Said Bobbie Gentry in an interview: “Everybody has a different guess about what was thrown off the bridge-flowers, a ring, even a baby. Anyone who hears the song can think what they want, but the real message of the song, if there must be a message, revolves around the nonchalant way the family talks about the suicide. They sit there eating their peas and apple pie and talking, without even realizing that Billie Joe’s girlfriend is sitting at the table, a member of the family.”
That's how I always interpreted it. No right or wrong, I guess, but glad I wasn't the only one who took it this way. Always made me wonder why she was so secretive around her family, or if her family simply didn't care much about her.
The story of this song is the fact that her boyfriend killed himself and her family is at the table talking nonchalantly about it right in front of her
Actually, in the movie her mom expresses sadness and knows her daughter is struggling, but not necessarily about what, as teens go through moods/phases/etc.
@@angelabluebird609 But the film isn't factual. I read that Gentry was so unhappy with it, that it factored into her decision to quit show business altogether around 1980.
What they threw off the bridge was not important. People get caught up with that but the important point was that she was seen with him. She was the girlfriend and her family was casually talking about his suicide at the dinner table like it was the weather.
But what it was certainly related to the reason the guy committed suicide the next day. Bobbie Gentry never gave a definitive answer when asked about it, but once quipped, "Suppose it was a wedding ring." While you're correct about the main point of the song. You see the same thing with TV news: one minute they may report some tragedy, and the next minute you're seeing someone having a birthday party for their pet cat.
When I heard this song and it was new, I assumed they were throwing flowers into the river as they talked and that now she throws flowers into the river by herself. Bobby Gentry never said what was thrown into the river. The point was how ordinary people react to such an event. I watched that movie when it was new and absolutely hated it. They invented a horrible story.
@@PhysicalGraffiti97 The movie was based off the song, but it wasn't Bobby who wrote the movie, it's not what the song is about. Bobby Gentry never said what they threw off the bridge, that came from the minds of the movie writers and producers.
It was important what was thrown off the bridge,,, it was a ragdoll from when she was little. And it was not thrown, it was dropped while they were arguing. It was significant because it was lost childhood
Guys, people have been trying to figure out what she and Billy Joe threw off that bridge for over 50 years now! But it's a fictional story and Bobbie Gentry said it was more about how people just acted so nonchalant about someone killing himself. Just went about their dinner and their evening like nothing happened even though this poor girl is sitting there with her family and obviously she was in love with him.
Might have been her baby, but could only be an early miscarry. But why Billie Joe kill himself over that? Not his fault. It would probably be something else.
@@bradmossman7201 I believe because they couldn't tell the parents...back in the day and he couldn't live with the guilt. People were dirt poor back then etc
Bobby Gentry said many times that the song was about how insensitive the family was in discussing the boy's death and never noticing the girl is devastated.
Fun fact: My dad "dated" Bobbie, the songwriter, when they were teens. They even got kicked out of a theater here in Chickasaw County Mississippi as kids.
I agree. When I used to listen to this song in the back of my grandparents' car at the age of eight or nine, I used to feel this so deeply, even if I didn't entirely understand the story. I just understood that she was alone in this shock and grief, and that the ordinary, mundane world around her kept on spinning. It hit hard! Amazing song.
Yes she did. I remember when the song was on the radio every 15 minutes no matter what genre the station played. I saw her interviewed by Dick, Johnny, Allen and Steve while it was charting and it remained on some charts for more than a year. They put an official Placque on the goddamn bridge with the lyrics printed in bas-relief. When they tore the brifge down and replaced they put the placque on the new one If it is possible to have more recognition for a song I don't know how it could be done. If there was ever a masterpiece giving due recognition it was this one.
She knocked the Beatles out of #1 on the music charts and won 3 or 5 music awards for this song alone. Look her up. This is blue eyed sole at its best.
Bobbie was one of the most talented ladies in music, and was certainly as pretty as any. That's her accompanying herself on acoustic guitar. She was one of THE big stars, and there came a day when she decided to not work in show business any longer, and Bobbie simply disappeared and never again made a public appearance. I love her music to pieces.
I love this song! Am a 60 year old Brit and this to me is SO wonderfully American. I kind of grown up with this tune filtering in n out of my life. Fantastic, very atmospheric!
Try Dusty Springfield "Son of a Preacher Man", Nancy Sinatra "These Boots were made for Walking", Melanie "Look What they Done to my Song" & "Lay Down", Edie Brickell "Good Times" :)
Bobby said this song was more about how people are desensitized about suicide. The family sat around eating at the dinner table and not even realizing that she was Billy's girlfriend. It's not a true story. But they did make a movie after this song. Love Female Friday! You have to do Sugar Land "Stay", please! 🤔😎🤗
My youngest son shot himself last year, Nov 4th. He hung himself a year before but was saved before he died. I never forget our loss. I'm old. An old man shouldn't have to view his youngest baby Dead! 😎
@@donjenkins3861 God bless you Don. My wife of 36 years ran off with a Sugar Daddy. I'm so sad that it feels like she has died. Depression and suicide is too prevalent these days or maybe we're just more aware of it. IDK... Hang in there man. There are those whom can relate to your situation. Choosing life means to live it. Don't forget to do that. Your loved ones lost, would have wanted you to carry on.
I still think if they are going to react to that song, it needs to be the Reba McEntire version where she tells the story in the song. That version really brings out the emotions of the song.
that song is based on some real life events that occurred.. there was a lawyer around Atlanta who use to claim he was mentioned in the song, and knew much more of the story
No one will ever know what they threw off the bridge! My theory was always a sad one but … I always thought it was a stillborn baby. You two are lovely! 💕
You concentrated so much on the musical aspects, I didn't think you were catching the lyrics. She and Billy Joe were forbidden lovers and she had to mourn him in secret.
She may have known his secret of what happened when he went into town, drunk with a bunch of guys. It's all in the movie but has been so many year, I have forgotten much of the movie. Trying to locate the movie.
I think that part of the power in this song is that the softness Billie Joe sings with is in complete contrast to the hardness of the lyrics. And each verse twists the knife in harder....
This song is epic and chilling. It is fictional, BTW. Bobbie Gentry said that the mysterious thing that the protagonist and Billy Joe were throwing off the bridge was a red herring. It got people talking about what it might be, but she denies that it's something substantial. This song is a great example of the style known as "Southern Gothic." Another great example from a few years after this song was the song "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia" by Vicki Lawrence (she was an actress best known for her roles on The Carol Burnett Show and "Mama's Family" a sitcom that actually spun off from a frequent skit in the Carol Burnett Show. The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia was her only big musical hit, and she hits this song out of the park (her husband at the time was a songwriter and had intended someone else to sing it, but that fell through so Vicki volunteered to sing it and did a fantastic job. If you react to it, you will want a lyric version (they are out there) because the plot line and characters to the story are more confusing than "Ode to Billy Joe." There is a great plot twist at the end of the song. The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia was later covered by Reba McIntire and, if memory serves, it was a faithful cover, but please do a Vicki Lawrence lyric video if you react to it. I guarantee you'll like it and, like Ode to Billy Joe, it will give you chills. Back to "Ode to Billy Joe" Bobbie Gentry was quoted as saying the song was about the kind of "cruel indifference" that people can exhibit. If you follow the lyrics closely, You will see that the narrator of the song obviously had feelings for Billy Joe but seems as though she was unaware that he had jumped off the bridge until her mother dropped the news at the table. All the rest of the lines follow a pattern like "Billy Joe never had a lick of sense.... pass the biscuits please" and casually dismissive stuff embedded in requests for food items to be passed. Eventually, her mother notices that the narrator has not touched her food. Anyway, brilliant song.
