Rapper FIRST time REACTION to Bobby Gentry - Ode to Billy Joe! WOW

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Rapper FIRST time REACTION to Bobby Gentry - Ode to Billy Joe! WOW
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[@johncondon4081]

This song is, in my opinion, the best minimalist song ever. She pulls in the listener, and like a great storyteller, keeps us interested and in wonder.

[@d.t.r.8036]

And with that hauntingly beautiful voice, it stays with the listener long after other songs would have faded away

[@jannasomewhere2889]

"Red River Valley" (4 chords, 8 notes, 9 bars) surpasses "Ode to Billy Joe" in musical simplicity and singability. It is incredibly poignant, and the emotions it evokes don't require the lyrics to be sung. The melody itself is sweet and haunting. The tune has been adapted for other songs in multiple genres and languages. And then there's "Frere Jacques" (3 chords, 7 notes, 8 bars). It has been used to label a circuit rank number in cheminformatics as a nod to its extreme simplicity. It can be sung as a round. It's been around a couple hundred years, and young kids the world over still sing it, many with lyrics in their own language. The melody became the basis of a song by protestors in Tiananmen Square. Both "Red River Valley" and "Frere Jacques" are folk songs. Folk songs, more or less by definition, have stood the test of time. Melodies as simple as RRV and FJ become touchstones in a musical collective memory. It's difficult for ANY record-label song of Boomer America to measure up to that kind of durability, broad appeal and adaptability. Mostly because these songs are culturally bounded and very few achieve timeless appeal. ALL products of record-label Boomer America have yet to be tested by time, so I'm skeptical of all GOAT claims concerning these songs. (many of which I enjoy, some of which have been mainstays in my life) The undertow of solipsism with Boomer culture is incredibly strong, and I think we have very little idea what society or individual lives will look like when Boomerism passes once and for all. Radically different, most likely. And don't be surprised if Boomer music slips off to the horizon like (the legendary image of) a Viking funeral ship. Not very "greatest ever." It just sucked all the oxygen out of the room while it was here. I can't see "Ode to Billy Joe" breaking out of its very specific cultural boundaries or being anything but an obscure relic in 150-200 years. That doesn't mean it isn't a top-notch song for its time and place. And perhaps it could be the "best minimalist song" of record-label Boomer America. But my word, the world is much, much, much bigger than that.

[@littlegiantproductionsandr3091]

@@jannasomewhere2889 Except, you don't present enough examples of those musical pieces, so you can't speak for how much of the world knows them.. You can't even speak for anyone else's opinion, as they already have. You also didn't bother to stipulate that you're voicing your own opinion. The author herself says specifically that the theme of the piece addresses the very human trait of "unconscious cruelty". Human habitation blankets the world, that's on a scale that is much, much broader than any one culture. The "human condition" is a WORLD culture... IMO.

[@kennethbradford-rb2ex]

There was actually a movie made later from this song.

[@daleb1279]

She is a strong, smart and unique lady. This is her signature song, but she also wrote and performed the song Fancy, which Reba McEntire would later have a huge cover hit with. She grew tired of the music and show business industry after about a decade but she was also a founding owner of the Phoenix Suns basketball team and she is still living but has chosen to stay out of the public limelight for several decades now. She's lived her life on her own terms. Very talented lady.

[@philipem1000]

As many have said what you missed is that she and Billy Joe had something going on. Personally I think they broke up and that's why he jumped; but she's feeling massive guilt and pain about what happened. And her family is oblivious.

[@jollyrodgers7272]

@@philipem1000 go watch the movie and stop speculating.

[@bridge1701]

In 1976, there was a movie made inspired by this song "Ode To Billy Joe". It stars Robby Benson and Glynnis O'Connor.

[@randyjohnson6960]

Only seen it twice Gr8 movie 🎬

[@andreadeamon6419]

Love that movie. Had stayed with me all these years. I just turned 57

[@rubyslippers8215]

I was too young when the song came out, but I remember seeing the movie. Robby Benson was a big teen heartthrob back in the day. I could be wrong, but I think the movie's writers "invented" a specific explanation for what happened and why that wasn't implied in the song.

[@randyjohnson6960]

@@andreadeamon6419 me too at 61

[@vivienneclarke2421]

I just commented the same thing,I remember watching it when I was about 10. I'm glad I saw your comment,the female in it slipped my mind,I couldn't remember her name!

