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Songfacts:  You can leave comments about the song at the bottom of the page.

This tells the story of a guy who kills himself by jumping off the Tallahatchie Bridge. There really was a Tallahatchie Bridge in Greenwood, Mississippi, but Gentry made up the story.

Gentry: "The message of the song revolves around the nonchalant way the family talks about the suicide. The song is a study in unconscious cruelty."

Gentry sent a demo to the record company with just her voice and an acoustic guitar. They were so impressed with this rendition of the song that instead of re-recording it, they added strings and orchestration to the original demo, resulting in the version that became a huge hit. (thanks, Bob - Grand Blanc, MI)

When this became a hit, Rolling Stone magazine reported that it was only a 20 foot drop off the bridge and the water was deep enough so you would not get hurt. Of course, lots of people went to the bridge and jumped, which drove the local police nuts.

A movie of the same name was made based on this song in 1976. Gentry re-recorded this for the soundtrack.

In the song, Billie Joe throws something off the bridge the day before he jumps. Many people speculated that it was a baby, which led to his suicide. In the movie, it he throws over a rag doll and jumps because he thinks he might be gay.

Bobbie Gentry was born Roberta Lee Streeter. She was born July 27, 1944 in Cickasaw County Mississippi. After seeing Ruby Gentry, a 1952 movie with Jennifer Jones and Charlton Heston, she started using Bobbie Gentry as a stage name. (thanks, Julio - McAllen, TX)

Gentry won the Best New Artist Grammy the year this was released.

An instrumental version by The Kingpins hit #28 US that year.

The Tallahatchie Bridge collapsed in 1972.

The Beach Boys did a reply to this song called "Ode to Betty Joe" on their album Unsurpassed Masters, Vol. 20 (1968-1969), released with the song "It's Time." The two songs are not Beach Boys recordings, but performed by a comedy and musical group hired by the Beach Boys called the Pickle Brothers (the support group for the Beach Boys' live performances). The two songs later became recorded, pressed, and presumably vended at concerts. (thanks, Brandon - Seattle, WA)

Comments:

I've read a lot of analyses of this terrific song on this site. I remember the first time I heard it. I was in kindergarten and had just gotten home from school. I was eating lunch at the kitchen table, just like the narrator's family in the song. My mom switched on the radio, and soon it was playing. I've loved music ever since I could walk, and I listened intently. I remember when it was over I asked,"Why did he jump off the bridge, mommy?", suicide being a phenomenon that I had never heard of at that tender age. Lots of people have speculated that BJ was Gay; indeed, the '76 movie played upon this. Being a Gay man myself, I must admit to being rather nonplussed at the notion of a beautiful and haunting song ultimately reinforcing the notion that all Gay people are doomed to a life of self-destructive despair.
- Paul, Washington DC, DC

The solution to the mystery is IN THE SONG. The narrator is from a farming family. She (and the rest of her family) work hard out in the fields. They work like horses, eat like horses, and are built like horses. Billie Joe is not a bad kid, but he's not that popular either. They had a secret affair. But now he wants to chase other girls. They meet on the bridge to TALK. He says "I think you're really nice and I like you a lot blah, blah, blah, but I think we should see other people blah, blah, blah. I think you should have your ring back." She says here's what I think of the ring..." and throws it over the railing. (This is what the preacher saw as he DROVE BY.) By now she is quite upset. She who is a big, strong girl, then picks BJ up and throws his ass off the bridge. The rest is history.
- Michael, Cleveland, OH

I loved this tragic and beautiful song when I first heard it and it is still powerful. The words and music work together to express the chilling indifference to the boy's suicide and the contrasting anguish of the narrator. The words 'grief' and 'love' are not mentioned but that is what the song is about. It astounds me that people think a baby could have been thrown off the bridge. The song is full of references to the tight-knit, hard-working community, with brilliant reference to the farming and life there. No young girl could have got pregnant without it being noticed. Meeting a boy a bridge - maybe. It seems that the couple could not marry, possible for social reasons; maybe the parents wanted the narrator to marry the preacher or perhaps the girl herself was not sure. We don't need to know. The masterly year later narrative showing the loss of interest in life by the active and rather bossy mother after the death of her husband and life going on for the others makes an outstanding compressed short story. The last line still chills me as it shows with words and music how deeply the girl still loves and grieves Bobby. Among the best of the songs of its era and original.
- Stella, London, United Kingdom

This song depcits about mother's care for their children and the anxiety shown by every member of the family over the suicide of Billy Joe. Sangfroid attitude of father, brother's reminiscent about BJ and finally the narrator's state of mind and reaction. Of course she had a bonding with BJ and would had a spat over some issue yesterday. BJ and girl looked like her were spoted by Preacher on Choctaw Ridge and throwing something (it would be the faith of their bonding whatever it be) off the Tallachatchie Bridge. Losing that thing could not be borne by BJ and impulsively he took that extreme step. Nice song.
- Manoj, Delhi, India

I was 20 when the song was released .. and its one of my all time favorites I am a gay man .. and from the 1st time I heard the song I knew that Billy Joe was gay ..and that he ended his life to spare hardship and pain for his family I always thought the preacher had done something to him .. that nice young preacher . havent we heard those words before from a sexual predator .. then when the movie came out I knew I was right .. what they threw off the bridge was soemthing that connected billy joe to the nice young preacher in a way that caused him to end his life the next day .. it is a sad song mixed with the true voice of a poor southern family .. and their day to day life
- Jim, Nashville , TN

The narrator was raped by the preacher and became pregnant. She confided in Billy Joe as her savior. Together they kept the secret, with billy even promising to take responsibility for the rape child. The stalking preacher became aware of their relationship and the pregnancy by spying on them witnessing either a funeral of a still born or a live abortion of his rape child. Knowing that Billy Joe knew his rape secret, the preacher murdered Billy Joe. Then stopped by to further intimidate the narrator to keep her mouth shut.
- Hebrew, St. Paul, MN

I agree with Andrew from Edmonton. The day was normal, sleepy, undisturbed until lunch time. There was nothing to indicate that anything had upset the family's hard-working, rhythmic lifestyle prior to Billie Joe's death. The narrator presumably had a normal appetite up until she heard the news about Billie Joe since her mother seems surprised that she has "lost her appetite". Surely if the narrator had been pregnant and aborted or lost a baby, everyone would have noticed! And she wouldn't have been able to work hard in the cotton fields if she'd just given birth. Billie Joe's death seems to be the turning point in the lives of all in this family, not events prior to it. The conversation round the table is just that of a normal, practical farming family, not hardened, but accepting of death as part of the cycle of nature. The mother, far from being controlling, sounds like a lovely lady, concerned about her family (and of course hoping that the new preacher might be a match for her much-loved daughter - nothing wrong in that). The mother is the one who is saddened by Billie Joe's death, someone she didn't know well, but whose death she feels deserves some acknowledgement. There was definitely a strong friendship/relationship between the narrator and Billie Joe, but how this led to them throwing something off the bridge is a mystery. Interesting observation by the commentator above who thought that since it took two people to throw this thing off the bridge, perhaps it was a body. Perhaps Billie Joe has killed someone unintentionally and called on his friend to help him dispose of the body, then finds he cannot live with what he has done. Fascinating, evocative song. Wonderful!
- Emma, Brisbane, Australia

