Bobbie Gentry - Ode To Billy Joe (1967) DayOne Reacts 

One of your BEST reactions!! As Gentry told Fred Bronson, “The song is sort of a study in unconscious cruelty. But everybody seems more concerned with what was thrown off the bridge than they are with the thoughtlessness of the people expressed in the song. What was thrown off the bridge really isn’t that important. “Everybody has a different guess about what was thrown off the bridge-flowers, a ring, even a baby. Anyone who hears the song can think what they want, but the real message of the song, if there must be a message, revolves around the nonchalant way the family talks about the suicide. They sit there eating their peas and apple pie and talking, without even realizing that Billie Joe’s girlfriend is sitting at the table, a member of the family.”

"It's sad, and it's creepy, and I liked it!" Maybe the best short description of this song ever.

You hit the nail right on the head. The song is more about the callous nature that the tragedy is talked about, rather than what actually happened.

Great song, great performance! This song even inspired a movie starring Robby Benson and Glynis O'Connor.

I was a little boy when this song aired. I lost my mind when I saw how beautiful she was. This old man still loves the song.

This song has been creeping us all out for 57 years. We like it too.

I've watched many reactions to this song, and you're the only one who immediately got what it's about.

Bobbie Gentry had such a haunting voice I felt like I too was there in the Delta with them all.

Bobbie Gentry wrote the songs she sang. So she was talented And beautiful.

As a person who grew up in the South, Bobbie Gentry was the gal next door. Every time I hear this, it takes me back. ❤

This is the song that knocked The Beatles All You Need Is Love out of the #1 slot on the charts in August 1967.

This song knocked the Beatles off the #1 spot on both the singles & albums charts which was quite a feat back then! Great song that some consider to be southern gothic. I remember my aunt listening to it over & over & over 😁 Thanks for your review of this classic 🙌🏻

When you’re Sharecropping on a piece of land in the Mississippi Delta in the 40s, you got no time for nonsense.

Her WHAT THE HELL!!! Priceless 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

"It was sad and creepy... and I liked it a lot!" Yep, you and millions of other listeners. Amazing and very unique song.

“The song is sort of a study in unconscious cruelty.'' - Bobby Gentry Sounds like you understood Genty's message perfectly. Good reaction. Just subscribed.

I'm 71 now, and live in Minnesota. But for much of my life I lived down South (TN, GA, VA) and I grew up on a farm. Back then (when this song was made) most parents would have gone through both the Great Depression AND World War 2. So death was just a part of life. Nobody was happy about it, but nobody got all drama queen over it, either, unless they had a *_deep_* personal connection to the one who died. In my opinion, it was a good way to live. This is a great song, highlighting the diverse ways in which people react to death...

Such great story telling - regular every day talk and a mystery that draws you in.

There was a movie made about the song which reveals the reason Billy Joe jumped. The movie is also named Ode to Billy Joe. 👍

The magic in the song is what's not being said. Bobby Gentry said this song is a "study of unconscious cruelty." And how when you commit suicide, the only people who will care are the people who cared. The narrator of the song was Billie Joe's girlfriend, but no one in her family seemed to know that she loved Billie Joe as much as she did.

It's always amazed me after all her success in music, she just basically disappeared from the industry and lived a quiet life away from the spotlight.....and she seemed just fine with it.

Bobbie Gentry had a style about her. I was 13 when this song hit the airways. It floored me. It still does.

Bobbie Gentry described the song's depiction of the narrator's family's indifference "a study in unconscious cruelty".

Bobbie’s explanation: “Everybody has a different guess about what was thrown off the bridge-flowers, a ring, even a baby. Anyone who hears the song can think what they want, but the real message of the song, if there must be a message, revolves around the nonchalant way the family talks about the suicide. They sit there eating their peas and apple pie and talking, without even realizing that Billie Joe’s girlfriend is sitting at the table, a member of the family.” ✌️❤️🎶

This was a huge hit for Bobby Gentry. The song sold over 50 million records in the first decade. It was aired across three genres on the radio..... rock, blues, and country. I remember it well as a 1967 release, I was 10 years old. The song ALWAYS transports me outta here, right into the middle of that supper table discussing Billy Joe's death. It invokes so, so , many emotions. I enjoyed your reaction, TY.