[@cbobwhite5768]

You talk about how we've been sorta numbed to the terrible things around us. You need to know, Bobbie Gentry wrote this song 57 years ago.

[@MsCNail-fe1sj]

And she is still gorgeous.

[@wompa70]

You’re the first reactor I’ve seen to comment on the casualness of the family talking about Billy Joe’s death at the dinner table. You got it before the blurb popped up, too.

[@dobybrown7839]

I'm a grown ass man been listening to this song for 50 years and it still brings me to tears

[@barbarastrayhorn4667]

Same here. I've heard it 50 times. It still moves me.

[@ilonahesseling4821]

Same here. I know this song for 50 years. It still gives me goosebumps.

[@mamaloh8165]

me too. I had the single record when I was 15.

[@Galiuros]

I was 12 when the song came out and I lived in Baltimore. Even at the time when the Beatles and the Monkees and the whole bubblegum pop music scene was dominant on the AM radio channels, this song took over the airwaves. Also that year Otis Redding recorded Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay.

[@DaveB-hg7el]

Another old man checking in to agree. Haunted and beautifully real. Peace 💚

[@joe6913111111]

this is from an interview from Bobby gentry herself 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.”

[@xmathmanx]

Many more people kill themselves than are killed by others, this includes all wars, maybe we need to accept that suicide is common and not exceptional

[@ellenstrack6274]

I almost became one of the numbers, but thanks to my family and a very good psychologist a friend got me to, I am here. I realized my hurting myself would give my to be ex a win and satisfaction. He deserved neither...And I realised even years later when I ran into him my being alive still pissed him off..So happy to keep him pissed off.

[@joe6913111111]

@@ednlible All Good the more posting it the more people learn

[@velvetbees]

This is excellent songwriting! It is a southern gothic masterpiece.

[@kathyschaefer5768]

its a metaphor what they threw off the bridge was their innosence

[@emerje0]

You have to listen to "Harper Valley PTA" by Jeannie C. Riley, you will love it! It was written by Tom T. Hall, a legendary country singer/songwriter.

[@justtere]

I was going to suggest that. The story in that song is something else. The entire album was about Harper Valley. Please, please check this one out!

[@melaniewestunfiltered]

​@@justtere that's in my top 15 songs on my Playlist. My neighbors get concerts regularly. Brenda Put Your Bra On is on it too. Then it switches to something like Travis Bolt's Never Tried Cocaine.

[@Zeb-gb2uk]

Tom T Hall is a giant master story teller nobody reacts to his music such a shame 😢

[@tanyaglover2217]

Beat me to it!! One of my faves. Also turned into a movie, starring Barbara Eden

[@paigemprice]

Haven't heard that in decades now I want to go find it. There's also a Harper Valley movie, stars Barbara Eden/I Dream of Jeannie

[@ouachitawoman]

You nailed it again. It is all about the numbness of the conversation. Most people get caught up in wondering what was thrown off the bridge and that's not what's important, it's the numbness.

[@mikemaricle9941]

Back in the day, for us country folk "Dinner" was the noon meal, in the evening we ate supper.

[@justtere]

I'm glad you mentioned this. Dinner was the big meal because of all the work done in the morning (pickin cotton and baling hay) and after dinner (40 acres daddy had to plow).

[@erikduggins228]

Still that way for me. (Dang I'm old.)

[@kuntekinte6246]

They still do that in my neck of woods.

[@sandracox4341]

We still do.

[@PegAS52]

I still think of dinner as lunch and supper as the evening meal. I’m from Oklahoma. Folks here in Illinois think I’m ignorant.

[@Laniefj]

I can relate to this song. The girl in the song is hurting, and her parents could care less. I think in those days emotions were hidden. We didn't show them. We "got over them." I can remember losing my best friend in a car accident when I was in the 9th grade. My mom wanted to know why I was still crying the next day!! I feel this song. Someone died by su*cide, and her parents are talking about food and work. Perfect reaction!!😢

[@Amber-mv8wz]

The unintentional cruelty is even deeper than you realize because they ignored all the clues that their own daughter/sister was Bobby's girlfriend. She's finding out he's taken his own life & listening to her family dismiss it as next to nothing.

[@tulelazule6914]

i think it came out in '66.