Here's my theory: The girl and Billie Joe are obviously in love. On the bridge, they made some kind of pledge of undying love, and the thing thrown off the bridge was simply a token of that pledge. Extraneous details are not usually included in these little narratives, explaining why we're only told that it was "something", without so much as even a mention of its size, shape or color, or of whether it was one thing or a series of things. Billie Joe then despaired of ever being able to fulfill his pledge because his sweetheart's father -- Papa -- did not hold him in high regard ("...never had a lick o' sense..."). He became suicidal for this reason. Papa's attitude toward Billie Joe meant that they had to keep their relationship secret, and they apparently did a good job of it. Neither of the girl's parents seems to have any inkling of it. Papa's death in the last verse, on the same theory that extraneous details are not usually included in these little narratives, is an integral part of the story because it is a tragic piece of irony. The situation was not as hopeless as Billie Joe had thought; he need only have waited a matter of months, and the ogre would have been out of the way. Her brother's marriage to Becky Thompson, I think, is probably mentioned because something like buying a store in Tupelo was similar to the girl's dreams of a future with Billie Joe.
- Leona, Denver, CO

have you guys mentioned Howard roberts jazz guitarist who also covered the song ? great! I`m a funk jazz freak.
- David, San Jose, CA

I heard the song the other day; the first time in 20 years, and it gave me chills! I liked it as a child, and of course saw the movie with Robbie Bensen, but never gave it much thought. OK, my thoughts...young teenage girls (around 14-15)have strange and strong crushes on older guys that are friends of their brother...the song indicates that her brother is quite a bit older than her(he gets married that year) and was a friend of Billie Joe. They put a frog down her dress, teasing her or maybe trying to get rid of her and stop her from tagging along. However, she and BJ seem to have a secret between them; what did she see or discover up on Choctaw Ridge, when she was sneaking and following him around?? Did she catch BJ and the preacher together? Did BJ meet her after church (presumably he was there to see the preacher)and to ask her not to tell? Was the preacher stopping by to speak to Mama to see if she told? I remember how secretive about any love crushes I was during age 14-16, and would never even mention anything about sex, straight or gay, especially to my parents.
- Susan, River Ryan, NS

Great song. I can imagine the narrator turning pale as she listens to her family casually gossip about the suicide. IMHO, I think they were throwing flowers or pebbles off the bridge, something two people in love might innocently do together. At least I'd rather think this than something as dramatic as a baby. The drama comes from the narrator keeping her heartbreak and grief a secret. She throws flowers off the bridge at the end of the song in remembrance. [note: maybe the secret is Billie Joe was a girl???]
- Spoonie, Boston, MA

One of the best story songs I've ever heard. It's like a four-minute novel. Absolutely brilliant!
- John, Nashville, TN

I love this song; the first time I heard it, it haunted me...and then I took a trip from home in Little Rock down to Oxford, MS and passed where the infamous bridge was. Bobbie's voice is so down home you can smell the biscuits and beans during the not-so-polite dinner conversation. Those who want an accurate depiction of the rural South and its attitudes towards living and dying during the early to mid 60s...this is the song.
- Tiffany, Little Rock, AR

The Fifth Dimension had a great version of this song that was recorded live in the 1970s. The five members each had a part, and did it really well. It really brings out the angst and shock of the narrator (the awesome singer Marilyn McCoo) and the whole idea that the family just keeps on with the rest of their meal in spite of the news. Interesting comments here!
- antym, Delhi, NY

I did not read ALL the comments; just enough to realize there are a LOT of "Not Southern" out there. THERE ARE MANY...MANY Tallahatchie Bridges, as the river is quite long. The bridges have NOT fallen down; cars are driving across them daily. I have a close friend who attended school with her in Houston, MS. She was a rather quite/reserved person at the time. The song is a 'complete figment of her imagination'. a story......period. Angel-Memphis, TN
- Angel, Tupelo, MS

When was the first time you confronted the thought of death? Not in a superficial way, but seriously and deeply? Perhaps it was when someone you knew died suddenly? For some of us, it doesn't necessarily have to be anyone we're especially close to. Simply someone that we saw "just the other day". After thinking about this song for years, and mulling over its many possible themes, I come down to this. Ode To Billie Joe is simply about a young girl's shock at encountering mortality. The apparent indifference of her world-weary parents only intensifies her grief. If Bobbie Gentry didn't intend to suggest any particular storyline, then maybe our only recourse is to look for the core emotion. I'm not saying this is the ultimate answer, only that it works for me.
- Greg, Appleton, WI

for some reason i always thought it was an aborted or stillborn baby. john
- john, tiptonville, TN

IT NOT A WAS A STUPID SONG.!.. IF YOU KNEW WHAT THE SONG WAS REALLY ABOUT!..I GUESS THE SONG IS TO DEEP IN THE SOUTH FOR THOSE THAT THINK ITS A STUPID SONG TO UNDERSTAND ..
- Dee, Florida, TX

I always use this song in listening comprehension exercises and all ideas to what BJ and singer have thrown of the bridge do not account for the total destruction of the family following BJs suicide. So it must have been a really atrocious act. Remember father dies, mother becomes listless having lost interest in life, brother marries and becomes one of the middle class, a shop owner and the singer has reduced her life to remembering and honoring BJs death. This leaves only two choices an illegitimate child either stillborn or alive, brought into this world secretly or some rival to their love. Other effigies will not do.
- Fred, Flörsheim-Dalsheim, Germany

One thing I have always worried about is that the young preacher said he saw both of them throwing something off the bridge. I think if it was a ring or a baby or a doll only one person would have thrown. So my suspicion is that the something is too heavy for one to easily throw from the bridge. My overactive imagination then suggests it is possibly an adult body. I also read that the mother maybe in collusion with the young preacher to black-mail the narrator, an attractive young woman (who else gets frogs down the back?), into marriage. OK, a way-out-there guess! The narrator and BJ were lovers but BJ got raped by a man who was then murdered by the narrator who got BJ to help her dispose of the body.
- Jim, London, United Kingdom

Re: "The original version of "Ode to Billie Joe" was seven minutes in length. The song was truncated for its single release. The lost "long" version has never been found or released, to the best of my knowledge." from Clarke in Pittsburgh. Anyone know anything about this, or just another urban legend.
- James, Jacksonville, FL

This is such an intriguing song. I had not heard it since the 1970's and it just popped into my head the other day and I couldn't get it out. I googled the lyrics to remind my self and have been thinking on it for several days now. Here is a really great video on youtube of Bobbie Gentry singing the song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZt5Q-u4crc The dead-pan look on her face and they way she sings it are just priceless. And the way they use the status of the family is genius. And this is pre-MTV. So what I think happened is that the narrator loved Billie Joe but rejected him because she had higher aspirations for herself other than marrying a hillbilly. I think she wanted to make a better life (by maybe becoming a singer) and get out of the delta. So she rejected him during an encounter on the bridge where either an engagement ring or perhaps a bouquet of flowers was tossed off the bridge. The irony is that after the suicide she is so riddled with sadness and guilt that she can't get on with her life and make the better life for herself that she desired in dumping Billie Joe. Alternatively it could have been that her mother wanted her to improve her station by marrying Brother Taylor, and that she dutifully was trying to please mama, and that is the reason she would not marry Billie Joe. Either way I think she loved him, but would not marry him and that is why he killed himself. It is just so sad how she spends her days picking flowers and throwing them off the bridge. It just gives me goosebumps. I don't think it had anything to do with class, because BJ is clearly the same class as the narrators family. He couldn't be lower class because they were probably sharecroppers and their wasn't anything considered lower than a sharecropper in those days except a black person. And I don't think BJ was black because if he were he wouldn't have been going to the picture show with her brother. I don't think he is a higher class because then the family would have been all approving of the courtship. So I think he was the same class as the narrators family, but either the narrator herself, or mama, wanted "better" for her. Anyway great song. I love all the comments here and the more outrageous stories are intriguing. I truly mulled over the theory about the father and the incest. Definitely plausible, but the the song has a certain sweetness that to me sugguests something not so sinister - just sad.
- Rhonda, Houston, TX