A woman with drop dead looks sings a ballad about a mysterious death.

Gentry was a huge star back in the 70s. She signed a couple long running contacts for a few years to appear at a couple Vegas hotels and made mega bucks. Suddenly, with no fanfare, she just retired. She made an appearance at the Country Music Awards in either 1981 or '82. Then she just disappeared. She has never given an interview, performed, or been seen in public since. Word is she lives quietly somewhere in Tennessee. Her life is a bigger mystery than what they tossed into that river.

You hit the nail on the head. It's haunting, for sure.

Your main observation was correct; it was the indifference of the family that was the real message of the song...

The most mysterious song ever written.

Bobbie's life is more interesting and a bigger mystery than the song. You should look into it.

Angela I got to tell you I've watched a lot of other channels do the song react to this song and you're the only one who catches immediately the callousness and self-absorption of the family all around this girl who tragically lost her boyfriend or more Bravo kudos to you!

I always thought it was a still birth baby - the two had a baby without anyone knowing

She was a brilliant song writer and singer.

Phenomenal performer and song. Gentry was so beautiful and talented!

Great ballads invite you in. This is one of the great ballads.

This is one of the gratest songs in popular-musik, ever!

This song came out when i was 5 and i loved her voice and the mystery of what they were throwing 7 or 8 yrs later they made a movie and i was there to find out the secret and walked away hating that movie and never watched it again.

Like Daddy always said- "Billy Joe never had a lick of sense anyway..."

This is a shortened version of the original song she had written. A few verses were removed for the recording. We all hope that before Bobbie passes on, she releases the lyrics or a full-length version of the song.

They made a movie of this song starring Robbie Benson and Glynnis O'Connor in 1976.

I've seen the underlying video several times but am only just now realizing everything was performed live. Wow!

90 minutes from my house. Been there many times. Believe you me... it might be 57 years later, but time stands still in these parts...

Story songs are such a unique, wonderful niche. They're more like movies than songs. This is one of the greatest.

It's called a Ballad , there are many , this was one of the good ones to tell a sad story .

These were hard-working country folk, carving out a living working a farm. You work, you eat, you sleep, and maybe church on Sunday. Not much time nor energy to "explore your feelings".

When this mystery song came out, everyone speculated they had a baby together (stillbirth or not). There was a movie made about this song too. Same name as the song in 1976.

You are absolutely right. Most people do not get it. She was in love with Billy Joe. They used to pick flowers and drop them off the bridge.

After listening to your reaction comments and reading the comments below all of which are accurate, my personal thought at the time it came out was Haunting . . .! ! and to this day it is one of the Most haunting songs of all time. human inhumanity on several levels

Your reaction is exactly as mine was in 1967. I am 76 years old and this song has always captured the haunting sorrow and mystery about Billy Joe. When the song first came out many of us young people thought maybe they threw their premature baby to its death. What else could make a man that young take his life? I've heard this song hundreds of times over the years and it always sad. You could almost see hurt watching Bobby Gentry sing it. I appreciated your reaction because so many others spend the whole song stopping and talking.

Bobbie Gentry talented musician and singer.

The strings on this song are top notch. They drive the unease in the song by exposing its hidden sense.

angela you're a doll .one of the best reactor on you tube keep it up

A common thought was that it was an unwanted baby that got tossed off the bridge.

The mother said...it was a shame about Bille Joe. So she had compassion too.

Sinead O'Connor does a great cover of this song. At the point where they were seen "throwing something off the Tallahachee (?) Bridge", you can hear a crying baby in the background.

Beautiful and haunting... and mysterious. Great reaction!

