The Great Joe Bob (A Regional Tragedy)
from "Lubbock (On Everything)"
by Terry Allen.


He was the pride of the backfield
yeah the hero of his day
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
so nobody understood when the Great Joe Bob went bad

Well first he lost his scholarship to Texas Tech
For drinking during training
and breaking the coach's neck
and then he got suspened, aw,
for acting obscene
around the cum laude, cum laude
daughter of the dean

Then he took up with a waitress
named Loose Ruby Cole
while she was a'hopping tables
down at the Hi-De-Ho
and he’d meet her on the sly
when her daddy wern’t around
but he stopped making yardage
when he started messing around

Word spread like country wildfire
something big had gone all strange
Joe Bob the greatest half back
was acting half deranged
he’d been seen out with this woman
getting drunk and having fun
and then he growed his hair
and he give up prayer
and said football days is done


Then he and old Loose Ruby
robbed a Pinkie's liquor store
they had a run in with the law
as they's a'runnin out the door
and Joe Bob's fate was sealed
for the next century
cause he traded in the pigskin
for the penetentiary