Ode to Billy Joe
Bobbie Gentry
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It was the third of June, another sleepy, dusty Delta day I was out choppin' cotton and my brother was balin' hay And at dinner time we stopped and we walked back to the house to eat And mama hollered at the back door "y'all remember to wipe your feet" And then she said she got some news this mornin' from Choctaw Ridge Today Billie Joe MacAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge Papa said to mama as he passed around the blackeyed peas "Well, Billie Joe never had a lick of sense, pass the biscuits, please" "There's five more acres in the lower forty I've got to plow" Mama said it was shame about Billie Joe, anyhow Seems like nothin' ever comes to no good up on Choctaw Ridge And now Billie Joe MacAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge And brother said he recollected when he and Tom and Billie Joe Put a frog down my back at the Carroll County picture show And wasn't I talkin' to him after church last Sunday night? "I'll have another piece of apple pie, you know it just don't seem right" "I saw him at the sawmill yesterday on Choctaw Ridge" "And now you tell me Billie Joe's jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge" Mama said to me "Child, what's happened to your appetite?" "I've been cookin' all morning and you haven't touched a single bite" "That nice young preacher, Brother Taylor, dropped by today" "Said he'd be pleased to have dinner on Sunday, oh, by the way" "He said he saw a girl that looked a lot like you up on Choctaw Ridge" "And she and Billie Joe was throwing somethin' off the Tallahatchie Bridge" A year has come 'n' gone since we heard the news 'bout Billie Joe Brother married Becky Thompson, they bought a store in Tupelo There was a virus going 'round, papa caught it and he died last Spring And now mama doesn't seem to wanna do much of anything And me, I spend a lot of time pickin' flowers up on Choctaw Ridge And drop them into the muddy water off the Tallahatchie Bridge
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10 facts about this song
Historical Significance"Ode to Billie Joe" featured on Rolling Stone's 2004 list of the '500 Greatest Songs of All Time,' claiming the 412th spot.
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Award RecognitionThe song earned Bobbie Gentry two Grammy Awards in 1968, for Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
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Commercial SuccessAfter its release on July 10th, 1967, "Ode to Billie Joe" reached the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and stayed there for four weeks.
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SongwritingGentry wrote the entire song herself, an uncommon achievement for female artists in the 1960s.
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Musical StyleThe song is noted for its sophisticated, cinematic storytelling style, contrasting with the conventional pop song format prevalent at the time.
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Cultural InfluenceUp till today, the song's plot stirs mystery and conjectures about what Billie Joe and the girl threw off the Tallahatchie Bridge.
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Film AdaptationThe song inspired a 1976 movie named "Ode to Billy Joe," which attempted to explain the song's unresolved narrative.
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Album Success"Ode to Billie Joe" was also the title track of Gentry's first album, which knocked The Beatles' 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' off the top of the Billboard Albums chart.
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Song LengthThe original version of the song runs for seven minutes and is significantly shortened for radio play.
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Personal ImpactThis song catapulted Gentry into international fame. Despite trying her hand in a variety of entertainment fields, Gentry is best remembered for "Ode to Billie Joe."
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Citation
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"Ode to Billy Joe Lyrics." Lyrics.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 25 Apr. 2024. <https://www.lyrics.com/lyric/10573214/Bobbie+Gentry/Ode+to+Billy+Joe>.
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