@@jackieknows9129 He got drunk and had sex with Rosco P. Coltrane (google that name) then killed himself. Definitely a dark movie for TV in 1976. I was never really sure why they decided to take that angle.
@@TBoNAtl I know who that is without looking it up lol. I saw the movie when I was in Junior High school. A few years later Dukes of Hazzard came on TV and I remembered him from the movie.
I wonder if Amber will already know Alison Krauss since she grew up listening to bluegrass? They should react to her even if so, since she'll definitely be all new to Jay. LOVE Alison!
Yes they usually pretty good listening to lyrics especially when story telling and figuring it out most times. People I seen react to it first time just couldn’t figure out the story she was telling.
One of the most creative artists of the era. While she didn't get credit for it at the time she was the primary producer of her work, uncommon of any artist at that time, unheard of for a female artist at that time. There are seven studio albums, all excellent and each different. This year an unreleased album loosely categorized as "Jazz" came out for RSD. It is excellent as well. She hosted a BBC variety show in the UK for a couple of seasons around 70-71, then went to Las Vegas and put together a very elaborate stage show, doing all the choreography, costumes, musical arrangements herself. It ran for several years, during which time she married one of the big Vegas casino owners and by the mid to late 1970s she had retired. Today no one sees here, she doesn't make public appearances, and many call her a recluse. But she just doesn't crave the attention or need the money (she is a very smart business person) like so many artists in their later years. She just likes her privacy. An amazing lady.
As an Okie myself, there is a reason for the similarities in Native names of towns in Mississippi and Oklahoma. Those tribes (Chickasaw, Cherokee, Choctaw, etc.) have their original homelands in Mississippi area and were forced west (Trail of Tears) when the federal government moved them to what is now Oklahoma.
Both my parents were okie's and I remember back in the late 60's at my uncle's house in Modesto CA, that at a family get together someone was playing this song and that was the first time hearing it, just loved it back then.
It could have been connected or had caused the suicide, we don't know, but it could answer some unanswered questions as to why he felt he had to jump. Just a thought.
That really hits you between the eyes at the start of the song with the nonchalant way the news about Billy Joe is mentioned. Then the conversation just moves on. It’s chilling. Personally, I always thought he threw an engagement ring off the bridge, then he jumped. She told him no and he didn’t want to go on without her. Pain is very difficult to deal with, wether it’s physical or emotional.
This is one of the darkest, macabre songs I ever heard from the country/folk genre... and that's why I love it. This song actually scared me as a kid, hahaha. That simple pickin of the guitar... the haunting groans of the stringed instruments (violins/cellos)... her mournful vocals, painting quite the visual picture in my mind with those narrative lyrics... it all ties in perfectly... and kept me awake in terror at night, lol, even though it's not particularly scary at all ... just a little spooky with all that bridge jumping/throwing stuff.
@@FrankButterfield Same here! Although I found Reba McEntire's cover to be just as eerie. Both versions are good, I have no real insistence which is the "better" version, but I probably do lean more toward Reba. I actually compiled a little playlist of a bunch of country & country/pop song by female artists/vocalists and I ended the whole thing with these 2 songs, though I think I had two other tunes sandwiched between them (they just seemed to flow better music-wise that way) ; Dolly Parton's rendition of House Of The Rising Sun (very cool - different from The Animals' version, kind of ominous but a more upbeat tempo), and an old 80s country one-hit-wonder, Somebody's Knocking by Terri Gibb.
This is "Southern Gothic". Very much story driven. This song really speaks to me. My Mom's family is originally from Mississippi and although I was born and raised in California I can just see that farm house and kitchen and her accent just reminds me so much of family. It makes me want to go to Mississippi so much. I've got to one day just to see where my people came from. Thanks for reacting to this.
Similar story here, my father's people are from that part of Mississippi.Mom's people are Okies, I was also born in California and grew up in a very southern household lol.
Oh, you have to go, so rewarding to go to where your roots are based, I live in Australia and I have been, so what is holding you back? My family settled in Ontario Canada in the 1600's and I flew over to see where it all began and met family - it's an unreal feeling and a sense of belonging.
@@marielaveau5321 I hoping to around Halloween. Taking a cross country trip to visit family and friends in TN and FL. Can't wait! I know I'm going to get some good food back there!
Another great artist to check out is Juice Newton....Angel of the Morning, The Sweetest Thing, Queen of Hearts and more. She was pop and country. Great voice!
It’s a blues, folk song. It shows how hard times are on the Delta. It also shows how hard people have to work to make it and how one pillar in the family can fall and devastate everyone in the family. It’s also a story about getting out of the Delta and Add hints on the love story and the tragedy of losing someone so young. This version is also live in case you missed that. I’ve been a fan ever since it’s released in the 60s.
Wow! I have never seen Bobby Gentry speak or sing live - this is stunning! She is so striking looking and her guitar playing and singing are just amazing. Those low notes!
A question for the ages! Bobbie Gentry paints such a masterpiece with her lyrics. And the movie takes a huge leap with dramatic license by adding a lot that Bobbie never intended. I think that her leaving the song open to interpretation is one thing that makes it so iconic.
Such a great song! I’ve always loved the eerie vibe of this, and the lyrical mystery of what exactly it was that she and Billy Joe threw off the Tallahatchee Bridge has been the topic of speculation ever since the song came out. Bobbie Gentry herself has never answered that question, saying the point of the song was the subconscious cruelty of her family as they just casually talked about his suicide over dinner, not knowing their daughter was in love with him, and knew a lot more about what happened than they realized. The lyrics of this song are just brilliant, not only because she makes you part of the story, but because those who spend their time trying to figure out what was thrown off the bridge are displaying the same subconscious cruelty her family was. Such a well-crafted story and song. Absolute genius on her part. This song was such a huge hit at the time its hard to believe she never even came close to this song’s success ever again.
It seems everyone forgets about the best female voice of the 70's, Linda Ronstadt. Not only a nice pure voice but there is no one like her. Pure talent & also responsible for helping get the Eagle's band together. I would suggest Just One Look for starters.
Agreed, LINDA RONSTADT is at the top, my favorite singer! There are alot of great singers out there, but to me Linda just has something special. And I saw here in concert in 1976 !
Can you imagine a song of this quality topping the Top 40 in 2021? There are two songs, by the way, that I've reliably seen make reactors cry: "Cat's in the Cradle," by Harry Chapin and "Coat of Many Colors," by Dolly Parton. The first is singer-songwriter (basically pop-folk) and the second is, well, Dolly.
She's hypnotizing. She takes your attention and you just can't break away.. The song was a hit when I was a kid. They even made a movie based on it.. I have never forgotten either of them.
This song is so beautiful, so soulful. It was the idea behind a 1976 movie called “Ode to Billy Joe” starring Robby Benson and Glynis O’Connor. It’s a good movie.