The haunting ambivalence of this song is its true brilliance. Obviously the interpretation of the rather simple (on the surface) lyrics keeps people thinking and pondering and arguing decades after its release…how many songs can say that? To me, building on an earlier comment here and the comments of Ms. Gentry, the idea of the object being a baby makes little contextual sense, if for no other reason than the fact that the narrating girl seems genuinely shocked by the news of Billie’s death, and there would be little shock in a suicide following the murder of an infant. The doll on the other hand is a symbolic, if not practical, alternative, perhaps showing the transition of the relationship between Billie and the narrator from their innocent child-like relationship when they were younger to a more awkward adult-themed one when they reached puberty. The family seems to know, but perhaps not understand or care (or both), that their relationship has progressed in this way, but they seem to treat it as a “phase” or as less serious than it actually was. Obviously the narrator broods on the loss continuously, and will probably do so until her dying day. As for the other major question, I would hazard a guess that even Ms. Gentry, given her comments, doesn’t have a definitive answer as to why Billie Joe killed himself…the sad truth is that with many suicides the survivors never know (I have experienced this personally). I guess that’s what drives this song like a nail into the heart for me…it’s a girl, indefinitely trapped in her own grief over a death of a loved one that happened for no apparent reason, and whose family (and the rest of the world, for that matter) has zero sympathy for. Not only is this infinitely sad, but it is much more common in real life than many would like to admit.
- Chris, Chicago, IL

I was nine when this song came out and my father played it on a loop. I still remember the lyrics by heart. It was sad and it got to me. My impression as a child was how life goes on and how some people can be nonchalant even after tragedy. I always thought flowers was all that was ever tossed off the bridge. A number of years later, a movie was made to fit the song. In it, Billie Joe was molested and questioned his own sexuality. I think the actual object was a doll but I can't remember why. Maybe a loss of innocence. My impression as a kid, was that she and Billie Joe were childhood friends who shared a secret, but not even she saw the suicide coming. I stick to my childhood interpretation of it because it is my first impression of it.
- Echo, Phila suburb, NJ

I have always like this song and have wondered about the meaning but I guess since Bobbie Gentry didn't have a meaning behind it we just have to imagine what we want.
- Mary, Louisville, KY

Stupid song? Trite song? Maybe to stupid or trite peoiple perhaps but any song that causes one to question its meaning is indeed a great song. Lyrics debates have been ongoing for years concerning many many songs - and I think it is great. The best class I ever took in college was a Lyrics Interpretation class - what GREAT discussions we had. As to OTBJ, forget the movie - Max Baer (Jethro) was just attempting to make some money off of it. I believe the comments focused on the southern culture in the Mississippi delta are the closest to the truth. Bobbie Gentry said it best .... even she didn't know what it really meant - although she alluded to the casualness of speaking about death in the south; in this particular culture to be exact. It is more of a statement about a hard life than anything else. The mid-60s - deep south - poverty except for a few - daily life - not much hope .... etc ... etc .... could be most anything - and I think that is the point. The listener of the song or the reader of the lyrics takes their perceptions based on their life and interprets from there. That is what makes it a great song!
- Dave, Williamsburg, VA

There is actually a reference to the sex of Billie Joe: when brother asks, "Wasn't I talking to him after church last Sunday night." It saddens me when people describe this song as "trite" or even "stupidest"....This song is sheer genius. On this page alone, I thinks there's at least seven different interpretations--all of them could be possible. Not to mention Ms. Gentry's delivery of the song...you can actually hear the conversation going on yet garner the narrator's reaction to it at the same time. Genius.
- Richard, Lexington, KY

This is simply one of the best songs ever written, its plain simple delivery is what contributes to the songs success. The mystery of Billie Joe isn't meant to be solved. Gentry was clever, this song's goal is to create dialogue. It brings back such fond memories of my childhood. To the naive who say this song is trite and stupid, your victim of your ignorance. This song is a classic....
- Breeze, Riverside, CA

This song has haunted me for years and I finally decided to look it up and find out if ANYONE else understands this song. I was surprised that so many people are curious about this story and about what it means. Its pretty obvious that the narrator is a teenage girl. What strikes me is that she is shocked when she hears the news of Billie Joe's death." Child, what's happened to your appetite?...you haven't touched a single bite." Everything is ok UNTIL she hears the news. "Another sleepy,dusty Delta day.I was out choppin' cotton...at dinner time...we walked back to the house to eat." No indication that anything is wrong. So she had NO idea that Billie Jo would or did commit suicide. One more thing, is anyone curious as to WHY the "...nice,young preacher,",dropped by,invited himself to "...dinner on Sunday." and just happened to drop the bombshell that "...he saw a girl that looked a lot like..." the narrator with her "and Billie Joe...throwing somethin' off the Tallahatchie Bridge.". I think the preacher knows more than he is letting on. Any thoughts????
- Andrew, Edmonton, Canada

Great great song,Gentrys bluesy voice is pure perfection.According to "The Encyclopedia of Country Music" put out by the Country Music Hall of Fame, Gentry did indeed write this song and many many others.She began writing at the age of 7 and many artists,Reba McEntire among them,have recorded Gentrys work.Anyone who questions Gentry's voice or this song should go back to listening to their Britney Spears CDs and let the adults discuss this great story song. What the 'something' was that was thrown off the bridge in the song it doesnt say but in the book by the same name the 'something' thrown off the bridge was a doll that the girl in the song and Billie used to play house with.He threw it off when he realized that he was gay and there would never be any baby .
- Mark, byrdstown, TN

Sometimes a song is just a song. I've written a song called "Raisha", a twisted anagram for the chorus of "...raining heartaches in San Anton(io)." I've never been to Texas, let alone had a romance or a breakup there. So...you never really know.
- Kenn, Portland, OR

I belive that the narrator and Billie Joe had sex and the girl got pregant. Then the girl and billie joe induced labor.So then they threw the baby over the edge of the bridge.
- tonya, sharon grove, KY

I'm a young woman who feels that Bobbie Gentry was quite unusual and such a talent of her time. You don't see many singers and performers like her today. I do believe she wrote "Ode to Billie Joe." There is definitely a quiet charm and sweetness about her. As for the meaning of the song, why try so hard to figure it out? That's the mystery of it all. Musicians shouldn't always give away their secrets. Ariel, Little Rock AR
- Ariel, Little Rock, AR

