Recorded by hank williams, sr.
Written by bonnie dodd

Chorus
A [f] tongue can accuse and carry bad [c] news
The [f] seeds of distrust, it will [c] sow
But [f] unless you've made no mistakes in your [c] life
Be careful of [g7] stones that you [c] throw.

(spoken)
[c] a neighbor was passing my [f] garden one time
[c] she stopped and i knew right away [g7]
That it was gossip, not flowers, she had on her mind [c]
And this is what i heard my neighbor say:

[c] "that girl down the street [f] should be run from our midst
[c] she drinks and she talks quite a lot [g7]
She knows not to speak to my child or to me." [c]
My neighbor then smiled and i thought:

Chorus

(spoken)
A car speeded by and the screamin' of brakes
A sound that made my blood chill
For 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:
"the bad girl who lived down the street."

Chorus