@@pretzeltime3900- I deserve that. I’m a champion at making poor, more like stupid, choices. Believe it or not- at this point, probably not- my original reply really did include: I’m sincerely sorry I did so much of the written equivalent of shouting, but obviously(!) the movie version of the song upsets me to this day. Just before I pressed send, I had the thought that I’ve seen plenty of comments partly or fully caps locked, no apology, did I have to apologize? I took it out. Poor choice. Anyhow: I was and I am still incredulous that homosexuality was chosen to be why Billy Joe committed suicide. What?!? How did the screenwriters decide to use that as the cause?? Yes, this response is sarcastic: One instance of sex with a man sends Billy Joe off the bridge. Look how powerfully awful homosexuality is! Way to go, Hollywood, let’s stigmatize homosexuality some more! Non sarcasm: There’s *ugly, ugly* messaging in the movie, an element that needlessly, in a complete disservice to the song, was made a part of the fictional backstory/storyline of Bobbie Gentry’s iconic song, “Ode to Billy Joe.” We do agree it’s a so beautiful, so soulful song!
@@ellab8897 Thank you Ella B for your comment. You made such a wonderful argument for the movie, and I agree fully. I was a young teenager when I watched that movie for the first time, but I’d heard the song before and imagined that Billy Jo’s reason was pregnancy - with Bobbi Lee or some girl he was just passing time with. It upset me that there was a dark side to the story in the movie, but it was a subject that wasn’t spoken about in public then and it was the first movie I’d ever watched that even hinted about homosexuality. It was a terrible decision that they wrote the storyline about a creepy old man raping a drunk young boy. Thank you so much for discussing this with me.
Joan Baez is another singer songwriter from that era. She does a song called The night they drove Old Dixie down. I'm sure you would enjoy her as well.
Her performance is a cover and, despite preferring the sound of it to the original, I have to admit that it's a very sloppy one that misses the point and messes up some lyrics. It's originally by The Band and was the focus of an excellent article named "Unpacking the Absurd Logic of Cultural Appropriation-and What It Will Cost Us" because it's a song by a Canadian expressing the pain of poor southern tenant farmers better than southerners ever did in over a hundred years of opportunity to do so. (eg. It's only the third line and she's already turning "Stoneman's cavalry" into "so much cavalry".)
As you mentioned, this song came out in the 60's - the era of Rock bands and Motown. Then out of nowhere, this song hit the airwaves and the entire country flipped over it, we'd never heard anything like this before. The guitar, the strings in the background, the interesting story, and of course that amazing voice ! The movie was made mainly because the entire country could not stop talking about this song and what it all meant.
The song was originally seven minutes long. It had to be edited down to four minutes 15 seconds to fit on a 7" single. Even so the label thought this was very risky as record companies at the time thought that a song should be no more than three minutes long if it was to have hit potential. Here's the original first verse of the song that was edited out: People don't see Sally Jane in town anymore There's a lot of speculatin' She's not actin' like she did before Some say she knows more that she's willin' to tell But she stays quiet and a few think it's just as well No one really knows what went on up on Choctaw Ridge The day that Billy Jo McAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge Some consider Bobbie Gentry to be one of America's great unsung short story writers. The original handwritten lyrics to "Ode to Billie Joe" are kept in the archives at the University of Mississippi, along with works by William Faulkner and Tennessee Williams.
A sad song about a girl finding out her secret boyfriend has committed suicide as her family casually talks about it between mouths full of food like it means nothing to them. The movie is good, but dark, and has an interpretation what happened, the reason for the suicide and what was thrown off the bridge is unknown.
My take is; the story teller and Billie joe had a premature baby then tossed the infant from the bridge and the pain was too great for Billie joe and he committed suicide.
@Sappho Nymph Well,....it's not the only reasonable interpretation. He may have asked her to elope and marry him. She said no, threw the ring he saved up for into the river and maybe even laughed at him for thinking she'd want him as a husband. Billy, being young, inexperienced, and probably not the sharpest tool in the shed, wouldn't be good at handling the "I like you,...but as a friend" speech, let alone a harsh/mocking rejection. She spends the rest of the year sad & guilty, knowing that her cruelty caused his suicide.
@@pauld6967 You are correct, in interviews Bobbie Gentry said she intentionally wrote the song in vague innuendo. That is the brilliance of those lyrics, to tell a story and provoke thought.
Her voice, the guitar, the lyrics.........fantastic. I can see everything in my mind that she sings. To me, I always thought they were breaking up and it was at least one ring thrown over. Now she throws flowers to Billy Joe. The violin was haunting.
This song has a hypnotic quality that draws you DEEP into the story, you just can't look away. The song and story were so compelling they made a movie of it in 1976. A very talented woman was Miss Gentry
This song was released in 1967. The talent speaks for itself and all I can say is we don't have talent like that in music in the music world today. I'm glad I was a kid in the sixties and a teen throughout most of the seventies. Talent was everywhere, we were surrounded by it. All you could do was to surrender too it and enjoy the ride. ☮️ 💕
Doug Suzie; There is a band that's been out about 25 yrs now you have to check out and putting out some really awesome music. They are one of my favorite bands. It's Rock but really talented musicians. First cd I would love for you to hear and in my personal opinion the best rock cd to ever come out by Kutlass titled; "To Know That You're Alive. Please check it out.
Bobby Gentry was/is awesome. Check out her song "Fancy", a pretty shocking story in that one. Reba McEntire covered "Fancy" as well. You might also like "The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia" by Vickie Lawrence (or Reba McEntire again).
If they do the night the lights went out in Georgia, they need to do the version by Reba McEntire where she tells the story in the song. That version really invokes the emotions of the song.
@@jackwells8107 Yes, the actress Vickie Lawrence (Carol Burnett Show, Mama's Family) had a #1 hit with it in 1972 & Reba McEntire made it a hit again in 1991, I believe.
@@mistermisanthrope4106 I was talking about Fancy, not Lights. I remember Nights from Vicki's version, since I was around when it came out. Saw the movie with Mark Hamill and Dennis Quade at the theater as well. Looks like you are right on when Reba covered Fancy, though.
@@ShannonsPoetryParadise It's great, except that when she's telling the story, a couple of times she mentions things that the song hasn't gotten to yet. It kind of ruins the "reveal" of what actually happened.
One thing I always love about Bobbie Gentry is how she never "shows off" her range yet the song simply flows from her.....like a cool country creek! The storytelling of this piece is classic! Thank you so much for sharing! 😽🎶
This is defined as being Southern Gothic, she was huge in the UK, i came to London in the 90s and was beloved by all my friends grandparents who were either Irish or From the West Indies and they loved her, Patsy Cline, Crystal Gayle too and the great debate as to what was they were throwing over the bridge! In fact this was played on a national radio station in the UK yesterday.
In all these years, Ms. Gentry has never revealed the story behind this song or why Billy Joe jumped off the bridge. The song was an enormous hit, but within decade of its release Ms. Gentry retired from public life. She does not do appearances or interviews.
Y'all have to watch the PBS Ken Burns series on country music from the beginnings through the Depression, WWII, Civil rights, right up to the present...(have you done the Loretta Lynn song that got banned "The Pill"...You have to think about what things were like at that time especially in the South to understand why it was banned)
Can't believe it! Love her so much! I'm putting a quote from her about the song "Bobbie Gentry explained: "The message of the song revolves around the nonchalant way the family talks about the suicide. The song is a study in unconscious cruelty."" You notice that the girl telling the story is highly effected but nobody really notices except her mother. She said what they threw could have been anything, it really didn't matter. The movie came later and what was in it wasn't the actual story of the song at all.