I think this song is about a young girl with a crush on an older boy. Her family unknowingly is killing her inside every time they open their mouths at dinner. Moma says "seems like nothin' ever comes to no good on Choctah Ridge." I bet the girl singing the song thinks something good happened up there. Even if they did just throw rocks of the bridge. I don't think the something they were throwing of the bridge matters. I don't think there is any baby. I think the reason for the suicide is complely hidden. I don't think the girl singing the song did anything to make Billie Joe jump of the bridge. Like all young girls with crushes she probably thinks her love will be the best thing for Billy Joe and now he's dead. At the end of the song she is comparing herself to her mother who lost her husband and father of her children. She obviously loved this boy. The matter of fact way her family talks bout the death is a huge contrast to what is going on in this young girls heart. This is the kind of situation were her parents might say "oh it's just a crush you'll get over it." But she doesn't, over a year later she still goes to the bridge and throws flowers. This song is very sad and very sweet just like a young girl with a crush. Haven't we all had a crush on someone?
- mike, detroit, MI

The song obviously explains that Southerners who eat black-eyed peas tend to jump off bridges.
- G., Newport News, VA

In an interview on the 7/24/07 Fresh Air radio show, Nick Lowe said that singer-songwriter Jim Ford claimed to have written the song, and that "Ode" was more in the style of Ford's songs than Gentry's other work, but did not claim to know for sure. As for why there were no lawyers coming "out of the woodwork," Ford would have had to choose to sue.
- Adam, Philadelphia, PA

This is indeed a haunting song. It is very reminiscent of the writings of Flannery O'Connor. If you want to read the quintessential Southern Gothic tale, try "A Good Man is Hard to Find," which seems to be picked from the headlines. The Ode to Billie Joe gives you the same ordinariny tone together with the chilling events. Of course "A Good Man" is much darker than the song, but the same effect is there. Flannery O'Connor had died only a few years earlier (1964) and could well have been an influence.
- jay, Monterey, United States

I just heard this song earlier for the first time in YEARS and realized I still like it. I am AMAZED all the comments! and that there are others that wondered what 'something' was too. I agree this song - of course written by bobbie gentry- is a great song and Haunting is a good word. Yes, the bridge/ridge is convenient. And Greenday's Billy Joe Armstrong was maybe named after the song. -------- I bet bobbie g. just laughs her ... off that so many people are trying to figure out these lyrics. She probably just couldn't decide while writing it what they were going to throw off the bridge. 'Something' was just a temporary placeholder. Because they used the original demo and she never got a chance to change it. -lol. -------- btw, I always thought it was a ring.
- reg, kc, MO

One more thing, Cathy made me think of another scenario. Perhaps the narrator is of a poor white family. Brother taylor ran staight to BJ's well-to-do black family and he is forbidden to see her. -Or - how about it's been a reeaally bad day. He is first rejected by her, thus the throwing of the ring and then disowned by his family because of Mr gossip and takes his life rather than live without her. -I say her mother is sensible/sensitive enough to know what was going on but knows the girl is being punished enough by her conscience or lost love... ---- I'm not buying the lesbian theory- the baby or the murder. I say BJ is male. It's a ring (or Col. Mustard in the ballroom with a candlestick..)and then again ...Heck, maybe the something was a condom, he went out and got drunk and then fell in on his way home. :) Good comments from Brian, Martjn, John, Diane Rick, probably others btw
- reg, kc, MO

An absolutely beautiful song. One of my all-time favourites. Gorgeous voice. Evocative words. Music that is very simple but which totally supports the the central focus of the song which is the haunting, utterly compelling story. To me, her master stroke is to leave you guessing -- there's nothing like a question -- a question is the ultimate metaphor for our very existence.
- Guy, Wellington, New Zealand

The object tossed off the bridge: On one of the usenews newsgroups there was a discussion on what was thrown off the bridge. One possibility was that Billy Joe was wanting to engage the girl to marry her later, but she turned him down, and he tossed the ring off the bridge. A ring would be an object too small for someone distant to make out clearly, but still barely visible. As well as the arm action involved when throwing such an object. And that Billy became dispondent over this later and jumped off the bridge. The family seems vaguely aware that Billy Joe had a friendship of sorts with the girl, but not really aware or believing that it was somewhat serious. When this song came out I was in 7th grade, and at teh time there was a TV show "Pettycoat Junction" with 3 girl characters with names Betty Joe, Billy Joe and forgot the third name. So I was a bit confused about the gender of Billy Joe of this song. I grew up just outside of New York City, and nobody there had names of this sort.
- bob, NYC, NJ

'Haunting' seems to be the most popular and accurate description of this song. I have seen the movie and grew up hearing the song. BJ and the narrator were involved. He was ready for an 'all the way' relationship - she wasn't. Billie Joe got really wasted (drunk) at a local carnival/rodeo. A local sicko took advantage of the situation and molested BJ. Later, when they meet, the narrator is ready to have sex with BJ, but BJ is unable to perform. He freaks out and kills himself. The item being thrown off the bridge is the narrator's ragdoll. It was very dear to her and it was thrown off the bridge by BJ while they were fighting.
- Syl, Brandon, MS

I love this song. The first time I ever heard it, I just liked the beat. Tonight I decided to download it, and wanted to find out what the song meant. So I came to this site. It is great!!
- Whittney, Sardis, TN

'OTBJ' was written by jim ford, who also wrote 'niki hoeky', which bobbie sang, along with others. he nd was bobbie's boyfriend for a while, too.
- sonny, philadelphia, PA

I'm 45 and I loved this song in it's day, when I was 7. It was a huge hit at the time. Everybody was talking about it. It was played constantly on the radio and it was referenced many times on TV. I got a 45 rpm of it so I could hear it and sing it again and again. In the more than 35 years since the song was released, it still retains it's haunting beauty and depth. I'm from Texas and the tenor of the lyrics is so much like we talk here.
- john, Fort Worth, TX

I see I've commented on this song before so I'll relate an amusing memory. When I was a small kid I sang this song again and again whether I was listening to it or not. I wasn't familiar with the word "preacher" at the time so I would sing, "That nice young creature, Brother Taylor dropped by today..." until my sister heard me one time and corrected me between peals of laughter.
- john, Fort Worth, TX

Amazing, all these comments. Shows what a powerful song this is.
- ModGirl, Smyrna, GA

I have never heard the original version of this song, and until recently did not know it existed - but for some years now, I have been haunted by the French version, as sung by Joe Dassin. In this one, the narrator is a young man, and the suicide is a girl called Marie-Jeanne. The translation is extraordinarily faithful to the original (I am bi-lingual, and a professional translator myself), but the change of gender does give a particular twist to the mystery. In fact, it imposes the "dead baby" interpretation, in a way that the original song only superficially suggests. Dassin's sensitive rendering of the song makes the banality of the family's reactions all the more poignant, in the face of the grief - or guilt - that the narrator is unable to express: either because he is inarticulate, or because there is some compelling reason for him to conceal his involvement with Marie-Jeanne. It's a painful, beautiful, disturbing, thought-provoking song, and I won't rest now till I have managed to get hold of a copy of Bobbie Gentry's origial recording.
- Pandora, Sion, Switzerland

