
                               D
How the dam broke loose On the Etowah River
       E
Nearly washin' everybody away  Son
    A
The river water rising (Ko ko Joe) Washin' up all the bushes 

(Ko ko Joe)  Well the headlines said 

How a mother said my son woulda' lost his life
                                      C
But he was pulled from the mud in the Etowah River
       D         A                B
By the man y'all despised  (Ko ko Joe)

Outro

                              D
Ko-ko Joe They called him the Etowah River swamp rat
           E                   B
The folks despised him  (Ko ko Joe)
                 D
Ko-ko Joe  So be careful what you say my friend
       C
About folks you don't understand
    D                    E              A
Someday you might need a man like Ko ko Joe  (Ko ko Joe)  
D             A            B
Go ahead home son   (Ko ko Joe)
                               D
Ko-ko Joe  They called him the Etowah River swamp rat 
          A
The folks despised him