Every year on this day, I tell my husband: "It's the 3rd of June, another sleepy, dusty, delta day." He rolls his eyes and I laugh and finish the song! It's a family tradition. Rest in Peace, Billy Joe! ✌️
@@campbellgraham1979 Goodness, no! That was over 55 years ago. Besides, that was my brother. (He married Becky Thompson... sweet girl.) We sold the farm after Momma died and retired to Key West. Stop by if you're ever near by! 😉
Jesus, this is LIVE, She is singing for real and it's perfect, I am old enough to remember when this was on the radio though I never realized what a wonderful talent She is, WOW!
She may be lip-syncing. (Not that I don't think she was capable of doing a wonderful live version, but lip-syncing was common on old TV shows, regardless of what the artist wanted.
"And me, I spend a lot of time pickin' flowers up on Choctaw Ridge, and drop them into the muddy water off the Tallahatchee Bridge ... " Makes me shiver every time.
I was a little kid listening intently. ADHD before anyone knew what was “wrong” with me. But I could sit and listen to this over and over until I could memorize all of the words. I didn’t know what it meant, but I could feel it.
This song was so striking back when it came out! I remember listening to it over and over again. Absolutely loved it then...and still love it today. AWESOME SONG!
A long time ago I named today,Ode to Billie Joe Day. I play the song several times on June 3rd each year. A college professor had us write about what was being thrown over the bridge. We read our stories in class the next day. Most of us said the same thing.
The genius of this song is three fold: The melody is appropriately haunting for the subject. And the rhymes are completely unforced and natural. No awkward or unskilled pairs. A beautiful story of lament.
A most beautiful woman. I was 10yrs old in '67. Loved this song since. Never really saw her perform this song till recently, thanks to the internet. I've always felt her sing this song but never felt it as deep as I do now watching her sing. The depth in her eyes, and her face. Truely one rare soul.
This song froze me in my silly tracks when i first heard it with Mom and i hardly breathed 'til it was over... I stood there motionless afterwards all steadily complexed and said, "Momma, what was that? She smiled at me and said: "Son, Honey, that's just Bobby Gentry singin' her heart-out into a real song..." i'll never forget it and never have...
Reading this brought tears to my eyes. You were supposed to hear it. I was 6 when it came out. It moved me to in unseen ways...suicide and uncaring combination
I saw this on TV when it first appeared. I was 12 years old at the time. It made an impression on me. I remember seeing the fake people at the end. I did not understand the lyrics, and years later I realize that there is a mystery to the song. It is true of other pop songs of the 60s that even though they were popular, the meaning of the song was not always apparent. It is amazing all the research that has been done since then on this and other classics, so that youth who weren't even born yet know more background information than those living at the time.
Same here, and probably the same age too (wasn't this broadcast around '67?) I was always more interested the the comedy skits though and kind of tuned the musical numbers out, but I remember my mom watching it and then commenting to my dad later about it. It wasn't till later that I really came to appreciate the haunting music and lyrics and just how great the song was. The Smothers Brothers knew how to find good talent and catapulted more than a few people into stardom just through sheer exposure. Bobbie Gentry, Steve Martin, Glen Campbell, Jennifer Warnes, Mary Hopkins, a lot of great talent in a truly unique and creative time.
@@graytonw5238 I remember this song being played on the radio constantly at that time. Kids watched a lot of TV back then and there were a lot of variety shows and now on RU-vid you can see all the performers over again. TV was sure worth watching back then with all of these great musicians.
If you think the research on the lyrics on this song is a lot --- try to remember the Congressional Investigation Committee when they were trying to decode "Louie, Louie" to see if it was obscene or not. Bpbby Gentry never got a Congressional Investigation -
When I need to hear blues with roots, with essence, I go to Ode to Billy Joe. I've been doing this since 1968, when my brother bought a Bobbie LP... now I'm 66 and I still need to hear Ode to Billy Joe. Greetings from south Brasil
@Carrie Brummett - So very very sorry for the loss of your beloved husband.😢💔 Aside from your tragedy, Bobbie Gentry's Ode to Billy Joe is really starting to grow on me.🎸🎤🎵😊💗👍
sorry for your loss, thats they day i adopted a rescue dog my girl sparky, she was a gorgeous white and black border collie, who passed away from old age.
That’s not the point of the song though…. It’s about people’s callousness. The family around the dinner table was casually gossiping about Billie Joe and trash talking him (“he never had a lick o’ sense”) after the tragedy of his suicide. But the narrator was his likely secret girlfriend, possibly the secret mother of his baby if that’s what was thrown off the bridge - and she was heartbroken. It’s also about suicide hurting the ones you love.
@@calisongbirdYou have your interpretation of the song and I have mine. I assure you, I realize the song isn't solely about what's being served at the table nor about apple pie.
It's that day again. This is one of the best tunes about nihilism that I can think of. Punk bands tried to say the same but never quite hit the same "life is meaningless" as this did.
I was singing professionally in those days and that was one of my songs and everyone loved it it is a very thought-provoking song being from the south I think I understood it very well, I loved doing the song it was a very haunting in plaintiff Melody and the lyrics had meaning, something lacking in today's music.
Gentry penned truly haunting conversational lyrics that mix the mundane with tragedy, mystery, and offhanded cruelty. This staging, on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, just beautiful.
Like Jeannie C. Riley, Bobbie Gentry didn't have many hit songs either in country or pop music but "Ode To Billie Joe" was her masterpiece. A well written tune that was made into a movie in 1978.