The movie is alright but they defined a lot of storyline that Bobby has said in interviews that she left intentionally unanswered in the lyrics. That aspect of the song is what makes it a work of genius. Anybody getting into the song will mentally speculate and ponder while she is evoking referrences about food and country life that many of us relate strongly to. The last verse describing circumstances as they stand at the time of relating the story, so poignantly illustrate how quickly life can change in a year's time. Simply fascinating. My other favorite song by her is "Mississippi Delta" which is completely different except that she again draws on simple experiences that are richly relatable.
Eventually you have to react to Janis Ian, her two biggest hits were " Society's Child" about a teen inter-racial couple written in the 60's, and "I Learned the Truth at 17" , about not being one of the "in" crowd in High School.
It's hard to overestimate the impact of this song when it was released. Bobby was a virtual unknown, and the theme of the song contrasted with its pace and "gravely smoothness." I remember when I saw her sing it on TV the first time, right after she released it -- just amazing. This thing got sooooo much radio time; it was crazy. Y'all did pause the video at a very important point a bit before the end and you might have missed an important line. Have you had a minute to re-listen to it? Greetings from Wichita to y'all in Baja Kansas!
Love, love, love Bobby Gentry and this song. It was SO big in 1968! It was played a lot then. Some say it was a ring because she wouldn't marry him for some reason.
Her song is not her story. She is bringing to light what generally happens in closed societies. Sure, she probably knew all the details and people, but she had respect for their privacy. I respect her choice to even pursue this song!
What is so amazing is how she can play the guitar and sing in perfect tune. That is very difficult to do both at the same time. True artist. A beautiful song and it’s a true story. She’s singing.
Said Bobbie Gentry in an interview: “Everybody has a different guess about what was thrown off the bridge-flowers, a ring, even a baby. Anyone who hears the song can think what they want, but the real message of the song, if there must be a message, revolves around the nonchalant way the family talks about the suicide. They sit there eating their peas and apple pie and talking, without even realizing that Billie Joe’s girlfriend is sitting at the table, a member of the family.”
That's how I always interpreted it. No right or wrong, I guess, but glad I wasn't the only one who took it this way. Always made me wonder why she was so secretive around her family, or if her family simply didn't care much about her.
Yeah that must have been pure hell for the girl to have to sit through that and not react .
The story of this song is the fact that her boyfriend killed himself and her family is at the table talking nonchalantly about it right in front of her
Actually, in the movie her mom expresses sadness and knows her daughter is struggling, but not necessarily about what, as teens go through moods/phases/etc.
@@angelabluebird609 But the film isn't factual. I read that Gentry was so unhappy with it, that it factored into her decision to quit show business altogether around 1980.
Dusty Springfield ~ "Son of a preacher man" is a must...!!!
oh yes!
@@Joedirt3349 "That's why daddy named you Joe Dirt...!"
Was going to recommend the same song…perfect
Ms. Gentry did a great cover of that one too
And "Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself" and "I Only Want to Be With You" and my favorite, "Since I Fell For You".
What they threw off the bridge was not important. People get caught up with that but the important point was that she was seen with him. She was the girlfriend and her family was casually talking about his suicide at the dinner table like it was the weather.
Also, the mother goes through a similar experience with the father dying of a virus, yet they can't still can't find common ground in their grief.
But what it was certainly related to the reason the guy committed suicide the next day. Bobbie Gentry never gave a definitive answer when asked about it, but once quipped, "Suppose it was a wedding ring."
While you're correct about the main point of the song. You see the same thing with TV news: one minute they may report some tragedy, and the next minute you're seeing someone having a birthday party for their pet cat.
When I heard this song and it was new, I assumed they were throwing flowers into the river as they talked and that now she throws flowers into the river by herself. Bobby Gentry never said what was thrown into the river. The point was how ordinary people react to such an event. I watched that movie when it was new and absolutely hated it. They invented a horrible story.
@@PhysicalGraffiti97 The movie was based off the song, but it wasn't Bobby who wrote the movie, it's not what the song is about. Bobby Gentry never said what they threw off the bridge, that came from the minds of the movie writers and producers.
It was important what was thrown off the bridge,,, it was a ragdoll from when she was little. And it was not thrown, it was dropped while they were arguing. It was significant because it was lost childhood
She was one of the first female artists in America to compose and produce her own material. Shes now 80
She knocked the Beatles off of the number 1 spot on the music billboards
I didn't know that, well that's great!
Guys, people have been trying to figure out what she and Billy Joe threw off that bridge for over 50 years now! But it's a fictional story and Bobbie Gentry said it was more about how people just acted so nonchalant about someone killing himself. Just went about their dinner and their evening like nothing happened even though this poor girl is sitting there with her family and obviously she was in love with him.
Was her baby
Might have been her baby, but could only be an early miscarry. But why Billie Joe kill himself over that? Not his fault. It would probably be something else.
YES - I just wrote something similar without reading your response, Heron -- I could have saved myself a few keystrokes! lol
They were referencing the fact that Bobbie Gentry was from Chickasaw County, she mentioned that in the opening
@@bradmossman7201 I believe because they couldn't tell the parents...back in the day and he couldn't live with the guilt. People were dirt poor back then etc
You really need to try Harper Valley PTA by Jeannie C Riley
Indeed!
You beat me to it!
Lol I was gonna put that too.
Yes please 🙏🙏🙏🙏
Great song choice by Jeannie Riley!!!! 💓💓💓
Another for female Fridays is Jeanne C. Riley singing HARPER VALLEY PTA.
Also ‘the girl most likely’
Yes! They also made a movie about it with Barbara Eden.
Always a good one!
YES!!
You beat me to it.
Bobby Gentry said many times that the song was about how insensitive the family was in discussing the boy's death and never noticing the girl is devastated.
One of the sexiest country voices ever !!!!
Fun fact: My dad "dated" Bobbie, the songwriter, when they were teens. They even got kicked out of a theater here in Chickasaw County Mississippi as kids.
lol
Lucky daddy!
I'm from Chickasaw Mississippi too!
@@Cissy777 nice!
Did they throw anything off the Tallahatchie Bridge? 👀
I always felt sad that her parents had no idea she was in love with Billy Joe. Everyone was clueless around the table that she was devastated.
Parents of teenagers
which is what the song is really about....not about what they threw off a bridge...its about man's inhumanity towards man
I agree. When I used to listen to this song in the back of my grandparents' car at the age of eight or nine, I used to feel this so deeply, even if I didn't entirely understand the story. I just understood that she was alone in this shock and grief, and that the ordinary, mundane world around her kept on spinning. It hit hard! Amazing song.
@@louiseteaches My thoughts also, and so sad she couldn't even share this feeling to anyone that she felt would understand or care.
@@lordsatanicus1622 Exactly. Read my note about Bobbi Gentry's comment on the song.
Bobby Gentry sang this with such profound depth. She never really got sufficient due.