There's a lot that could be unpacked with this song. Speculation ran rampant on what some of the story lines in the song meant when it came out. The callousness of people is one.

This is a song that is not for everyone, but you have to appreciate her beautiful tone.

This is a well covered song on reaction channels and not surprising as Bobbie has a great voice and this is a very enigmatic song. Another great one by her is ' Fancy'-Colin Ward

Bobbie Gentry is an amazing story teller... and this is a very compelling story. I think we all draw our own conclusions.. and arrive at possibly the same one.

As to what was thrown of the bridge, I always thought that it was a baby.

Such a haunting song. So beautifully written and performed. She said it was about casual cruelty. Great songs leave you creating your own story about what the meaning of the song.

You will have to watch the movie.... thanks for sharing

Part II 😁 Ohh Yaaa! Another lady perhaps forgotten, Miss Phoebe Snow; POETRY MAN!!!! Great Day for a DayOne! 🕊️☮️

That was the big mystery. She would never tell.

Most likely they were throwing flowers off the Tallahatchee bridge, as she was doing at the end of the song.

Storytelling,, weird,, creepy,, yet keeps you involved & makes you wonder,, The Buoys "Timothy"

There''s a 1976 movie of the same name based on this song by Bobbie Gentry

In the movie it was a doll that got thrown off the bridge. It was the stillborn baby they had

I think the image of the river is of time heals or buries everything. Lots of unanswered questions in all ours lives.

I was 13-14 years old when this song came on the radio. And we saw this very same video on TV (Bobby Gentry, wow.). The implication always was, to me, that she was involved with Billy Joe's death somehow. Maybe she pushed him. The eyewitness said what he thought he saw. But it was Billy Joe going off the bridge, and that part of the lyric merely put her at the scene.

This is such a beautiful. A story telling song at its best

The year this song was released and quickly became a big hit, a local radio station offered a contest to see who had an original idea of what she and Billy Joe threw off the bridge. A 8th grade classmate of mine was the winner from who knows how many entries. First, I’ve always loved this song, the kitchen table lyrics, and the spectacular string arrangements. My classmate, not so much. Her winning suggestion was they tossed over a bag full of sappy, emoting 45 rpm vinyl records. Her sarcasm got some attention. (45s were the main media for radio airplay and top selling recordings to all young demographics).

When the song first came out, Bobbie Gentry did an interview where she said the song was based on a true incident, and that she would never tell what it was they threw off the bridge nor why Billie Joe jumped off the bridge. A few years later, Max Baer Jr. (Jethro on "The Beverly Hillbillies") directed a movie based on the song, and when the writers asked her about it, she changed her story and said she didn't know what it was they threw off, nor why he had jumped. "Your guess is as good as mine." She gave the writers permission to come up with their own theory, and so the movie had its own interpretation as to what happened and why, and Bobbie Gentry approved it. She said she thought the focus should be on the parents' indifference to the girl's loss and the girl not understanding the mother's loss.

There was a book and a film with Robby Benson in it..the thing that her and Billy Joe threw off the bridge was a their baby that died in childbirth..remember she mentions 'last spring' they hid the pregnancy as it would have caused major problems..this was the bible belt and set in the early 50's !! The book was one l chose to do a presentation on in one of my English Literature exams..this was in the 70's..l knew the song as it was one of my sisters favourites..so that gives you a bit more background to the song and why she throws flowers off the bridge..Billy Joe was classed as a 'bad apple ' from a rough family..but he was a sweet guy..🇬🇧💕✝️🙏👏👍🇺🇸

You get it.