[@RLucas3000]

I think it’s open. She had some sort of very close relationship with him. Whether they were boyfriend/girlfriend, whether they were best friends that confide in each other, or whether they were best friends and she also loved him, which he either didn’t know about, or couldn’t return. So there are at least four possibilities, but all sad and tragic in this situation. My best guess is that they were best friends but she also secretly loved him. He confided in her that he loved a boy in their class but knew it was ‘wrong’ and ‘evil’, showed her a love letter to the guy he’d written but never sent, then tore it up and threw it off the bridge. She tried to console him and that she didn’t think he was ‘wrong’ or ‘evil’. But he let dark thoughts take him that night and unalived himself. Gay kids (he wouldn’t have used that word in the 60s) are 5 times more likely to unalive themselves as straight kids. I don’t think it was a secret baby she gave birth to as her mom, who noticed when they didn’t wipe their feet, would have missed her daughter being months pregnant!

[@sharonmulloy2181]

I found out a very close childhood friend had killed himself almost the same way. Sometimes parents are just clueless.

[@Eastcoastforlife]

@@RLucas3000 if it was a reaction to the movie, which it's not, you would be spot on. This is off the song, which doesn't cover a lot of the things you said. She sold the movie rights and someone else wrote the movie, filling in the questions about the song with their own ideas, very well I should add. Great song, good movie. 🙂

[@56music64]

Was she pregnant, had an abortion, threw the "evidence" off the bridge and he later jumped out of guilt?? Not sure but that is my interpretation

[@jameswhitman8710]

“. Gentry later clarified that she intended the song to portray the family's indifference to the suicide in what she deemed "a study in unconscious cruelty," while she remarked the object thrown was not relevant to the message.” Was produced in 1967

[@emerje0]

I always interpreted it as the pastor saw both of them up there and then maybe didn't see what went into the water but heard a splash and just assumed they threw something in never suspecting it was Billy Joe that went in. I also always thought she pushed him in, maybe accidentally, and that was why she didn't have an appetite, because she was feeling guilty and still felt guilty a year later which is why she goes back there and throws flowers into the water.

[@ychaps]

@@emerje0 now that's something I never thought of😳

[@JAMESMOORE-gq4vv]

For 30 years it never occurred to me that it was a baby.

[@TheOnespeedbiker]

As mentioned, Gentry stated the lyric was simply to indicate a close relationship between the two, not some ghoulish murder.

[@JAMESMOORE-gq4vv]

@@TheOnespeedbiker That's why music is so wonderful, IT'S LEFT TO THE LISTENER'S INTERPRETATION, it's not a documentary, go read a book.

[@Timoeltejano]

I ran into her, literally, years back in Memphis (like 20 years ago) and said "oh, sorry... Wait, you're Bobbie Gentry.." She just smiles back and says..."maybe" and just kept on walking. My ex-wife was like, "you know her?" And I stare at her like she has two heads... There's a reason she's my ex..lol

[@MoonlightDagger]

Gentry didn't know why the real person who inspired the character of Billie Joe had killed himself, so she left it open for interpretation in the song.

[@GGLee315]

If you’re referring to Emmett Till he did not kill himself, people killed him.

[@bookcat123]

@@GGLee315 Why would this song have anything to do with Emmett Till? Did I miss something?

[@Cchan53]

Even amidst the electric rock groups ,this song was out there and on the radio and we loved it !!!

[@shirleymongold1201]

This song has driven me nuts for over 50 years!!!! So many questions unanswered

[@bkm2797]

Thinking there might have been an unwanted pregnancy involved, but the preacher didn't say how large was what they threw off the bridge.

[@hillarymustard105]

There is a book, I believe. Look it up. Maybe a movie too. Incredible story.

[@dahuffy]

Have you seen the movie? Answers a lot of those questions

[@creinicke1000]

Yes.. but its fiction.. and song leaves it unanswered

[@HuntingViolets]

@@creinicke1000 The song is fiction too, but, yeah, the movie is one interpretation of what the song could mean. It's left up to the listener.

[@patriciakeith6755]

Bobbie Gentry was born 7/27/1942 in Chickasaw Co, Mississippi. She later married William F. (Bill) Harrah the casino magnate. Her second (and last) husband was country singer Jim Stafford. Her and Stafford had one child-a son. Then, as others have posted, Gentry dropped out of sight in 1982. Other songs of hers are-Fancy, He Made A Woman Out Of Me, Louisiana Man ,Chickasaw County Child, Niki Hoeky (video is a must). Plus many duets with Glen Campbell.

[@7spadefish7]

She also wrote and sung “Fancy” about a poor mother turning her daughter out to survive.