Yes she did. I remember when the song was on the radio every 15 minutes no matter what genre the station played. I saw her interviewed by Dick, Johnny, Allen and Steve while it was charting and it remained on some charts for more than a year. They put an official Placque on the goddamn bridge with the lyrics printed in bas-relief. When they tore the brifge down and replaced they put the placque on the new one If it is possible to have more recognition for a song I don't know how it could be done. If there was ever a masterpiece giving due recognition it was this one.
She knocked the Beatles out of #1 on the music charts and won 3 or 5 music awards for this song alone. Look her up. This is blue eyed sole at its best.
One of my favourite ever songs. I've always thought you can feel the heat and humidity. (and I had a teenage crush on her..)
To add to what Fred posted, there is STILL a lot of controversy over what was thrown off the bridge and why Billy Joe jumped - 58 years later!
She didn't care for that crap,she's one of the few who figured out how demonic the music industry is.
Bobbie was one of the most talented ladies in music, and was certainly as pretty as any. That's her accompanying herself on acoustic guitar. She was one of THE big stars, and there came a day when she decided to not work in show business any longer, and Bobbie simply disappeared and never again made a public appearance.
I love her music to pieces.
I love this song! Am a 60 year old Brit and this to me is SO wonderfully American. I kind of grown up with this tune filtering in n out of my life. Fantastic, very atmospheric!
Try Dusty Springfield "Son of a Preacher Man", Nancy Sinatra "These Boots were made for Walking", Melanie "Look What they Done to my Song" & "Lay Down", Edie Brickell "Good Times" :)
Yes sir all of those!
Love Melanie's song Brand New Key.
Second Dusty Springfield’s “Son of a Preacher Man” 100%!!!!! Probably one of the ten best songs of the genre.
If you want a lesser derivative of this, Harper Valley PTA is fun and led to a TV show that Starred Barbara Eden for a Season.
@@selat2 I think that was a TV movie not a series. I may be wrong
Bobby said this song was more about how people are desensitized about suicide. The family sat around eating at the dinner table and not even realizing that she was Billy's girlfriend. It's not a true story. But they did make a movie after this song. Love Female Friday! You have to do Sugar Land "Stay", please! 🤔😎🤗
They have already reacted to "Stay". It should be listed in their videos unless it got blocked.
@@midnightblackrose00 Okay, thank you for correcting me. 🤗🤔😎 I'll check it out. You must be their management or something. 🤔
My youngest son shot himself last year, Nov 4th. He hung himself a year before but was saved before he died. I never forget our loss. I'm old. An old man shouldn't have to view his youngest baby Dead! 😎
@@donjenkins3861 God bless you Don.
My wife of 36 years ran off with a Sugar Daddy. I'm so sad that it feels like she has died. Depression and suicide is too prevalent these days or maybe we're just more aware of it. IDK...
Hang in there man. There are those whom can relate to your situation.
Choosing life means to live it. Don't forget to do that. Your loved ones lost, would have wanted you to carry on.
It’s also kind of implied that she and Billy had a baby that threw in the river. At least that’s what I was always told growing up.
"The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia" by Vicki Lawrence is a lot like this: A soothing yet foreboding song with a dark story to tell...
I love that song!
I still think if they are going to react to that song, it needs to be the Reba McEntire version where she tells the story in the song. That version really brings out the emotions of the song.
that song is based on some real life events that occurred.. there was a lawyer around Atlanta who use to claim he was mentioned in the song, and knew much more of the story
and made into a movie...
Reba sings it better
A classic country blues masterpiece. People still discuss this song over 50 years later. It hit #1 in 1967, and sold 1 million copies in just 6 weeks
I heard some " purists " didn't consider this country. Are they stupid?
This song is so steeped in southern culture. It really enhances the story, as does the dialog of the family at the dinner table.
I said it before: Female Friday, Carole King, Tapestry, the song or anything else from that album. Love ya, enjoy!
One of the best albums ever. Youre right every song is wonderful.
Love to have you react to Smack Water jack by Carole King
Tapestry is one of the greatest albums ever.
You make the earth move!
No one will ever know what they threw off the bridge! My theory was always a sad one but … I always thought it was a stillborn baby. You two are lovely! 💕
I’m sure it was her childhood soft toy that she told everything to.I can’t remember his name il have to read the book again!
According to the movie, it was her childhood toy
Really, wow I never caught that in the movie- are you talking about the old movie with Robbie Benson?
My grandma always told me it was their baby too. She’d hid her pregnancy.
@@matthewhumphry756 that’s what I always thought!!
You concentrated so much on the musical aspects, I didn't think you were catching the lyrics. She and Billy Joe were forbidden lovers and she had to mourn him in secret.
She may have known his secret of what happened when he went into town, drunk with a bunch of guys. It's all in the movie but has been so many year, I have forgotten much of the movie. Trying to locate the movie.
Yeah, they totally missed the part about something being thrown off the bridge which is kind of the catalysis of the whole song
he was raped I think
Yes! …and interrupted it in the wrong places, crashing the story line and continuity.
Choctaw ridge, Talahatchie bridge.
I think that part of the power in this song is that the softness Billie Joe sings with is in complete contrast to the hardness of the lyrics. And each verse twists the knife in harder....
She was the girl throwing flowers off the bridge with Billy Joe..... Thats why she still spending time there often...
No matter how many times I hear this song, I am mesmerized by her voice.
This song is epic and chilling. It is fictional, BTW. Bobbie Gentry said that the mysterious thing that the protagonist and Billy Joe were throwing off the bridge was a red herring. It got people talking about what it might be, but she denies that it's something substantial. This song is a great example of the style known as "Southern Gothic." Another great example from a few years after this song was the song "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia" by Vicki Lawrence (she was an actress best known for her roles on The Carol Burnett Show and "Mama's Family" a sitcom that actually spun off from a frequent skit in the Carol Burnett Show. The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia was her only big musical hit, and she hits this song out of the park (her husband at the time was a songwriter and had intended someone else to sing it, but that fell through so Vicki volunteered to sing it and did a fantastic job. If you react to it, you will want a lyric version (they are out there) because the plot line and characters to the story are more confusing than "Ode to Billy Joe." There is a great plot twist at the end of the song. The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia was later covered by Reba McIntire and, if memory serves, it was a faithful cover, but please do a Vicki Lawrence lyric video if you react to it. I guarantee you'll like it and, like Ode to Billy Joe, it will give you chills.
Back to "Ode to Billy Joe" Bobbie Gentry was quoted as saying the song was about the kind of "cruel indifference" that people can exhibit. If you follow the lyrics closely, You will see that the narrator of the song obviously had feelings for Billy Joe but seems as though she was unaware that he had jumped off the bridge until her mother dropped the news at the table. All the rest of the lines follow a pattern like "Billy Joe never had a lick of sense.... pass the biscuits please" and casually dismissive stuff embedded in requests for food items to be passed. Eventually, her mother notices that the narrator has not touched her food. Anyway, brilliant song.
"The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia" is a great suggestion.
Reba McEntire also did a remake of Bobby Gentry's song "Fancy."
I remember the movie with Robby Benson! Very dark movie for TV
The movie was super dark and would only hint at what happened with Billy Joe
I remember that, too.
Yes it was!
@@jackieknows9129 He got drunk and had sex with Rosco P. Coltrane (google that name) then killed himself. Definitely a dark movie for TV in 1976. I was never really sure why they decided to take that angle.
