"Ode to Billie Joe" by Bobbie Gentry

[SpeedRacer 1]

I've always been fascinated by this song.

I've really never heard anything like it. It has been described as "Southern Gothic". What is so intriguing is the casual way the family discusses an apparent suicide around the dinner table, and you get the feeling that there is so much more going on than is stated explicitly, especially the relationship between the woman telling the story and the Billie Joe character:

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Lyrics:

It was the third of June, another sleepy, dusty Delta day
I was out choppin' cotton and my brother was balin' hay
And at dinner time we stopped and walked back to the house to eat
And Mama hollered out the back door "y'all remember to wipe your feet"
And then she said "I got some news this mornin' from Choctaw Ridge"
"Today Billy Joe MacAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge"

'n' Papa said to Mama as he passed around the blackeyed peas
"Well Billy Joe never had a lick of sense, pass the biscuits, please"
"There's five more acres in the lower forty I've got to plow"
'n' Mama said it was shame about Billy Joe, anyhow
Seems like nothin' ever comes to no good up on Choctaw Ridge
And now Billy Joe MacAllister's jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge

'n' Brother said he recollected when he and Tom and Billie Joe
Put a frog down my back at the Carroll County picture show
And wasn't I talkin' to him after church last Sunday night?
"I'll have another piece-a apple pie, you know it don't seem right"
"I saw him at the sawmill yesterday on Choctaw Ridge"
"And now ya tell me Billie Joe's jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge"

'n' Mama said to me "Child, what's happened to your appetite?"
"I've been cookin' all morning and you haven't touched a single bite"
"That nice young preacher, Brother Taylor, dropped by today"
"Said he'd be pleased to have dinner on Sunday, oh, by the way"
"He said he saw a girl that looked a lot like you up on Choctaw Ridge"
"And she and Billy Joe was throwing somethin' off the Tallahatchie Bridge"

A year has come 'n' gone since we heard the news 'bout Billy Joe
'n' Brother married Becky Thompson, they bought a store in Tupelo
There was a virus going 'round, Papa caught it and he died last Spring
And now Mama doesn't seem to wanna do much of anything
And me, I spend a lot of time pickin' flowers up on Choctaw Ridge
And drop them into the muddy water off the Tallahatchie Bridge

Speed Racer
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[2fat2fly 0]

Now, I'm going to have to rent that cheesy Robbie Benson movie when I get home.

I am not the man. But the man knows my name...and he's worried

[SkydiveStMarys 0]

I've always liked that song and yes it fascinates me too...For some reason I think it is based on a true story...I could be wrong though.


Bobbi

A miracle is not defined by an event. A miracle is defined by gratitude.

[masterrig 1]

I've heard over the years, the song is about a young man dealing with 'teen anxt' and the possibility he might be homosexual. How true that is... I have no idea. Years ago, when that song was popular, I saw interviews with Bobbi Gentry and she would never divulge the 'meaning' of the song. No matter, it's still a great song.


Chuck

[SpeedRacer 1]

Quote

I've heard over the years, the song is about a young man dealing with 'teen anxt' and the possibility he might be homosexual. How true that is... I have no idea. Years ago, when that song was popular, I saw interviews with Bobbi Gentry and she would never divulge the 'meaning' of the song. No matter, it's still a great song.


Chuck

actually there was a movie to this effect, based on the song.

Bobbie Gentry herself said she never worked out why the Billie Joe character committed suicide.

so the homosexual thing was made up by whoever made the movie, & was not part of the original idea in the song.

apparently in the movie the role was played by the guy who played Jethro in the Beverly Hillbillies.

Speed Racer
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[bbarnhouse 0]

Quote

apparently in the movie the role was played by the guy who played Jethro in the Beverly Hillbillies

I thought it was Robbie Benson?

Anyway...thanks to you that song is stuck in my head!
Might as well listen to it for real. LOL Yeah I've always liked it

[masterrig 1]

Quote

Quote

I've heard over the years, the song is about a young man dealing with 'teen anxt' and the possibility he might be homosexual. How true that is... I have no idea. Years ago, when that song was popular, I saw interviews with Bobbi Gentry and she would never divulge the 'meaning' of the song. No matter, it's still a great song.