I don't get the impression that this family is black. They are as poor as the blacks, but put on some typical airs of southern politeness and propriety. The family is not necessarily as unfeeling as has been suggested. For the father,life is about hardship and work. Rub some mud on it and stop crying. He makes no mention of Billy Joe's race, just that he had no sense. That's not a horrible description, perhaps just describing a practical joker or a dreamer. The brother is disturbed about it--how could it have happened when everything seemed so normal even in the last week: "It don't seem right." The mother seems to express some genuine compassion and upset about the matter: "It's a shame anyhow." The young preacher is trying to learn more about what happend, and seems to have some interest in the narrator/daughter. The mother in the second part of her talk is trying to stimulate a response in her daughter. She does sense that there was something going on between the daughter and Billy Joe. Since the daughter will not say, no one else in the town goes any further to dredge up the secret of what was going on and what happened. Affair? Murder? Suicide? They are willing to let the muddy waters under the Tallahatchie Bridge keep that a secret forever.
- Timothy, North Hempstead, NY

Do you know that I'm 36 yrs old and this year was the very first time I've ever heard the song and I loved it!!! It provokes thought which ALOT of songs of today don't. Bobbie gives just enough info, and leaves you wanting to know what else happend in this story. What really was the intention of "that nice young preacher brother Taylor"? Was he trying to get her in trouble by telling that he'd saw her and Bill Joe throwing something off the bridge? Town gossip I suppose? At any rate I LOVE this song and hope to goodness I can find it on CD!
- michelle, wilmington, DE

Great Song, Courtney,CA
- Courtney, campbell, CA

Sheryl Crow does a beautiful and true cover of this song during her 'Storytellers' appearance. There is a woman who is better than any to sing in such a husky, bluesy southern voice as Bobbie Gentry did.
- Brian, Sydney, Canada

I was born and raised in Tallahatchie County and I believe this song is a mystery and will never totally be understood by anyone.
- Stephanie, Sumner, MS

Update to my previous note re. Choctaw Ridge - this should have been WEST of Batesville - not east!
- Chris, Manchester, England

Let me begin this comment by stating that I have never seen the film and don't want to. Gentry was briefly interviewed by a music magazine after the song came out. She went on record as saying that the 'something' thrown off the bridge was 'symbolic, and not a baby, as most people seem to think'. It never even occurred to me when I heard the song; from the end lyric, I assumed she and Billy Joe had thrown flowers into the water together, in a quiet courtship. I always thought the young preacher was a gossip, and perhaps jealous, since he reports what he saw back to the mother, and perhaps made it -sound- suspicious. I know communities like those. Either people are constantly minding one another's business, or they're too exhausted from overwork to care deeply about anything. Only the narrator is badly shaken about the loss of her friend, while the mother is genuinely puzzled about why she isn't eating. Life goes on, after all, and there's cotton to be chopped.
- Ekristheh, Halath, United States

This song also haunted me as a child. It came out when I was 6/7 years old. I listened to the record and sang along with it because I felt compelled to as a kid. I, too have always wondered what that "somethin'" that Mama said Brother Taylor saw "a girl who looked a lot like [the narrator] up on Chocktaw Ridge" throwing something something with Billy Joe off the Tallahachee Bridge, was. Even as a small child I understood this part to be of great importance. I didn't care for the movie version of the story. It could have been so much better and wouldn't have been forgotten (the movie, not the song). Also, considering what we know from the song, what about the narrator spending so much time by the end picking flowers "up on Chocktaw Ridge" only to drop them into the river OFF THE BRIDGE.
- john, Fort Worth, TX

The real hook that always intrigued me was the subtle conversation around the dinner table, while the family is together eating, that Billy Joe McAllister killed himself. That would certainly have been a topic of conversation for folks who knew about it yet were outside the loop. The narrator, however, seemed to know much more but kept it to herself, of course. I believe the song was about the great pain one can suffer as a young person while enduring it whenever necessary.
- john, Fort Worth, TX

This song haunted me as a child. Probably because of my Catholic upbringing I always thought the "something" thrown from the bridge was a dead baby, the product of an abortion carried out on the narrator by her boyfriend at her urging ... he later felt terrible remorse and killed himself at the same spot ... it's obvious her family would never have accepted him into the family as "nothing ever good" comes from Choctaw ridge, he "never had a lick a sense" and her mother was trying to line her up with that "nice young preacher".
- Klaatu69, kingaroy, Australia

Listen to the third verse: "And wasn't I talking to him after church last Sunday night", and "I saw him yesterday at the sawmill on Chocktaw Ridge". Billie Joe is male. I have often wondered what it was that the narrator and Billie Joe threw off the bridge, and speculated it was a baby. Billie Joe's suicide makes sense in this context. He was consumed by guilt over the murder. As far as the baby being the result of an incestuous relationship between the narrator and her father, and the father killing Billie Joe, and the narrator killing her father in retaliation, there is no evidence of this in the lyrics.
- Jay, Brooklyn, NY

This is a song with academic pre-requisites. It really pays to know something about the share-cropper culture of the old Mississippi Delta region, a dead-flat area of rich soil, great wealth and legendary poverty. We've visited the area several times, though we're certainly not experts. There is, however, a modern bridge in Greenwood, Mississippi that bears a plaque to inform everyone that it is the "Ode To Billy Joe Bridge." Given that the song is fiction, this is an interesting bit of lore, but it has to do with the movie, which starred an older bridge. For reasons of safety and asthetics, the state highway people tore the old one down and replaced it with a slightly weird-looking version that's adapted to survive the frequent floods in the area. We came on it by accident in 1989. There's a farm nearby where you can pick your own blueberries. Also make sure you stop at the Cottonlandia Museum, and generally take in the ambience of one of the world's weirdest landscapes, populated by some of the finest people on Earth. As to the gender issue, I should point out that the chairman of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Mississippi State University was the legendary Billie Joe Ball, and he is most definitely male.
- Mark, Lancaster, OH

This song is very haunting to me. Until I read the comments from others on this web sight, I did not realize others where haunted by it too. I was 5 years old in 1967. I was born and raised in Richland, Mississippi. This song was used to try to harm me, off a bridge in Byram, Mississippi called the "Swinging Bridge". It was on December 20, 1967. The people who tried to harm me were addicted to this song. I would hear it every day playing on our old record player. I was to young to realize that mental problems, vodka, and a song would cause these people to change my life forever. Of course I do not blame the song. It still is one of the best song ever.
- Vanessa, pasadena, TX

I believe that the song tells of a murder that Billie Joe and the Young Girl commited. The thing they were throwing off the bridge was the body of the victim. Billie Joe was at the sawmill commiting the murder when the brother saw him. He commited suicide because he did not want to go to jail and try to live down the murder. The girl had "Lost her appetite" because of the horrific thing she and Billie Joe did, which was killing someone on the saw mill. Timothy-Washburn, Missouri
- Timothy Lambert, Washburn, MO

I first time I heard this song was when I was about 5 years old, but not by Bobbie Gentry. It was actually covered by Diana Ross and the Supremes on their "Reflections" LP that my father owned, to which I used to listen. When I heard Bobbie's version many years later, I hated it at first, because I thought it was corny. Now it's the opposite. Diana Ross really didn't do much justice to the song. To this day, though, I don't understand why people want to know or even care what was thrown off the Tallahatchie Bridge. To me, it's never been of any significance. There have been discussions that the family in question were a Black family, and I have often wondered that as well. There's a reference in the song about "5 more acres in the lower 40", which makes me think of "40 acres and a mule," which was supposed to be given to freed slaves. The race of the family, however, is insignificant as well. It's a great, haunting song that I don't get tired of.
- KC, Raleigh, NC