@@TBoNAtl I know who that is without looking it up lol. I saw the movie when I was in Junior High school. A few years later Dukes of Hazzard came on TV and I remembered him from the movie.
Every time I hear this song, I drop a tear for Billie Joe. 😢
I'm so glad I grew up listening to music like this.
Her voice is haunting
Please check out Allison Krause ! Ghost in This House and When You Say Nothing at All. Alison has one of the most beautiful pure voices.
Definitely check out ‘When You Say Nothing at All.’
I wonder if Amber will already know Alison Krauss since she grew up listening to bluegrass? They should react to her even if so, since she'll definitely be all new to Jay. LOVE Alison!
Absolutely!
She did an absolutely fantastic cover of 'I Will'; another great song is ' I've Got That Old Feeling'. Great bluegrass artist.
'THE NIGHT THE LIGHTS WENT OUT IN GEORGIA ' Classic song by Vickie Lawrence.
Yes they usually pretty good listening to lyrics especially when story telling and figuring it out most times. People I seen react to it first time just couldn’t figure out the story she was telling.
That move is REALLY good too!!!!!!
OMG!!!! This brought tears to my eyes! I haven’t heard this song since the early 70s! EXCELLENT CHOICE!!!
Her voice, her voice, her voice. ❤️
One of the most creative artists of the era. While she didn't get credit for it at the time she was the primary producer of her work, uncommon of any artist at that time, unheard of for a female artist at that time. There are seven studio albums, all excellent and each different. This year an unreleased album loosely categorized as "Jazz" came out for RSD. It is excellent as well. She hosted a BBC variety show in the UK for a couple of seasons around 70-71, then went to Las Vegas and put together a very elaborate stage show, doing all the choreography, costumes, musical arrangements herself. It ran for several years, during which time she married one of the big Vegas casino owners and by the mid to late 1970s she had retired. Today no one sees here, she doesn't make public appearances, and many call her a recluse. But she just doesn't crave the attention or need the money (she is a very smart business person) like so many artists in their later years. She just likes her privacy. An amazing lady.
If i am not mistaken, she wrote fancy that Reba made famous in the 90's.
Yes, she did.
She wrote the song Fancy in 1970.
There is a video of her performing the song on an old TV show, and she....looks...... FIRE in a red catsuit.
You are absolutely correct about that.
Yup. Reba usually has everybody beat but she don't touch the original Fancy
I describe her voice as “haunting.”
The guitar arrangements along with that smooth voice. Its pure magic.
A very sad heartbreaking story indeed.
As an Okie myself, there is a reason for the similarities in Native names of towns in Mississippi and Oklahoma. Those tribes (Chickasaw, Cherokee, Choctaw, etc.) have their original homelands in Mississippi area and were forced west (Trail of Tears) when the federal government moved them to what is now Oklahoma.
I was born near a Choctaw Reservation in central MS, and now I live in a county that has a Chickasaw name. ✌️
Both my parents were okie's and I remember back in the late 60's at my uncle's house in Modesto CA, that at a family get together someone was playing this song and that was the first time hearing it, just loved it back then.
I just love how everyone has proven Ms Gentry's words are still correct. You all are arguing about what was thrown, rather than talking about suicide.
EXACTLY!!!!
It could have been connected or had caused the suicide, we don't know, but it could answer some unanswered questions as to why he felt he had to jump. Just a thought.
That really hits you between the eyes at the start of the song with the nonchalant way the news about Billy Joe is mentioned. Then the conversation just moves on. It’s chilling. Personally, I always thought he threw an engagement ring off the bridge, then he jumped. She told him no and he didn’t want to go on without her. Pain is very difficult to deal with, wether it’s physical or emotional.
This is one of the darkest, macabre songs I ever heard from the country/folk genre... and that's why I love it.
This song actually scared me as a kid, hahaha. That simple pickin of the guitar... the haunting groans of the stringed instruments (violins/cellos)... her mournful vocals, painting quite the visual picture in my mind with those narrative lyrics... it all ties in perfectly... and kept me awake in terror at night, lol, even though it's not particularly scary at all ... just a little spooky with all that bridge jumping/throwing stuff.
Same here!!
Nailed it bro.
This song haunted me too. The one that really scared me to the core was "The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia" by Vicki Lawrence.
@@FrankButterfield
Same here! Although I found Reba McEntire's cover to be just as eerie. Both versions are good, I have no real insistence which is the "better" version, but I probably do lean more toward Reba. I actually compiled a little playlist of a bunch of country & country/pop song by female artists/vocalists and I ended the whole thing with these 2 songs, though I think I had two other tunes sandwiched between them (they just seemed to flow better music-wise that way) ; Dolly Parton's rendition of House Of The Rising Sun (very cool - different from The Animals' version, kind of ominous but a more upbeat tempo), and an old 80s country one-hit-wonder, Somebody's Knocking by Terri Gibb.
Have loved this one since it first came out. Haunting. And she has such great rasp in her voice. Gorgeous voice.
I love seeing these young people experience this fine talent! Country soul is exactly what it is!
This is "Southern Gothic". Very much story driven. This song really speaks to me. My Mom's family is originally from Mississippi and although I was born and raised in California I can just see that farm house and kitchen and her accent just reminds me so much of family. It makes me want to go to Mississippi so much. I've got to one day just to see where my people came from. Thanks for reacting to this.
Similar story here, my father's people are from that part of Mississippi.Mom's people are Okies, I was also born in California and grew up in a very southern household lol.
Oh, you have to go, so rewarding to go to where your roots are based, I live in Australia and I have been, so what is holding you back? My family settled in Ontario Canada in the 1600's and I flew over to see where it all began and met family - it's an unreal feeling and a sense of belonging.
@@KittykatOz It gives us something, a strength when we know where we come from :-)
Hope you make it back here, you'd be welcome. ☺️✌️ My oldest son moved to CA from MS and lives in the Bay Area.
@@marielaveau5321 I hoping to around Halloween. Taking a cross country trip to visit family and friends in TN and FL. Can't wait! I know I'm going to get some good food back there!
I always thought she was so pretty! This song and then the movie with Robbie Benson was excellent
Another great artist to check out is Juice Newton....Angel of the Morning, The Sweetest Thing, Queen of Hearts and more. She was pop and country. Great voice!
Yes!
It’s a blues, folk song. It shows how hard times are on the Delta. It also shows how hard people have to work to make it and how one pillar in the family can fall and devastate everyone in the family. It’s also a story about getting out of the Delta and Add hints on the love story and the tragedy of losing someone so young. This version is also live in case you missed that. I’ve been a fan ever since it’s released in the 60s.
That’s what I was feeling! A blues song, muddy waters blues country folk music
Pure delta blues.
Wow! I have never seen Bobby Gentry speak or sing live - this is stunning! She is so striking looking and her guitar playing and singing are just amazing. Those low notes!
she was always an "old soul". she got a degree in Philosophy
She is the one who wrote “Fancy” and also recorded it! Reba covered it and did it very well but I still love Bobby’s version!
A question for the ages! Bobbie Gentry paints such a masterpiece with her lyrics. And the movie takes a huge leap with dramatic license by adding a lot that Bobbie never intended. I think that her leaving the song open to interpretation is one thing that makes it so iconic.
