(Bonnie Dodd)

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

A neighbor was passing my garden one time
She stopped and I knew right away
That it was gossip, not flowers, she had on her mind
And this is what I heard my neighbor say.

That bad girl down the street should be run from our midst
She drinks and she talks quite a lot
She knows not to speak to me or my child
My neighbor then smiled and I thought.

A car speeded by and the screaming 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...