Ode to Billy Joe

[SilverHeels]

Whilst surfing radio stations this afternoon, seeking fodder for email requests, I heard the old Bobby Gentry song.I was reminded that I have never really understood what the H*** it was about.
Anyone want to hazard a guess at just what this song is really about?

[Cathy]

quote:Originally posted by SilverHeels:
Whilst surfing radio stations this afternoon, seeking fodder for email requests, I heard the old Bobby Gentry song.I was reminded that I have never really understood what the H*** it was about.
Anyone want to hazard a guess at just what this song is really about?

Ode To Billy Joe
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 at the back door, "Y'all remember to wipe your feet"
Then she said, "I got some news this mornin' from Choctaw Ridge
Today Billy Joe McAllister jumped off the Tallahatchee Bridge"

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

Brother said he recollected when he and Tom and Billy 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 of apple pie, you know, it don't seem right
I saw him at the sawmill yesterday on Choctaw Ridge
And now you tell me Billy Joe's jumped off the Tallahatchee Bridge

Mama said to me, "Child what's happened to your appetite?
I been cookin' all mornin' and you haven't touched 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 throwin' somethin' off the Tallahatchee Bridge"

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


Cathy http://www.cathycowette.com

[Cathy]

I always assumed that the girl in the song was Billy Joe's girlfriend, and together the had a baby, either a hidden pregnancy, a premature baby, or an aborted child. They threw the child off the Talahassee bridge, and Billy Joe couldn't live with himself afterwards, so he jumped of the bridge and committed suicide. That's my theory.
There is a site that has a bit of information, but the song always has been shrouded in mystery, and Bobby Gentry never revealed the the secret.
Here are a couple of links. The second one is a very interesting read: http://www.progression.co.uk/reviews/profile.htm
http://www.geocities.com/odetobobbiegentry/ghannah.htm

Cathy http://www.cathycowette.com

[BILLW]

And on the same road...the best cover of that song that I've ever heard is by a blues duo known as Satan & Adam - check it out.

Bill

[Cathy]

quote:Originally posted by BILLW:
And on the same road...the best cover of that song that I've ever heard is by a blues duo known as Satan & Adam - check it out.

Bill

I kind of like Sheryl Crow's version of it.

Cathy http://www.cathycowette.com

[brink]

There was a movie made about this song with Robby Benson as Billy Joe and Glynnis O'Conner as the girl. The movie alluded that Billy Joe was raped and he committed suicide. I'm not sure but it seemed that the rapist was what was thrown off the bridge. I don't remember that the girl was pregnant in it, but she did have a sexual relationship with Billy Joe. The movie was a long time ago and I think Jethro from the Beverly Hillbillies wrote it or directed it.

[This message has been edited by brink (edited May 23, 2004).]

[Borderstone]

Yes,it was directed by Max Baer. There's a lot more to the guy than Jethro,thank goodness. I saw it a few years back but only recall a scene or two. If they threw the rapist off the bridge for revenge,why would Billy Joe do himself in? Unless he's in fear of breaking the commandment,"Thou Shalt Not Kill".

How could they throw a baby off? No teenage girl in the country could hide her pregnancy "that well!" Only if she wasn't too far along in term.
That leaves two possibilities: She either had a miscarrage and it tore B.J. up inside or he gave or got her an "A". (Givn the recent topic that was deleted I'll just say "A".) If it's the second,that "might" lead a young man to do something drastic.

Then again........IT'S JUST A SONG! Later!

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"A knight of the road,going back to a place where he might get warm." - Borderstone

[Janice]

In the movie, they threw the girl's rag doll off the bridge - not on purpose, they were having a struggle and it went flying. Also in the movie, Billy Joe had a sexual encounter with a man and killed himself because he couldn't live with the guilt of cheating on the girl or the fear of being gay. (I don't think it was rape, but I really don't remember).

I've always liked this song and others by Bobby Gentry - especially some of her duets with Glen Campbell

quote:Originally posted by brink:
There was a movie made about this song with Robby Benson as Billy Joe and Glynnis O'Conner as the girl. The movie alluded that Billy Joe was raped and he committed suicide. I'm not sure but it seemed that the rapist was what was thrown off the bridge. I don't remember that the girl was pregnant in it, but she did have a sexual relationship with Billy Joe. The movie was a long time ago and I think Jethro from the Beverly Hillbillies wrote it or directed it.