A very funky cover of this song has been recorded by Joe Tex on the album Country Soul. Tex addlibs with chatty comments like "more soulfood" whilst remaining painful. Touching. A drawnout, hellraisingly slow cover was done in 1986 by Danish postpunk band Sort Sol. White noise and electric guitars comes to Tallahachie brigde. Almost scary. The album incidentally bears the title "Everything that rises msut converge", taken from the book of US southern genius writer Flannery OConnor. . Jake, Brussels
- Jacob, Brussels, Belgium

I have an elderly aunt from the delta region (upper middle class..) and she would talk this way. I don't find this to be a conversation following previous confrontation by a controlling person with ambitions for her daughter to marry the preacher. Rather, the writer is employing the southern way of subtle discovery of facts - the parents knew what she was hiding and it came out at dinner. Further preachers used to visit frequently and the visit is merely another way word got back - fast - in the small community. Something happened on the bridge, and it was bad. The parents were not punishing her, but they did not comfort her either - the forbidden aspect is here. Later, everyone had moved on like the seasons - the grind of the wheel of time not sparing the girl further tragedy (her father's death, mother's depression) or relief from the memory. There is the feeling of how life can change in an instant and how an action can have long reaching effects, and how we can't go back and change these poor decisions. Who hasn't felt this in some way?
- diana, chambersburg, PA

I've always been intrigued by this haunting song, both in lyrics and melody. I was a 10 years old, living in the suburb of a Tennessee city when this song came out in 1967. Back then there were only a few AM radio stations in each city, so there was a lot of "cross-over" music played, to appeal to the widest possible audience. This song leaned toward folk/country, but even those who preferred rock/pop music were fascinated by it. The lyrics employed capture a real conversational style which is authentic Southern/rural, (similiar to the style of writing of Samuel Clemmens/Mark Twain). The lyrics also demonstrate the rural southern penchant for entertainment by story-telling, an art form which used to be practiced every evening on the front porch between visiting neighbors (before air conditioning caused people to retreat indoors to more insular and less social lives). Whenever I think of this song, I almost feel the warm humid embrace of a Southern evening, with the crickets singing a rythmic background beat, and the fireflies putting on a fireworks display for our entertainment as the story-telling began.
- Rick, Seattle, WA

I used to like this song when it first came out. Nowadays I run to any musical device that plays it to turn it off. Make the bad song go away! What was I thinking...yuck!
- greg, Victoria, Canada

Bob Dylan and the Band recorded a song as kind of a parody, or maybe just an imitation of the lyrical approach to this song, called "Clothesline Saga" which is on the Basement Tapes. Also, another distant Bob Dylan connection: the tortured and mutilated body of Emmett Till was thrown off the Tallahatchee Bridge by the murderers. (Dylan wrote a song about the murder.) I always wondered if Billie Joe and his girlfriend song narrator might have been a fictional part of the murderous gang, with the guilt driving Billie Joe to suicide.
- Matthew, Skippack, PA

This is a song that once heard keeps haunting you for ever. And that is exactly what it's all about. Being haunted. By the impossibility of love. By misunderstanding. By taboo. By irreversible loss. By unspeakable tragedy. One of the very best and most heartbreaking ever written. If John Steinbeck Or Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu would have been born in the Mississippi delta they might have come close to this. Roberta Lee Streeter, you are a great soul. That bridge should be restored as a monument with your statue on it.

WHILE READING OTHERS COMMENTS AN INTERESTING POINT WAS MADE AS TO THE SPELLING OF BILLY (BILLIE) JOE. IN THE TITLE IT APPEARS AS THE FEMALE ACCEPTED SPELLING. HOWEVER APPEARS MALE IN THE LYRICS. SO IF IT IS NOT A MERE OVERSIGHT IT COULD MEAN THE SONG IS TO THE DEARLY DEPARTED FEMALE CHILD OF THE NARRATOR AND MALE (BILLY JOE). WHICH COULD MEAN THE REASON FOR EVERYONE'S QUIET DISCUSSION WAS BECAUSE IT WAS A KNOWN SECRET. HER BROTHER'S COMMENTS REVERT TO A EARLIER TIME WHEN PUPPY LOVE EXISTED BETWEEN THEM. THE CHILD'S DEATH MEANT THERE WAS NO REASON TO HAVE THESE TWO TO MARRY. BILLY JOE BECAME UNCONSOLABLE; PERHAPS HE WAS A LITTLE MENTALLY CHALLENGED, FELT NO FAMILY OR OTHER SUPPORT. MAYBE HE WAS THE ONLY CHANCE FOR THE NARRATOR TO ESCAPE HER FAMILY OR FAMILY OBLIGATIONS. FINALLY THE NARRATOR MAY FEEL SHE AND HER FAMILY ARE RECEIVING PUNISHMENT FOR THE WAY THEY SO CALLOUSLY DISMISSED THE CHILD AND BILLY JOE. Her Billy Joe love can heal if she allows herself to raise a memorial, help raise a child, adopt a child or otherwise put mourning behind her and let positive action bring her closure.
- Roy, San Bernardino, CA

What a Great Song/story!!! It clearly got my attention because my birthday is the third of June. But became quite inspiring. I See it as a 'Point of passage'. When you pour too much passion into just one event or thing in your life you take of a chance on anchoring yourself there emotionally. Creating a life-long cycle of trauma that begins to feel as though it is life. I transitioned from Middle to High School When it was released. I had great times before then; but I had to throw them off the 'Tallachacie Bridge' and move on to new experiences. 'Thanks for a larger than life lesson Bobbie Gentry'
- Roy, San Bernardino, CA

Bobby is my first wife's 1'st cousin and the same age, so i know first hand who wrote otbj. Bobby is close to William Falkner as a southern song writer of 50/60's, similar to Johnny Russel who later wrote, red neck, white sox's and blue ribbon beer,. They baptised Jesse Taylor in cedder creek last Sunday. Unless u've lived in rual Mississippi or it's delta it would be extremely dificult to fantom the culture of that era.
- nick, stewart, MS

Bobby is my first wife's 1'st cousin and the same age. So i know all the children and all their names. She did in fact write OTBJ. She like Johnny Russel, who wrote Red Neck's, White Sox and Blue Ribbon Beer, are product's of rural Mississippi, hills an delta, and having lived their i know first hand how easy it would be to write song's or stories about life experiences. Buy Bobby's albums to realy get a grip on her abillity !!!!!!!!!!!! nj, Helena, ar
- nick, stewart, MS

