She has such a beautiful spirit, I grew up listening to her music. She's still alive, she's 76 now and still beautiful as ever. Awesome reaction, thank you.. 🎶 ❤
This song is a perfect snapshot of casual cruelty. "Pass the biscuits, please..." The whole family besides the narrator displayed indifference, and didn't notice the shock the narrator was feeling..
Yes. This song is an exercise in the banality of every day life. I mean, it's beautiful and all, but the story is just so heartbreaking because of the reaction of the family members.
Exactly that! That's what Bobbie said when people asked about "what they threw off the bridge" - she said that it didn't matter.. that's not what the song was about.. it really was that "casual cruelty"... so evocative!
Have you ever plowed forty acre's in 90 degrees with 90% humidity because that's how you have to feed your family? And have no air conditioning in your home. A poor farmer's life is worth more than you're giving credit for. Emotion's were not often displayed except with your spouse or maybe at church.
After I got my first set of hearing aids Angel Baby was the first song I heard, my uncle played it for me on his guitar and my aunt sang it, I was very little.
She is alive! The story is fiction ... she made it up. I thought you would want to know. She is an amazing woman. This song was so popular when it came out and I still love it today! Thank you for the reaction ❤
@@theresareynolds3133 surprises people that he was the voice of the beast in Disney's beauty and the beast. He doesn't need any special effects with his angry voice - he does that easily. It was a trip to watch him
Robbie Benson was my childhood crush. I saw this movie in the theater at least a dozen times. Back in the days when you bought your ticket and stayed all day. My own sense now is that the entire story had something to do with a gay relationship between Billy Joe and the preacher. But since no one knows, we can all guess.
Bobby Gentry is an American singer-songwriter who was one of the first female artists to compose & produce her own material. A lot of her songs were stories. Her biggest hit was in 1967 with "Ode To Billy Joe". Other songs are "Mississippi Delta", "Fancy", "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head", "I'll Never Fall In Love Again", "Sunday Mornin" (with Glen Campbell) etc.
Your joy at discovering this older music is very evident. I, like I'm sure many others, really enjoy watching you find this great music. We really do like you; just wanted to let you know that.
I first heard this song in the late '60s and it still makes my eyes moist. It was a treat to watch you hearing it for the first time and getting blown away, just like me.
Many people don't understand (or realize) the purpose of this song (it was inspired by actual events). It was a study of unconscious cruelty (highlighted by the family's indifference to suicide). Gentry left Mississippi at the age of 13 for California. Weeks after, the Jim Crow Era murder of 14 year-old Emmett Til ( a boy visiting from Chicago). Who was abducted from his uncle's home, beaten, mutilated and shot in the head, and put in the Tallahatchie River. For allegedly offending a white woman.
....No, I emphatically disagree. That terrible incident may or may not have prompted her to write this song. I strongly doubt it. But it certainly is not what the song is about. There's not a trace of any racial component to this story. As to what it actually is about. If you can't tell from listening to it, you'll never understand it anyway...
I'm a black woman grew up on all music mainly Motown but this was one of my favorites. Brings back fond memories as the lyrics are sad but my dad and I would sing this all the time. It would always play on the radio when we were in the car. That smooth guitar playing was so simple but great.
Great reaction to this iconic, chilling song. This style is what is sometimes called "Southern Gothic." I've heard this song a million times and it still gives me goose bumps. As others have pointed out, the song is an exercise of "casual cruelty"). To the best of my knowledge, this story is fictional from Bobbie Gentry's imagination. Another song I think you'll like is "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia" by Vicki Lawrence (be sure to get the right version by the right artist).
The indifference, the lack of emotional response, to something that we would think requires attention and response is upsetting, isn't it? How many people live in these bleak circumstances, dulled to so much going on around them and with the people in the very same house. Just a woman with a guitar and a compelling story. WOW.
This song hit BIG when it came out in 67', everyone was captivated by the story. You are one of the best reactors on YT, however YT never brings you up on my feed, I'll push the notification bell twice, keep up the great work!!
Glad to see you found this gem ! I can offer another storytelling song for you that’s outstanding : “City of New Orleans” by Arlo Guthrie ( about a train, not about the city)
I didn't count them but I'll bet there are 100 or more reaction to Bobby Gentry's recording of Ode to Billy Joe. It's encouraging to this old man to see so many young people becoming acquainted with the music of my youth. This is one of the best.
She did a few songs for us, then went on with her planned career. She went on to be a professor of psychology in California. This song plays with your head A LOT! I remember when it came out and really haven't figured it out for myself yet (now I'm 73).