[This message has been edited by brink (edited May 23, 2004).]

[Sundreme]

I tried to post earlier, originally in reply to brink, but somehow only the quoted part got posted and my entire message was omitted, so I'm trying again.
Yes, as Janice says, it was the rag doll that was thrown off the bridge in the movie. I believe that it was supposed to represent the end of childhood and innocence for both the girl and Billy Joe. If I recall correctly, the sexual encounter Billy Joe had with the man was consensual and thus the cause of Billy Joe's guilt and confusion regarding his sexual identity, ultimately resulting in his suicide plunge off of the bridge
As far as the song goes, It's just my opinion, but I always felt that Bobby Gentry might never have actually had anything specific in mind when she wrote the line about her and Billy throwing something off the bridge. I think she left it open in order to allow for the listeners to insert their own ideas and interpretations thereby turning the act of hearing the song into an interactive rather than passive activity.
Erica

quote:Originally posted by Janice:
In the movie, they threw the girl's rag doll off the bridge - not on purpose, they were having a struggle and it went flying. Also in the movie, Billy Joe had a sexual encounter with a man and killed himself because he couldn't live with the guilt of cheating on the girl or the fear of being gay. (I don't think it was rape, but I really don't remember).

I've always liked this song and others by Bobby Gentry - especially some of her duets with Glen Campbell

[Sundown17]

Just to add in my two cents. Billy Joe's gay sexual encounter was during a county fair where liquor was consumed and confusion ran rampant. It was with a well known and respected man of the community. It bordered on rape as the older man was the agressor and Billy Joe was intoxicated. But Billy Joe seemed to feel it was consensual, thus the guilt and suicide. Prior to the fair, Billy Joe and Bobbie Lee (the young lady singing the song) had been seen acourtin' around town. While the sexual tension between them was thick and often toyed with, it was never consummated. Bobbie Lee left town after Billy Joe's suicide out of "restless yearning" for a life beyond Tallahatchie County. The irony was that the man who Billy Joe had had the sexual encounter with, gave Bobbie Lee a ride to the bus station and during the ride they discussed the fact that her leaving would make it look like Billy Joe had indeed jumped off the bridge because he had gotten her pregnant and she was leaving town to have the baby. Bobbie Lee, knowing the true reason for the suicide (Billy Joe had told her during that argument on the bridge where the rag doll "Benjamin", met his fate), said that at least it was a safer story than the truth was, for everyone's sake.

It's a book as well as a movie, written by Herman Raucher. No doubt, because of the Bobbie Gentry song and some poetic license was taken. It's one of those campy stories that I am almost ashamed to admit is a particular favorite of mine. Partly because of it's campiness and partly because something about the actor that plays Bobbie Lee's father reminds me of Gord. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys a Shakespearean-coming-of-age-drama-thick-with-Greek-tragedy-undertones set in the 1950's American South.

Now, Bru, aren't you glad you asked?

Diane

[This message has been edited by Sundown17 (edited May 23, 2004).]

[SilverHeels]

quote:Originally posted by Sundown17:
Just to add in my two cents. Billy Joe's gay sexual encounter was during a county fair where liquor was consumed and confusion ran rampant. It was with a well known and respected man of the community. It bordered on rape as the older man was the agressor and Billy Joe was intoxicated. But Billy Joe seemed to feel it was consensual, thus the guilt and suicide. Prior to the fair, Billy Joe and Bobbie Lee (the young lady singing the song) had been seen acourtin' around town. While the sexual tension between them was thick and often toyed with, it was never consummated. Bobbie Lee left town after Billy Joe's suicide out of "restless yearning" for a life beyond Tallahatchie County. The irony was that the man who Billy Joe had had the sexual encounter with, gave Bobbie Lee a ride to the bus station and during the ride they discussed the fact that her leaving would make it look like Billy Joe had indeed jumped off the bridge because he had gotten her pregnant and she was leaving town to have the baby. Bobbie Lee, knowing the true reason for the suicide (Billy Joe had told her during that argument on the bridge where the rag doll "Benjamin", met his fate), said that at least it was a safer story than the truth was, for everyone's sake.

It's a book as well as a movie, written by Herman Raucher. No doubt, because of the Bobbie Gentry song and some poetic license was taken. It's one of those campy stories that I am almost ashamed to admit is a particular favorite of mine. Partly because of it's campiness and partly because something about the actor that plays Bobbie Lee's father reminds me of Gord. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys a Shakespearean-coming-of-age-drama-thick-with-Greek-tragedy-undertones set in the 1950's American South.