I can't beleive someone actually thhinks she didn't write the song. Anybody out their claiming they did instead? No! Bobbie Lee wrote this song, as she did most of the songs she sang in the late 60s and early 70s. I worked with her in the early 70s at three different Hughes hotels and have the sheet music as just some of the souveners of her and a friendship that remains till this day (10/2005). As for the song itself, it is in fact fiction, although Bobbie Lee was born and lived near the Talahatchee Bridge, I went and saw this place in the early 70s with her one two week period. However, those commenting on the "purpose" of the song have got it about 95% correct. It was a comment on the calousness of a poor working family in rural Mississippi. The movie by Max Baer of the same name and with the song as part of the soundtrack is absolutely, 100% purely fiction. What do you expect from Jethro?! This movie is where people get some of the gay guy, teddy bear, yada, yada ideas. Never happened. He even used "Bobbie Lee" as the heroine of the movie, the name Roberta Lee Streeter is called by her close friends and family. Another thing that lead to speculation out of the movie. The movie had to come up with a theatrical reason fro the jump and cannot simply be about the lack of sensitivity in a family. In fact, the movie showed the family as rather "concerned", nothing like the song. Bobbie Lee is still alive, turned 61, has a grown son, and enjoys obscurity from the business. She would find this and the other websites humorous that people still care or are making up ideas about one of her songs. And by the way, just because she allowed Reba McIntire to record Fancy does not mean Roberta Lee Streeter doesn't hold the copyright!
- Tom, Las Vegas, NV

I don't know why everyone seems to think the narrator is upper-class; it refers to her chopping cotten, baling hay, etc. And her Dad mentions plowing. Probably farmers
- Kelli, Cedar Rapids, IA

The father is stern, seems like a practical man, no-nonsense, doesn't show emotion. The son is getting more and more worked up as the meal progresses, the reality of what's happened is slowly sinking in. The one to watch out for is the mother. She sounds to me like a very ambitious and controlling matriarch, who would have gone to some lengths to break up the secret relationship between her only daughter and an "unsuitable" young man. Very class-conscious. She wants to fix her daughter up with the preacher real bad. Mother doesn't care one lick about what happened, and did it on purpose to announce the news in public like that just to shock some sense into her daughter and embarrass her. Sounds to me like the two of them had words about this a while ago, mother is faking innocence, you can smell it a mile away. So maybe mother went to see Billy Joe (or caught the two of them together) and threatened him/them or else firmly refused him her daughter's hand. She had something on them, that's for sure. And she has the gall to use the preacher as further leverage, hinting that he also knew about the secret liaison and is willing to forgive the narrator and make a decent woman out of her. What they threw over the ridge was a token of their undying love for each other. Mother's plans backfire though, you can tell that at the end of the song. She's lost everything. Her son's gone, her husband too, and she's left with an unmarried, inconsolable daughter who is of no comfort to her. The two are entirely estranged.
- Flamingo, Toronto, Canada

Here's how I see it: The father is stern, seems like a practical man, no-nonsense, doesn't show emotion. The brother however is getting more and more worked up as the meal progresses, the reality of what's happened is slowly sinking in. The one to watch out for is the mother. She sounds to me like a very ambitious and controlling matriarch, who would have gone to some lengths to break up the secret relationship between her only daughter and an "unsuitable" young man. Very class-conscious. She wants to fix her daughter up with the preacher real bad. Mother doesn't care one lick about what happened, and did it on purpose to announce the news in public like that just to shock some sense into her daughter and embarrass her. Sounds to me like the two of them had words about this a while ago, mother is faking innocence, you can smell it a mile away. So maybe mother went to see Billy Joe (or caught the two of them together) and threatened him/them or else firmly refused her daughter's hand. She had something on them, that's for sure. And she has the gall to use the preacher as further leverage, hinting that he also knew about the secret liaison and that he's willing to forgive the narrator and make a decent woman out of her. What she and Billy Joe threw over the ridge was a token of their undying love for each other. Maybe even engagement rings, or a marriage license.... Mother's plans backfire though. At the end of the song she's lost everything. Her son's gone, her husband too, and she's left with an unmarried, inconsolable daughter who is of no comfort to her. The two are entirely estranged.
- Flamingo, Toronto, Canada

I first heard OTBJ when it came out in 1967. I was about ten years old at that time. I have always assumed that BJ and the narrator were throwing the body of a still-born child off The Tallahatchie Bridge. That is my interpretation but, once an author has written anything and presented it to his audience it is up to the members ofthat audience to interpret the piece as they see fit. I must say, the possibility that BJ is female (as I understand it "Billie" is the female spelling, at least it is here in Scotland)is intriguing and opens up many more possibilities for interpretation. Glenn
- Glenn, Glasgow, Scotland

I was very young when I first heard Ode to Billy Joe. Even so, I understood that it was about lost love, suicide, and the 'unfeeling' gossip that can spread like wildfire over dinner conversations. I grew up in a rural community, which was very similar in 'atmosphere' to the setting given in the song. The gossip about Billy Joe McAlistor and the woman telling the tale felt very familiar -- Choctaw Ridge always struck me as being a poor section of the county; that may have been a community that mostly black folks lived -- I also felt that the young woman was a well-do white; thus in the time frame that the story took place (in the distant past) any romantic involvement would have been a huge scandel. How's that for a possible backstory?
- Cathy, Weaver, AL

It's silly to assume that anyone other than Bobbie Gentry wrote this song. It became such an enduring hit that, by now, lawyers would be coming out of the woodwork to represent the "real" author (if it wasn't Gentry). Now, on the "mystery" behind the song, the only mystery I can think about is that people still think there's a mystery behind the song (grin). In 1975, Gentry told author Herman Rauscher that she didn't consider any backstory ... and that the "real" purpose behind the song was to illustrate just how cold and unfeeling family members can be when a tragedy like suicide happens close to home. And, that's just what the dinner table conversation in the song illustrates. So, listeners are basically making up their own mystery backstory. But here's one I've thought of that I haven't seen yet. Note that Wikipedia refers to the song title as "Ode to Billy Joe" ... but here at Songfacts, it's referred to as "Ode to Billie Joe." There is nothing in the song that specifically indicates the sex of Billy Joe (or is it Billie Joe). Note that the reverend saw them tossing "something" off the bridge but wan't specific. Perhaps what the reverend saw them tossing was "their clothes" ... and perhaps the two young people, both girls, were Lesbians. It's just as good as any theory I've heard ... and the inability to reconcile sexual orientation is a powerful reason why some young people commit suicide.
- Jim West, Portland, OR

In the film the two characters, Billie Joe and the Narrator of the song, have a struggle and accidentaly throw a rag doll off the bridge, which is seen by the priest. Ive heard it said that this represents youth and the innocence of it, which the characters throw away throught the film/song!
- Michael, London, England

One of the great records. I don't care if she threw radioactive waste into the river. Not to make light of the poignant lyrics but that girl could sing her ass off in a style that (forgive the political incorrectness) I never dreamed she was white. The atmosphere of the recording had such a feel of the real rural, poor South in a way that erases the color line anyway.
- Brian, Meriden, CT

The "something" that was thrown off the bridge WAS a child. The preacher said he saw her AND Billy Joe throwing it, so it must have been something that took two people to throw. Here's what I think happened: Bobbie had an incestuous relationship with her father. The child was the result. She asked Billy Joe for help because she had no one else to turn to. Billy Joe helped her get rid of the child (either an abortion or live birth) by throwing it off the bridge. When Bobbie's father found out that Billy Joe knew, he killed him, making it look like a suicide. We learn later on in the song that Bobbie's father "died last spring." I wonder if it really was the virus that was to blame. Perhaps Bobbie hastened his demise? Bobbie may have been developing feelings for Billy Joe at the time (or after) he was killed and this was her revenge on her father. She now spends her time mourning the love she never got to experience (Billy Joe) and the child she never got to know. I also have to wonder if MAYBE Bobbie's mother eventually learned of the father/daughter relationship and its result and that's the REAL reason why she's do devastated. Perhaps she even had a hand in his demise. Paul Drake St. Pete
- Randy, St. Pete, Florida, FL

