FIRST TIME HEARING Bobbie Gentry - Ode to Billie Joe 

And as a musician myself, I always have to point out that she's doing some pretty cool finger work there while she is singing and emoting at the same time. She was highly talented.

Thanks, Rickk - it's quite convincing as a story... But Bobbie said the song was really about the "casual cruelty" of daily life... it's just hauntingly beautiful...

That much talent & beauty together should be illegal!!!

It never really happened. Bobbie Gentry (the songwriter) said it's just song demonstrating the indifference some people have about sensitive subjects. They're all sitting around the dinner table talking about a kid they all knew who just killed himself but they're talking about it as if they're casually chatting about the weather or the price of lettuce down at the general store. There's a complete lack of genuine concern and not an ounce of passion or compassion. The mystery of what the girl and Billy Joe threw off the bridge remains a mystery to this day because Bobbie Gentry never actually revealed the answer to that question. One of the more popular speculations is that she'd been pregnant with Billy Joe being the father and she had an illegal abortion and they threw the unborn fetus off the bridge.

Track Info: Bobbie Gentry - Ode to Billie Joe (!967) Bobbie Gentry from: "Ode to Billie Joe" / "Mississippi Delta" (Single) "Ode to Billie Joe" (LP) Southern Gothic | Ballad | Country Ballad | Singer-Songwriter Personnel: Bobbie Gentry: Vocals / Guitar Strings: Four Violins and Two Cellos Arranged by Jimmie Haskell Conducted by Jimmie Haskell Produced by Kelly Gordon / Bobby Paris Recorded: @ The Capitol Studios in Hollywood, California USA March, 1967 Single Released: July, 1967 Album Released: on August 21, 1967 Capitol Records (US) EMI Records (UK) ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ Rolling Stone Magazine included "Ode to Billie Joe" at number 419 on its 2003 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list. The publication also listed it at number 47 on its 100 Greatest Country Songs of All Time in 2014; The song was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry in 2023, based on its "cultural, historical or aesthetic importance in the nation’s recorded sound heritage."

Bobbie Gentry was big when I was a baby in the 60s. There is a movie of this song title, as well. It goes more in depth in the story. Robbie Benson played Billy Joe. He was kinda getting to be a teen heart throb back then. It's a sad song and movie but it's good. The subtitles aren't getting it right.

There's was a really great movie based on the song also called Ode To Billie Joe. Bobbie Gentry is a great storyteller

My male cousin Bobby married his wife a female Bobby.

It's unfortunate that they put that comment about them throwing something off the bridge, before she sung that line. It's not a true story , but Bobbie Gentry never explained what was thrown off the bridge.

Apparently it's not a true story.....but yes a movie was made about it. ;) When it came out there was a lot of talk about whether it was a true story! :)

m.ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-aOZPBUu7Fro.html This is a song that was popular on the radio at the same time and both of these songs are Staples of my grade school years. Later in life is a guy that played in bands forever, this is one song we learned when we had this younger woman come up as a guest singer and she'd never heard it before but she fell in love with it and at first she had to keep some crib notes in front of her when we sang it live the first couple times but then she memorized it completely inside and out and really gave off a perfect Vibe for it. It is fantastic it really is. That link above is to the live television special of her doing it and I think it must not get blocked easily because I have seen several people react to it. But I think you would get a huge kick out of it I just know you would. Harper Valley PTA by Jeannie C. Riley, about the hypocrisy sometimes that happens in small towns when everybody knows everybody's business.

Great reaction!!!!! New sub!!! Bobbie was hot!!!!

I don't think Bobbie Gentry ever revealed much about whether or not the events actually took place. My guess is that there could be some truth to the song with a bit of embellishment, but who's to say. Only Bobbie Gentry herself truly knows.

Please react to Fancy by Bobbie Gentry

I don't believe that this was a "true" song. However, she's an awesome writer!!!!

why should it matter if the story is true or not?

☮️💙💙💙🔥

It's not a true story. She wrote the song to be a study in philosophy. The point is not the suicide, nor is it what they threw off the bridge, but the familys indifference to the tragedy.

Nobody really knows if it was real or not.

Too many interruptions, and I don't dont think you were appreciating the tragedy and mystery of what happened.

The fact that the song was stopped continuously made it really hard to enjoy the reaction. So much interruption during the performance made me want to stop watching.

you don't know when to be quiet