Chuck

actually there was a movie to this effect, based on the song.

Bobbie Gentry herself said she never worked out why the Billie Joe character committed suicide.

so the homosexual thing was made up by whoever made the movie, & was not part of the original idea in the song.

apparently in the movie the role was played by the guy who played Jethro in the Beverly Hillbillies.

______________________________________

Thanks, for that info! I really appreciate it.


Chuck

[masterrig 1]

Quote

Quote

apparently in the movie the role was played by the guy who played Jethro in the Beverly Hillbillies

I thought it was Robbie Benson?

Anyway...thanks to you that song is stuck in my head!
Might as well listen to it for real. LOL Yeah I've always liked it

_______________________________________

I looked it up! Max Baer Jr. (Jethro, directed the film. Robbie Benson, played Billy Jo McAlister.


Chuck

[racer42 0]

Quote

Quote

apparently in the movie the role was played by the guy who played Jethro in the Beverly Hillbillies

I thought it was Robbie Benson?

Anyway...thanks to you that song is stuck in my head!
Might as well listen to it for real. LOL Yeah I've always liked it

Nope. Max Baer ( Jethro ) produced the movie.

As to the Southern Gothic thing, we southerners tend to speak matter of factly about such things at the dinner table. My Uncle fell off his own tractor years back and got run over by the Bush Hog he was towing. We reckon he'd been doing some drinkin.

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[jumpinfarmer 0]

I often find myself singing that song to myself while I'm out on a tractor working. Especially on hot days while baling hay. I have seen most of the movie but for some reason it doesn't answer the questions the song leaves for me at least.

What it does do it speak of a time and a way of life that has almost totally disappeared. That of a family eating dinner at noon and working side by side farming in a small community.

[stitch 0]

[sigh]Yet, another gay thread.

"No cookies for you"- GFD
"I don't think I like the sound of that" ~ MB65
Don't be a "Racer Hater"

[Squeak 17]

Quote

[sigh]Yet, another gay thread.

That you for some reason felt compelled to contribute to Which now makes it even gayer

You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

[winsor 236]

clicky

[usedtajump 1]

"As to the Southern Gothic thing, we southerners tend to speak matter of factly about such things at the dinner table. My Uncle fell off his own tractor years back and got run over by the Bush Hog he was towing. We reckon he'd been doing some drinkin."

Other than having a tandem student fall out of the harness, now that I'm farming, that's currently my worst nightmare.

The older I get the less I care who I piss off.

[jumpinfarmer 0]

Just make sure you have a good seat on the tractor.

[jumpoutnow 0]

As a a now adult man that grew up in similar surroundings, I think yes...this song does have passionate overtones. However, in the atmosphere that is depicted in the song; it is apparent that Billie Joe was rejected by a girl that he felt very strongly about. A young love that carries a roller coaster of emotions can lead to a tragic ending. In this case the rejection of his love for a beautiful girl led to his suicide. Passion .Yes. Homosexuality. No.

People are crazy. Cuz there's more of 'em.

[SpeedRacer 1]

as I said before, the homosexuality thing came from the movie, not the original song.

Speed Racer
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[Hipwrddude 0]

The lyrics to "Ode to Billie Joe" are rich as a slice of life reflected in a conversation at dinner on the death of youth. The pain you feel from longing and wasted youth are universal. It became a national and international hit for singer/songwriter Bobbie Gentry in 1967(she's from Chicksaw County.) After a night of drinking during a barn dance, 18-year-old Billie Joe McAllister finds himself in a sexual situation with a man. Feeling guilt and betrayal, he hides in the woods where he eventually breaks down in confession to his true love, 15-year old Bobbie Lee. Bobbbie doesn't believe him. Trapped and pressured between wanting to possess Bobbie Lee while harboring wanton desires of the wrong kind, Bobbie Lee destroys himself.
In an interview, Bobbie Gentry said she never knew or found out why Billie Joe killed himself, she just focused on the absurdity of the dinner conversation--a powerful narrative sidebar. As they dredged her beloved's corpse from the water, Bobbie Lee remarks (in the movie), "What do I know, I'm only a child."

You're always the starter in your own life!