Bobbie Gentry is a distant relative of mine and she did write this song. Sarah, Leland, Ms
- Sarah, Leland, MS

I share everyone's puzzlement. See http://wesclark.com/am/carroll_county_accident.html
- Wes, Springfield, VA

I did this song as a monologue for a drama class, it was great because everyone was absolutely hooked and then at the end I finished and everyone just burst into "well what does that mean?" and "huh?!" and "how how how?" I love this song
- a, sry, Peru

Well...this is my ODE TO DAVE ROBERTO. My husband committed suicide 6 years ago this coming week. I've been feeling depressed with the tragic yearly anniversary approaching - so I thought I'd watch some tv to take my mind off of things. I flipped on the tv - and there's ODE TO BILLE JOE playing! I haven't seen, heard or thought of this song since I was a kid! And at the time - had no clue what it was even about!?!? Now I am reminded even more of UN-NECESSARY AND TRAGIC deaths of those who can't see past tomorrow. Think of the MANY times in your life when you thought something was the end of the world - but it wasn't!!! Talk with someone and/or believe that you are bigger than your problems. Tomorrow is another day!!! Please don't ever give up or give in. Those that are left behind spend their entire lives picking up the pieces of the mess that is left behind - and are left to wonder if it would be easier to just join you!?!? Don't do this to them. Don't do it to your self. Dave left behind a wife and 2 small children that ADORED him - and whose life will NEVER be the same. Take care of yourself and each other!!! Sincerely, Shellie from Cincinnati.
- Shellie, Cleves, OH

Those who claim that Bobbie Gentry didn't write "Ode to Billie Joe," do you know for a fact who did?
- Kamasu, Las Vegas, NE

In the opening scene "Reservoir Dogs" Nice Guy Eddie analyze the song, a song he had heard on KBLY for the first time in years, making him come to his (probably incorrect) deduction that the narrator threw Billy Joe off the bridge.
- craig, madison, WI

A very spooky song, as if William Faulkner wrote an episode of the Waltons. Never has an Ode said so little about the subject, but by laying the title above the song one can sense the enormous loss the narrator has suffered, the first of many losses. A different portrait of southern rural life than one normally gets. It's not the gossipy townsfolk. Instead, the family seems very midwestern in their passively skimming the topic of a local curiosity, and please pass the potatoes. The narrator hearing the banter, and not being able to talk, because you don't talk of private matters with the family. Very spooky in it's dark realism.
- craig, madison, WI

The narrator and Billie Joe were secret lovers. They would meet in their special place, the bridge. Perhaps she rejected him. The family just goes on, while she mourns at the bridge for years to come. Love lost.
- Melanie, Lawrence, KS

Great song plain and simple. You can't help but like the vocals by Bobby Gentry. Rhapsody and Harmony. The movie tells it like it is Starring Robbie Benson. Watch it listen to the song then comment!.
- Conrad, Big Spring, TX

This song scares me, but in a strange way it's fun.
- AJ, Cleveland, GA

It is not a stupid song! What are y'all thinking? What a sad song, though.
- Stefanie magura, Rock Hill, SC

The original version of "Ode to Billie Joe" was seven minutes in length. The song was truncated for its single release. The lost "long" version has never been found or released, to the best of my knowledge.
- Clarke, Pittsburgh, PA

I wouldn't call the song "Country".Even though it is based "in the Country" with a country vibe,I'd call it "Folk".This is a great song...you young'uns look at the description....no,not about "Green Day" this was released in 1967...A highly intelligent song, based on a story,and not at all obvious what the writer's (and singer's)intent is.This song makes the listener think.I went over the Tallahatchee river in 1989 heading South...(on the Freeway),and thought about this song.On the way back North the next day,I was in an old car ('62 Chevy II)that my step-dad bought.When we crossed that bridge,the song was playing on the AM station.Of course,the song wasn't written about the freeway bridge!I'll never forget that,though.
- Michael, Flint, MI

Despite it's country soung it is morer often played on oldies/rock stations.
- Julian, Oakland, AR

I am a dedicated rock fan, but have always loved this song. I would love to know what it was really about- the part about the singer being seen on Choctaw Ridge with Billy Joe throwing something off the bridge has always given me goosebumps. Although noone can touch Bobby Gentry, there is a good version by a band called Phranc which can be purchased at i-tunes.
- Roberta, Boston, MA

Um...Question: Is Bobbie talking about Billie Joe Armstrong, the lead singer of Green Day?
- Mike, Arvada, CO

I wonder about the tastes of anybody who thinks this is a trite or stupid song. The music may not be to your liking, that is a matter of taste anyway, but the lyrics are among the best American song writing has ever presented to the world. This is a great little story about the way people react to a small tragedy that doesn't affect them directly, although there's a shadow of a suggestion that the singer and Billy Joe may have been romantically involved, as in the lines: "And wasn't I talkin' to him after church last Sunday night?" and "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." The fact that it doesn't state the reason for Billy Joe's suicide makes the song only more haunting. It forces the listener to identify even more with the characters if he/she wants to try and understand what really went on. Who was the girl with Billy Joe and what were they throwing off the bridge? Did it even have something to do with his suicide? Questions that remain unanswered but that cause this song to remain in the listener's mind long after the last note has faded.
- Martijn, Helmond, Netherlands

I simply have to agree with James from Plano!!!
- Kitten, NYC, United States

Ive just been to the town of Greenwood, MS which is where the Tallahatchie bridge used to be, and you can really feel what she expressed in her song so well. She sang it exactly how it feels to be there. Shes a great story teller in many of her songs, and often wrote so well about towns of Mississippi.
- IA, Minneapolis, MN

My grandma had the single "ode to billy joe" and as a child i heard it once and was addicted. Now my gran has passed away i own the single and am grateful for it, it reminds me of good days even though the song is sad. I like it for that but also Bobbie's voice is fantastic. there isn't a female singer today who can touch it. I will play it as long as I or the vinyl lasts! Also it's a good hairbrush song! I think i'm the best singer in the world when it's playing!
- rachel, castleford, England

You haven't heard "Condition Red", or "D.O.A", or "Wildfire", or anything by Dan Hill, have you? I like the song, but maybe my birthday being June 3 has something to do with it!
- DJ, Denver, CO

I always thought it was too easy that every verse ended with "ridge" to rhyme with "bridge." But... the only other word I can think of is "fridge."
- john, seattle, WA

I don't think this song is stupid at all!! I was a little girl when it came out and didn't understand exactly what went on, but I do remember it was haunting. The way Bobby Gentry sang it in a slow, almost husky voice, was the perfect delivery. It takes you back to those dusty, hot summers in the south. As I grew older I came to realize that it was about something forbidden; Bobby Gentry doesn't really say and that's the whole draw of the song. It gives everyone something to speculate... -Sandra, Mountain Home, ID
- sandra, Mountain Home, ID

Gentry did indeed write this song, and it's not so stupid if you listen to the lyrics.
- john, bedford, MA

Gentry didn't even write this trite song
- Deana, Indianapolis, IN

This is the stupidest song I ever heard.
- James, Plano, TX