Now, Bru, aren't you glad you asked?

Diane

[This message has been edited by Sundown17 (edited May 23, 2004).]

D - I certainly am! I shall listen to the song with new 'ears'. Wish I had written that story!
Thank you one and all.

[Borderstone]

There's 2 other #1 singles that sort of leave it up to the listners to draw their own conclusion.
"You're So Vain" by Carly Simon has had people for over 30 years wondering who she's talking about. Some say Mick Jagger because he sings back-up on it and others say Warren Beatty because he was the popular actor at the time and has a rep for being so. Carly's been quoted as saying,"I'll never tell,that'dspoil the fun".

Then there's the ever-weird,"Angie Baby" by Helen Reddy. A song about a strange teen-age girl,who lives in her own reality. She invites a boy who's been (what I gather from the lyrics)peeping at her. He comes into her room and some bizarre Twilight Zone like thing occours. Her radio is loud and it messes with his head somehow and "as she turns the volume down,he's geeting smaller with the sound...never to be found."

That's the part of the song that no one's been able to figure out. Helen wrote the song with Alan "Undercover Angel" O'Day and they have a vow of secrecy between them about an answer. One person (according to the Billboard Book Of #1 hits) said a few years back that Angie was fantasizing that the D.J. on the radio was the boy watching her and she imagined him to be real. When she turns the sound down on the radio,the D.J. (or boy) fades away. As for the next line about the papers reporting a boy's disappearance,I'm guessing it was a seperate story that the fictional Angie read in the paper. Sounds like a solution but only Helen and Alan know the answer. Been me,Aurevoir!

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"A knight of the road,going back to a place where he might get warm." - Borderstone

I've never heard of this song, but I have heard of a Billy Joe in Cash's song Don't Take Your Guns To Town. Has anyone heard either recordings of this song? Both are good but I like the 2nd one better.

[Borderstone]

You being 17 DMD 3,there's a "ton" of songs you have yet to hear! When I was 17 in 1985,I thought I'd heard a lot of songs,only to find out,there'd been nearly 50 thousand songs written,performed live or recorded by that time! I'll never hear them all,but I've heard a good number of them.

I've heard so many,I couldn't even begin to write a list!

You've got a loooooooong way to go! :Later!:

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"A knight of the road,going back to a place where he might get warm." - Borderstone

quote:Originally posted by Borderstone:
You being 17 DMD 3,there's a "ton" of songs you have yet to hear! When I was 17 in 1985,I thought I'd heard a lot of songs,only to find out,there'd been nearly 50 thousand songs written,performed live or recorded by that time! I'll never hear them all,but I've heard a good number of them.

I've heard so many,I couldn't even begin to write a list!

You've got a loooooooong way to go! :Later!:



Have you ever heard Don't Take Your Guns To Town, written by Johnny Cash?

[Borderstone]

I can't believe I just now remembered this but did any of you know B.J. Thomas' real name in Billy Joe? I wonder if Ms. Gentry wrote that with him in mind?

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"A knight of the road,going back to a place where he might get warm." - Borderstone

Actually, if you've seen the movie "Ode to Billy Joe" you would know that the girl in the song was Billy Joe's girlfriend, a secret they kept between each other.

One evening when they were alone together, they began getting intimate with each other and Billy discovered for the first time that being intimate with her didn't arouse him (and of course back then there was no such thing as Viagra).

At that point he began to question his sexual preference while still believing he loved her. After that experience, he was too ashamed to ever face her again, couldn't explain why, and decided he couldn't live with himself anymore, so he commited suicide. It was a very sad story.

[SilverHeels]

quote:Originally posted by Lucky bamboo:
Actually, if you've seen the movie "Ode to Billy Joe" you would know that the girl in the song was Billy Joe's girlfriend, a secret they kept between each other.

One evening when they were alone together, they began getting intimate with each other and Billy discovered for the first time that being intimate with her didn't arouse him (and of course back then there was no such thing as Viagra).

At that point he began to question his sexual preference while still believing he loved her. After that experience, he was too ashamed to ever face her again, couldn't explain why, and decided he couldn't live with himself anymore, so he commited suicide. It was a very sad story.

hmmm ... so what was it they threw over the bridge? My imagination is running wild right now ...