Brilliant storytelling, so vivid! I remember one night the movie of this story came on. I think Billy's girlfriend was pregnant. I don't remember if they threw a baby in the water? No, it's not a true story but Bobby certainly makes it sound real. Bobby did a beautiful version of Son of a preacher man which Dusty Springfield also covered. If you haven't done it please do
I agree with you, I'm 60yrs old,I remember seeing the movie when it came out, and I said the same thing about the baby part that you mentioned, but I also said I was told it was a true story, but I've had 2 brain surgeries since then, and someone commented back and told me rite off the bat it had nothing to do with no baby and it wasn't true, it kinda pisst me off, lol 😉 but I agree with you, Thank You, hope you have a blessed evening 🙏
@@memorywhitton5527 I'm 60 too! Yeah, it was so long ago I saw the movie. It came on TV one night during the week. Way before I knew this song. I'm sure it was a baby, but it's not a true story. Have a great day!
If I remember correctly, in the movie it was the girl's beloved childhood rag doll which Billy grabbed and threw off the bridge in a fit of frustration at her, for her refusal to have sex with him. (No pregnancy.) The current carried the doll away and the girl ran off angry and crying. It was later revealed *SPOILER ALERT* to the girl (and to her alone) that Billy'd been so anxious to sleep with her to prove to himself that he wasn't having homosexual urges, which was a major taboo in that time and place. A kindly older local man, secretly gay himself, saw the girl's suffering and confusion at Billy's suicide and explained to her that he and Billy had had a sudden, spur-of-the-moment sexual encounter recently, and he guessed that Billy's feelings of shock and guilt afterward had spurred him to take his own life. Also, YES PLEASE to Son of a Preacher Man! :D
One of my faves. She is quoted as saying the song is about unconscious cruelty....I was traveling thru Mississppi several years ago and happen to cross the Tallahatchie River on an old iron bridge. I pulled over and and picked some flowering weeds on the side of the road....then walked back on the bridge I looked down into the muddy water...remembering...thinking...then I tossed the flowers into the water in honor of the mythical Billy Joe and beautiful talent of Ms Gentry. 💝
This one can haunt you and will cause an "earworm" .... a song that runs through your head until another comes in. You'll analyze it, the situation, the parties .. all of it, over and over.
It's still debated as to what She and Billy Joe threw off that bridge. What ever it was, it seems Billy Joe couldn't live with it. So sad. Great reaction. I do the same thing about looking things up. But I haven't with this song because I just want to believe it had to come from some where.
I Iove story telling song's and especially from such a talented artist. Sometimes easy listening songs such as this is pure pleasure. They draw you in and make you listen to the lyrics.
As someone has already mentioned, they made a movie based on the song. Even though it is fiction, it makes the lyrics even more powerful. Try to see it if you can!
Beautiful delta blues tune, and she had the perfect voice for it! So, has anyone suggested Bonnie Raitte? You are going to love her stories...try, "I Can't Make You Love Me"... and yes, we were blessed...and now you are too...Peace.
There’s a British guitarist, Fil from Wings of Pegasus, who has a brilliant analysis of this song. In fact, he probably has an excellent analysis of any song you might have checked out. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-C80xTMnFPfA.html
The singer songwriters of the 60s and 70s were amazing be it country or rock. One I never see a reaction to is Jerry Reed. He is one of the best overall entertainers of my lifetime. Known as an actor, comedian, songwriter, singer, and guitarist. He even had a guitar style that was his own called the claw that many have tried to copy. Some songs of his you might try are The Claw, Amos Moses, Guitar Man, and Thing Called Love. He co-starred in Smokey and the Bandit with Burt Reynolds and Jacky Gleason and had a hit called East Bound and Down.
Ode to Billy Joe was quite a cliffhanger, and a great story song. Jungleland by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band live at the Hammersmith Theater, London 1975 would be an epic musical story for your reaction. There is a video. Loving your reactions JB.🔥
Another classic, wonderful storytelling song! The item thrown from the bridge by the girl and Billy was purposefully left unnamed (although in the movie of the same title it was a rag doll), because in the words of Ms. Gentry it wasn't important; it was the girl's obvious shock and grief and the sad obliviousness of her family to her distress and to the tragedy ("Oh dear, what a shame! Hey, how 'bout them Red Soxs?") Another good storytelling song in this same vein is "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgie." Either version is good: the original by Vickie Lawrence, or the cover by Reba McEntire.
Hi JBLETHAL TV This is Not an actual event but the song was made for an afternoon tv movie back in the "70's" . Ode to Bill Joe was released on June 4th 1976 on television . I have always loved Bobby Gentry's voice my parents had the album that was titled "Ode to Billy Joe" that I remember when I was a kid . I appreciate your reactions and comments for this song very much you add a lot to enjoy in your channel and I hope that you have a good day . Thank you very much for this .