Thank all for the info.from the comments . I born in 1959 I had a little record player and few records I remember her song .today brought back memories of that long ago time.big brother dad called a hippy and get hair cut. Visit and bring me a record.it was my favorite . Anyone know if thare is a movie made ? Love to all. rita
She also wrote and recorded, "Fancy," a song most of us heard from Reba McIntyre. Mississippi Delta, Son of a Preacher Man, I'll Never Fall In Love Again, are among her wonderful songs.
Great song, brilliant live performance. And the stage set is tremendous. It feels like I’m looking in on my Mom’s family sitting down for dinner in Florida back in the ‘50s when she was a teenager.
I still have her Vinyl 33 Album "Bobby Gentry " with this song as the headline , me and my late pa always enjoyed listening to her 👍 great time to be alive back then !
i remember this was a huge hit song, it was constantly on tv shows and the radio, when the movie came out when i was in 8th grade, thats all everyone talked about for 2 or 3 yrs, what did they throw off the bridge, i remember kids at our school thought it was a baby.
Brilliant song. I feel like I'm the only one in my generation who realizes that this is a timeless work of genius. I don't even like music like this and think it's amazing.
Just Watched Ode To Billie Joe This Song Is One Of The Best Story Telling Songs Ever I've Heard .. Brilliant Movie An Brilliant Song Thank You Bobbie Gentry 💕 Almost A Early Form Of Sweet n Slow Soulful Rappin' Imo 😊!!!! From The North Carolina Mnts Of USA 4-23 Happy Earth Day This Weekend Everyone 🌎☀️🙏🏼🙋🏻♀️
No, but it's implied. Regarding the 1976 film based on the song, Wiki says this: "When Gentry and Raucher discussed the screenplay, she explained she did not know why the real person who inspired the character of Billie Joe had killed himself. Raucher thus had a free hand to pick a reason. His novelization of the story, published the year of the film's release as a movie tie-in, used the same rationale for the suicide."
I'm curious as to why he jumped off the bridge and what was he throwing off the bridge with the girl. been wondering this for years, is there a meaning to the words of this song ???????? I WONDER 😪
@@astarchild518 jumped because he realized he had a drunken trist with what he thought was a woman. They were throwing flowers off the bridge like she did in the end of the song
VERY BEAUTIFUL WOMAN AND GREAT SINGER A VOICE LIKE NO OTHER. SEXY HUSKY TO WRITE A SONG SUCH AS THIS. AND DESTINED TO BE A B SIDE. AND BECAME A CLASSIC XX♥️.
This song has a special place in my family’s history! It’s my sister’s birthday! Her birthday cards have been signed with these lyrics and sentiments of “Happy Birthday to you.. Sad to hear about Billy Joe” Great memories!!!
It was never explained, and Bobbie Gentry said it's not even an important part of the song. Gentry said the song is about "indifference." She's trying to tell her family that she's fallen in love with Billy Joe and that she's becoming a mature young woman, but the family ignores and instead talks about pointless, less important subjects, including the various dishes on the table. Her mother notices the girl doesn't have an appetite, and that's the only part of the song that gets close to the loneliness the girl feels at their insensitivity and the meaninglessness of the conversation.
@@jeanmank6342.. I believe aborted would be more accurate. There's tension in the kitchen, no one sees the hurt in her over a love which could never be. According to father ... "Well, Billy Joe never had a lick of sense; pass the biscuits, please" And mama said "it was shame about Billy Joe, anyhow . Seems like nothin' ever comes to no good up on Choctaw Ridge" In any sense, it seems a love the patriarch and his trusted mate would never allow. The fear that a baby would never be welcomed. Right, wrong or indifferent, that's my take on the situation. Enjoy Peace
Amazing tune! I first heard this song when I was about 7/8 years old, back in the mid ‘70s and it has fascinated me ever since. Such haunting, yet casual lyrics. Beautiful.
A classic, haunting performance! I believe that she was mic'd over the original recording because her guitar gets off time at one point, and the final strum is her there, and not on the recording. Anyway, I've got to praise legendary arrranger Jimmie Haskell again for arranging those strings perfectly, even though he was recognized with a Grammy for it back in the day.
I WISHED Hollywood would tell her story. This woman is a awesome writer and story teller. She won 3 song awards. And Ode To Billie Joe is a awesome movie we're still talking about all of the stuff that's going on in the Headlines in 2023.And it's all reverse about women's health and right to choose, and all of the backlash about homophobe.😔In America we take two steps forward and a 100 backwards.
YEESH 😢Never can listen to this once and always brings a teary eye. Perfect song leaving lots of questions. Suicide? Jumped in the water searching for what thrown in? A ring ...asking for marriage? He did something that angered her so she threw it in the water? He went to find it and drowned? Or he couldn't handle the rejection and committed suicide? She loved him. A lot. Brings flowers and throws them into the muddy waters every year. Hurt her deeply. Parents, family, community, preacher...all distant emotionally...like many of the time. ... I see both the generations impact today and for some improvement in empathy intelligence while for others Decrease in empathy intelligence.
Another haunting song like this one is Tom Dooley - I was a child and these songs caught me and later in my teens I was into Post Punk for the same reasons I am thinking now…dark side of humanity oftentimes these songs are and what stories
As of the third of June, 2023, she is alive.There is a BS video on RU-vid that references her supposed health problems and her funeral , but Google searches offer no evidence for either. I've reported the video.