[@Oldschoolnana]

That was Reba MacIntyre.g

[@gildahattabaugh4342]

This song was huge. I'm 70 now. Some thoughts on the song from back in the day: when her mom mentioned she'd lost her appetite, a girl who looked like her with Billie Joe threw something off the bridge, Billie Joe jumps, a year later she's talking flowers to the bridge and throwing them into the river. Many believe her and Billie Joe were lovers, the thing was a miscarried baby, he could handle the grief, she was throwing flowers as a memorial. That was the most common belief. But, no one ever knew.

[@TheOnespeedbiker]

As mentioned Gentry said there was no intention that the lyric was meant to show any more than the two were friends and spent time together. Any person that ever frequented a bridge with pedestrian traffic, especially over water knows there is a compulsion to toss rocks off the bridge and watch them fall to the bottom.

[@broncobra]

might not have been a miscarraige? There was a lot of shame back then of having a child out of wedlock.

[@ginaloverofangels]

I'm 71and I agree with what you said. That's what everyone back in the 60's thought. At least all my friends in HS.

[@margaretburnham5683]

Oh wow! I'm 60 and grew up with this song. Figured they were romantic but never thought about the possibility of a baby. Eating as a family ever night... Would have been hard to hide a bump. Metal coat hanger anyone? If the song Creator said what was thrown is not relevant to the story we can rest easy on that one in this instance

[@RedDawnRocker]

There were so many different thoughts on the situation. Out in the area I live, at the time, the majority thought it was a case of either him loving her, proposing, getting turned down and throwing the ring box and all into the water while others thought the same situation with it being a secret engagement that was broken off. Of course, many thought it was a miscarried baby and others had different ideas from "maybe it was a gun and Billy Joe either murdered someone or robbed a store". I have no doubt there was an actual answer that is too personal for Bobby to share. The very unusual way she just pretty much disappeared from the public eye in an instant shows that she valued her privacy more than anything at all, the song may not have been based on reality but something just makes me feel that part of the song may be at least based on an idea she didn't want shared with anyone.

[@gennyyelton4392]

1967 I was 5 years old and remember crying over this song. I cried again today.

[@iamfree3781]

Me too!!

[@SoloGuitar1000]

To me, the "throwing something off the bridge" was just meant to show another piece of evidence that she and Billy Joe were a couple. It ties in with her talking to him at the church last Sunday and the recollection that Billy Joe liked to teased her when she was young (put a frog down her back). What they were throwing off the bridge was inconsequential. It could have been flowers or rocks. It was just to show they were spending time together.

[@personalcheeses8073]

Could be a baby

[@carbine5378]

Yes, you could be right. I always thought it was a baby but the lyrics could be about just establishing a connection.

[@graemey]

One line of thought was that she and Billy were throwing their stillborn baby off the bridge and that Billy was overcome with grief.

[@chrislennon123]

What makes you think it was stillborn? This is pre Roe Vs Wade and these are poor people in a state with a high rate of illiteracy. Farm work came before education, because that's what put food on the table. In a community where the preacher will pay surprise visits to families, and make sure the young people know they are being watched.

[@eemanuel4655]

I thought that as well.. Maybe right, as she started showing. When you can still say you are just going a few pounds.. she had an early stillborn baby...

[@timmcsorley9478]

I have had the theory of The unborn child in my mind for 20 years

[@NativeNYerChicHK]

It’s a story how family’s don’t address important serious subject matters, they just gloss over stuff that makes them uncomfortable and pretend everything is just fine as their lives are literally falling apart around them. Pass the potatoes please.

[@philsdon8932]

Bobby Gentry wrote smash hits for other singers. "Son of a Preacher Man" and "Fancy" to name two.

[@coolgranny6319]

Son of a Preacher Man was written and composed by American songwriters, John Hurley and Ronnie Wilkins.

[@pvdogs2]

Bobby Gentry said that 'Billy Joe' was inspired by a real person. When the story/song was made into a movie, she told the screenwriter that she didn't know why the real person jumped.

[@allenruss2976]

Released in 1967. I hope you bring in Don and Gen Z friends to show this to

[@amykelly6870]

Her voice, the strings and the guitar just draw you in and its amazing!!!

[@tinacook6225]

Love your reactions. Bobbie Gentry disappeared from the public after a 1982 interview. She also did duets with Glen Campbell that are worth a listen.