Such a great song! I’ve always loved the eerie vibe of this, and the lyrical mystery of what exactly it was that she and Billy Joe threw off the Tallahatchee Bridge has been the topic of speculation ever since the song came out. Bobbie Gentry herself has never answered that question, saying the point of the song was the subconscious cruelty of her family as they just casually talked about his suicide over dinner, not knowing their daughter was in love with him, and knew a lot more about what happened than they realized. The lyrics of this song are just brilliant, not only because she makes you part of the story, but because those who spend their time trying to figure out what was thrown off the bridge are displaying the same subconscious cruelty her family was. Such a well-crafted story and song. Absolute genius on her part. This song was such a huge hit at the time its hard to believe she never even came close to this song’s success ever again.
Haunting song sung with soul, pain and grit. She was very, very talented.
It seems everyone forgets about the best female voice of the 70's, Linda Ronstadt. Not only a nice pure voice but there is no one like her. Pure talent & also responsible for helping get the Eagle's band together. I would suggest Just One Look for starters.
My wedding song was "All my Life" by Linda Ronstat and Aaron Neville. 💜
@@siouxgirl2703 Those two were very good together.
Absolutely!
Agreed, LINDA RONSTADT is at the top, my favorite singer!
There are alot of great singers out there, but to me Linda just has something special.
And I saw here in concert in 1976 !
Roberta flack, Maria Muldaur, phoebe Snow are the others great women.✌️
K.D. Lang ~ “Constant Craving” such a unique voice! Thanks for all the positivity guys 🥰
Can you imagine a song of this quality topping the Top 40 in 2021? There are two songs, by the way, that I've reliably seen make reactors cry: "Cat's in the Cradle," by Harry Chapin and "Coat of Many Colors," by Dolly Parton. The first is singer-songwriter (basically pop-folk) and the second is, well, Dolly.
She's hypnotizing. She takes your attention and you just can't break away.. The song was a hit when I was a kid. They even made a movie based on it.. I have never forgotten either of them.
Oh lord what a voice and a song. Bobbi is a genius
YES!!!! Great story song. Another of her great songs is FANCY!!!
This song is so beautiful, so soulful. It was the idea behind a 1976 movie called “Ode to Billy Joe” starring Robby Benson and Glynis O’Connor. It’s a good movie.
Yes it was!
NO IT ISN’T! If ever there ever was a movie that did A COMPLETE DISSERVICE TO THE SONG it’s based on, the Ode to Billy Joe movie is it.
@@ellab8897 wow, scream much? I’d really like to hear your opinion. Honestly. But I don’t like being shouted at what I am not even given a reason.
@@pretzeltime3900- I deserve that. I’m a champion at making poor, more like stupid, choices. Believe it or not- at this point, probably not- my original reply really did include: I’m sincerely sorry I did so much of the written equivalent of shouting, but obviously(!) the movie version of the song upsets me to this day. Just before I pressed send, I had the thought that I’ve seen plenty of comments partly or fully caps locked, no apology, did I have to apologize? I took it out. Poor choice.
Anyhow: I was and I am still incredulous that homosexuality was chosen to be why Billy Joe committed suicide. What?!? How did the screenwriters decide to use that as the cause?? Yes, this response is sarcastic: One instance of sex with a man sends Billy Joe off the bridge. Look how powerfully awful homosexuality is! Way to go, Hollywood, let’s stigmatize homosexuality some more!
Non sarcasm: There’s *ugly, ugly* messaging in the movie, an element that needlessly, in a complete disservice to the song, was made a part of the fictional backstory/storyline of Bobbie Gentry’s iconic song, “Ode to Billy Joe.” We do agree it’s a so beautiful, so soulful song!
@@ellab8897 Thank you Ella B for your comment. You made such a wonderful argument for the movie, and I agree fully. I was a young teenager when I watched that movie for the first time, but I’d heard the song before and imagined that Billy Jo’s reason was pregnancy - with Bobbi Lee or some girl he was just passing time with. It upset me that there was a dark side to the story in the movie, but it was a subject that wasn’t spoken about in public then and it was the first movie I’d ever watched that even hinted about homosexuality. It was a terrible decision that they wrote the storyline about a creepy old man raping a drunk young boy. Thank you so much for discussing this with me.
Joan Baez is another singer songwriter from that era. She does a song called The night they drove Old Dixie down. I'm sure you would enjoy her as well.
Or Diamonds and Rust!!!
Or "Diamonds and Rust."
Joan Baez made Bob Dylan...She had 3 top selling albums would invited Dylan up on stage to play with her...Then, he got a Nobel Prize in 2016....
Her performance is a cover and, despite preferring the sound of it to the original, I have to admit that it's a very sloppy one that misses the point and messes up some lyrics. It's originally by The Band and was the focus of an excellent article named "Unpacking the Absurd Logic of Cultural Appropriation-and What It Will Cost Us" because it's a song by a Canadian expressing the pain of poor southern tenant farmers better than southerners ever did in over a hundred years of opportunity to do so.
(eg. It's only the third line and she's already turning "Stoneman's cavalry" into "so much cavalry".)
Son born in 1979 worships Joan Baez. For good reason.
Don't forget the instrumental arrangement because It is perfectly compliments her voice
I had the honor of working with Bobbie during the 70's. Classic Southern Belle.
As you mentioned, this song came out in the 60's - the era of Rock bands and Motown. Then out of nowhere, this song hit the airwaves and the entire country flipped over it, we'd never heard anything like this before. The guitar, the strings in the background, the interesting story, and of course that amazing voice ! The movie was made mainly because the entire country could not stop talking about this song and what it all meant.
I think this was one of the best stories ever told by song. So graphic; you could picture every image being described. Great musicianship, too.
The song was originally seven minutes long. It had to be edited down to four minutes 15 seconds to fit on a 7" single. Even so the label thought this was very risky as record companies at the time thought that a song should be no more than three minutes long if it was to have hit potential.
Here's the original first verse of the song that was edited out:
People don't see Sally Jane in town anymore
There's a lot of speculatin'
She's not actin' like she did before
Some say she knows more that she's willin' to tell
But she stays quiet
and a few think it's just as well
No one really knows what went on
up on Choctaw Ridge
The day that Billy Jo McAllister
jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge
Some consider Bobbie Gentry to be one of America's great unsung short story writers. The original handwritten lyrics to "Ode to Billie Joe" are kept in the archives at the University of Mississippi, along with works by William Faulkner and Tennessee Williams.
the lyrics are fantastic. She paints a wonderful picture of southern rural life through a few stray pieces of conversation.
It even makes you feel the heat....
A sad song about a girl finding out her secret boyfriend has committed suicide as her family casually talks about it between mouths full of food like it means nothing to them. The movie is good, but dark, and has an interpretation what happened, the reason for the suicide and what was thrown off the bridge is unknown.
My take is; the story teller and Billie joe had a premature baby then tossed the infant from the bridge and the pain was too great for Billie joe and he committed suicide.
@@hfbarnes that is what I've always thought, too. Makes the song even sadder
@Sappho Nymph Well,....it's not the only reasonable interpretation.