So glad you popped up in my feed again. I watched so many of your reactions over the last couple years and it's always great. This song was kind of the music of my childhood, and yeah there's a lot of mystery to it but you got it pretty right. I just wanted to point out that she was playing a really complicated Riff on the acoustic guitar while she was singing in a different Rhythm against it. She was so talented. One of the few women to really do that kind of thing that caught the public eye back then. And I didn't know this until really even recently, although I love this growing up, and it was on the radio all the time you have to understand and everybody talked about what in the world were they throwing off that bridge? But she had like a masters degree in sociology and another one and something else and she actually retired from being a singer-songwriter fairly early on in order to pursue more intellectual things. But I believe you can see that show up in this song. At one point in an interview, she described it along the lines of the cruelty of casual indifference in the face of tragedy

Hi, when you get a chance listen to Hardy," wait in the truck". Country music always carries a story, so listen to this one. Thanks. P.S. Your reaction to Barbara Streisand singing the song from westside story was very moving. No one can elevate a song like Streisand.

Ode to Billy Joe is a 1976 American drama film, directed and produced by Max Baer Jr., with a screenplay by Herman Raucher, and starring Robby Benson and Glynnis O'Connor. It is inspired by the 1967 hit song by Bobbie Gentry, titled "Ode to Billie Joe.. You have to see this movie guys.

Growing up in a remote rural area full of small farmers and ranchers in the '50's and 60's this is exactly the way the grownups behaved and I suspect this behavior goes back thousands of years where life was tough, children were viewed as a possible asset to help eventually with the work or ner do wells who were a nuisance. But the children were expected to stand on their own two feet as soon as possible as the family unit was always in jeopardy.

(I think her lover was gone…) I remember this song so well. It seemed like it was played every hour all summer long.

She was so captivating singing this!

Watch the movie! You still don't know what was thrown...but you get all the nuances of the relationships.

You were so into the story

Angela... you gave us the reaction that we expected😅

It makes me wonder if that was a song about something like that in her life as a teen

The Life of Bobbie Gentry is a very good read.

I was 17 when this came out, and there was a lot of talking and wondering about what happened between those two. There was all kinds of speculation. Some of it pretty weird. Some thought they wanted to get married, couldn't, and they threw an engagement ring off the bridge, and later on he threw himself off the bridge. But Bobbie Gentry, to my knowledge, never cleared it up. She had a really good voice, and was, I think, best known for this song. You reacted like a lot of people did at the time. Strange song, and kinda creepy, but good listening. Oh, and just as an afterthought, when she said they came home for dinner, she meant the noon meal. We all called it the same thing. To us it was breakfast, dinner, and supper. That's why her Mama said she'd been "cookin' all mornin'". And my puctuation is the same as we all talked, including in Texas, where I grew up. Thanks for letting us listen with you, and God bless you!

You should try her original of Fancy. I also read the poem in Speech competition in the 70's.

The movie answers the questions raised by the song. In the movie, Billy Joe is played by Robbie Benson.

My guess is that she backed out of a marriage proposal and it was an engagement ring they threw off the bridge.He became depressed and took his own life. I'm probably wrong but it's interesting to try and guess what happened.

The song is like a poem and you come up with your own meaning.

Bobby Gentry and Glen Campbell have an album together and it is FANTASTIC!

One of the greatest storytelling songs ever recorded. Still hits hard in terms of the sad, tragic loss of a young life. The movie is even more heartbreaking seeing it all acted out.

Sincere reaction.

It's difficult to describe how huge a hit this song was in '67, the year of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album by the Beatles, the Doors Light my fire, and dozens of classics still enjoyed today. The riddles of this song are still present 57 years later; was the girl with Billy Joe on the bridge the singer/story teller? what was it they threw off the bridge together? Such a beautiful woman with a beautiful voice singing/story telling a wonderfully mysterious tale, placing the images of what's happening in the listener's brain

All the observations you make are exactly the point of this song. Great job! Just subscribed. Could you do Elvis Presley - live from Vegas 1970 "Polk Salad Annie"? More southern story telling only with more than a hint of cheekiness.

A special time and very special songs From 60s to the 80s This old universe speaks through the singers Direct to you Especially you

Bobbie Gentry has another song called fancy that if you pay attention to what’s going on in the story there that’ll mess you up too.