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