He may have asked her to elope and marry him. She said no, threw the ring he saved up for into the river and maybe even laughed at him for thinking she'd want him as a husband. Billy, being young, inexperienced, and probably not the sharpest tool in the shed, wouldn't be good at handling the "I like you,...but as a friend" speech, let alone a harsh/mocking rejection. She spends the rest of the year sad & guilty, knowing that her cruelty caused his suicide.
@@pauld6967 You are correct, in interviews Bobbie Gentry said she intentionally wrote the song in vague innuendo. That is the brilliance of those lyrics, to tell a story and provoke thought.
@@hfbarnes 👍
Her voice, the guitar, the lyrics.........fantastic. I can see everything in my mind that she sings. To me, I always thought they were breaking up and it was at least one ring thrown over. Now she throws flowers to Billy Joe. The violin was haunting.
This song has a hypnotic quality that draws you DEEP into the story, you just can't look away.
The song and story were so compelling they made a movie of it in 1976.
A very talented woman was Miss Gentry
This song was released in 1967. The talent speaks for itself and all I can say is we don't have talent like that in music in the music world today. I'm glad I was a kid in the sixties and a teen throughout most of the seventies. Talent was everywhere, we were surrounded by it. All you could do was to surrender too it and enjoy the ride. ☮️ 💕
Doug Suzie; There is a band that's been out about 25 yrs now you have to check out and putting out some really awesome music. They are one of my favorite bands. It's Rock but really talented musicians. First cd I would love for you to hear and in my personal opinion the best rock cd to ever come out by Kutlass titled; "To Know That You're Alive. Please check it out.
Sure, we have talent like this. Try Aimee Mann for starters.
Her voice together with the guitar is amazing. The guitar playing is understated brilliance.
“Fancy”! Her next biggest hit. You will NOT be disappointed
Always thought her voice haunting in a sensual way.
I love this song...great singing, pretty strings, and a mystery, but most of all it makes me hungry!!!
Bobby Gentry was/is awesome. Check out her song "Fancy", a pretty shocking story in that one. Reba McEntire covered "Fancy" as well.
You might also like "The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia" by Vickie Lawrence (or Reba McEntire again).
If they do the night the lights went out in Georgia, they need to do the version by Reba McEntire where she tells the story in the song. That version really invokes the emotions of the song.
I never realized Fancy was a cover. Thanks - I'll have to look for that.
@@jackwells8107 Yes, the actress Vickie Lawrence (Carol Burnett Show, Mama's Family) had a #1 hit with it in 1972 & Reba McEntire made it a hit again in 1991, I believe.
@@mistermisanthrope4106 I was talking about Fancy, not Lights. I remember Nights from Vicki's version, since I was around when it came out. Saw the movie with Mark Hamill and Dennis Quade at the theater as well.
Looks like you are right on when Reba covered Fancy, though.
@@ShannonsPoetryParadise It's great, except that when she's telling the story, a couple of times she mentions things that the song hasn't gotten to yet. It kind of ruins the "reveal" of what actually happened.
This song is haunting and gives me the chills…
One thing I always love about Bobbie Gentry is how she never "shows off" her range yet the song simply flows from her.....like a cool country creek! The storytelling of this piece is classic! Thank you so much for sharing!
😽🎶
What a great live version. True to the studio version that everyone loved, but just different enough so you know it's live.
Real Delta Blues is what this actually is. Such a soulful voice
I grew up listening to her. I've always found her voice so haunting, just chills when she sings.
This is defined as being Southern Gothic, she was huge in the UK, i came to London in the 90s and was beloved by all my friends grandparents who were either Irish or From the West Indies and they loved her, Patsy Cline, Crystal Gayle too and the great debate as to what was they were throwing over the bridge! In fact this was played on a national radio station in the UK yesterday.
In all these years, Ms. Gentry has never revealed the story behind this song or why Billy Joe jumped off the bridge. The song was an enormous hit, but within decade of its release Ms. Gentry retired from public life. She does not do appearances or interviews.
This amazing woman has so many wonderful songs. She is a special singer producer songwriter entertainer. Look at her songs and legendary music. ❤️
Y'all have to watch the PBS Ken Burns series on country music from the beginnings through the Depression, WWII, Civil rights, right up to the present...(have you done the Loretta Lynn song that got banned "The Pill"...You have to think about what things were like at that time especially in the South to understand why it was banned)
Can't believe it! Love her so much! I'm putting a quote from her about the song "Bobbie Gentry explained: "The message of the song revolves around the nonchalant way the family talks about the suicide. The song is a study in unconscious cruelty."" You notice that the girl telling the story is highly effected but nobody really notices except her mother. She said what they threw could have been anything, it really didn't matter. The movie came later and what was in it wasn't the actual story of the song at all.
The movie is alright but they defined a lot of storyline that Bobby has said in interviews that she left intentionally unanswered in the lyrics. That aspect of the song is what makes it a work of genius. Anybody getting into the song will mentally speculate and ponder while she is evoking referrences about food and country life that many of us relate strongly to. The last verse describing circumstances as they stand at the time of relating the story, so poignantly illustrate how quickly life can change in a year's time. Simply fascinating. My other favorite song by her is "Mississippi Delta" which is completely different except that she again draws on simple experiences that are richly relatable.
The movie was ridiculous, and such a waste of good talent.
That movie still haunts me!
Eventually you have to react to Janis Ian, her two biggest hits were " Society's Child" about a teen inter-racial couple written in the 60's, and "I Learned the Truth at 17" , about not being one of the "in" crowd in High School.
Yes to both. I think the second song is just called "At Seventeen"
@@kimhesketh2016 Still a favorite of mine!
Absolutely. Janis is great. The sooner the better.
Country Soul, WOW, I never thought of that but you hit the nail on the head. BRAVO!
Bobby Joe Gentry has a voice dripping with whiskey and honey and an amazing vocal range!
Isn’t it amazing that the mystery is still going? We’re still talking about it!
The lyrics evoke so many feelings in me every single time I hear this song. It's musical genius.
It's hard to overestimate the impact of this song when it was released. Bobby was a virtual unknown, and the theme of the song contrasted with its pace and "gravely smoothness." I remember when I saw her sing it on TV the first time, right after she released it -- just amazing. This thing got sooooo much radio time; it was crazy.
Y'all did pause the video at a very important point a bit before the end and you might have missed an important line. Have you had a minute to re-listen to it?
Greetings from Wichita to y'all in Baja Kansas!
Love, love, love Bobby Gentry and this song. It was SO big in 1968! It was played a lot then. Some say it was a ring because she wouldn't marry him for some reason.
Her song is not her story. She is bringing to light what generally happens in closed societies. Sure, she probably knew all the details and people, but she had respect for their privacy. I respect her choice to even pursue this song!
Love this song. She's probably one of the more underrated artists. Bobby is smooth like butterscotch with a rasp that pulls you in.
Bobby wrote a lot of hits. Saw her live in the early 70’s. Check out Fancy.
I always think of Reba when I think of “Fancy”, but Bobby did write and record it. Thanks for the reminder!
Loretta Lynn - Coal Miner’s Daughter
The queen of country music!
What is so amazing is how she can play the guitar and sing in perfect tune. That is very difficult to do both at the same time. True artist. A beautiful song and it’s a true story. She’s singing.
I'm a sixties kid. Heard this incredibly stuff every single day.... Thrilled that you enjoy it as much as I did/do. Keep sharing!!