[@joankisloski6972]

Bobbie Gentry's "Ode to Billie Joe" Written by Gentry is considered "Southern Gothic narrative" "FANCY" also written & recorded by Gentry. Is another great song about being born into Poverty outside New Orleans. Gentry song top 40 of Billboard Hot 100 and top 30 of the Billboard Country Chart. Reba McEntire's Cover Song took the song to #8 on the Billboard Country charts.

[@Shortsac72]

I'm trying to think which Country Singer sang "Bobby Joe Gentry, The Home Coming Queen"..... It just hit me! EDIT... It took a few minutes for my ol noggin to figure it out.. Joe Diffe "Pickup Man"

[@gfaithowens1790]

Although we never really found out for sure what was thrown off the bridge, or what led Billy Joe to then jump himself; what so many people miss in the story is the family set there eating and talking as if it were just the passing news of the day. But the girl was devastated. Momma states that she hadn't eaten a bite. And she gives all the back story that brother and her had been friends with Billy Joe since childhood. He had put a frog down her back and they had been talking after church. It even mentions that the pastor had seen the two of them together. The family was oblivious to it that Billy Joe was special to her and didn't realize the impact of his loss to her. She ends the song with picking flowers and dropping into the river.

[@highpath4776]

comment needs a double like

[@francisdashwood1760]

The reason she mentions the frog down her back at the picture show is to demonstrate that Billy Joe liked her because back in the day that was what you did to a girl who you had a crush on, you put a frog down her back. She then goes on to tell that she spoke to him at church and that she saw him at the sawmill, all to show that she and Billy Joe had a thing but that she kept it hidden from her parents who wouldn't have approved.

[@rubyslippers8215]

That's why you're such a great reactor, BP - you, Sir, are a deep thinker. It's such is an eerily dispassionate song - and...Wow...so timelessly connected to today.

[@terri2494]

Yes, that was a great observation. 👍🏻

[@lauraopper2571]

This song is amazing partly because of the way she wrote the dialog within the lyrics. It's so easy to imagine this conversation around the table as they share a meal, like the listener is sitting right there with them.

[@GR65330]

As Bobby sang through the narrative, I could imagine myself sitting at the dinner table listening to the conversation.

[@anitawright7169]

Such a very sad song sung by a very beautiful lady with a beautiful voice. I am 68 almost 69 and remember this so well. It gets me to crying. Love your reaction!

[@reganschaeffer7361]

Yeah, you’re right to be tripped out. Those of us who first were listening to this song in the 60s (I was a sophomore in high school when it came out in 1967), continually wondered about the “truth” behind the song. But, honestly, I don’t want to really know. Let art be art. You’re right, this song is timeless.

[@elizabethfranco1284]

Not just one of the most iconic country songs but one of the most iconic in general.

[@JaimeMesChiens]

I just learned this song was released in 1967. Upon first listening now, 2024, and being silenced by the revelation, can only imagine how it must have been received back when it was new. It is haunting, for sure.

[@renee5748]

I grew up listening to Bobbie Gentry on the radio I believe it was 1968 when the song Louisiana Man was constantly on the radio. I bought her album called The Delta Sweete, and each of the songs were storytelling genius.

[@jennyjenny4501]

Gentry also wrote “Fancy”, famously covered by Reba McIntyre.

[@billpudim5067]

I remember driving to high school football practice,August 1967 and hearing it for the first time.

[@snowbound23]

The haunting aspect of this song lies in our living in a world of many horrors and banalities. Vietnam era had many watching war on the evening news and going about living their lives the rest of the time. This song sorta captures it.

[@zzblzmn]

Bobby Gentry is one first women to sing her own music

[@MR2Davjohn]

I've heard this song for years. The picture I get is Billy Joe and his girlfriend had a baby that died and this girl was helping Billy Joe throw the body off the bridge, then either in fear of being found out and getting into trouble, or suffering a massive guilt, he took his own life.

[@2727rogers]

You just hit on the reason why I watch reaction vids. I want to hear what your take is on a song. How you feel about it. What it means to you. Your life experiences will be different than mine. You telling me how this song makes you feel will help me understand you better and may help me understand myself better as well. In my book that is a win win and wouldn't the world be a much better place if we just understood each other better.

[@texacostar9543]

That last sentence in your post needs to go from your lips to God's ears. Thank you for this comment

[@williambowman2326]

Great reaction and it’s a testament to your common sense that you understood the underlying issues without getting caught up in the story. Another haunting aspect is how it subverts many modern stereotypes. We think that small town people are more concerned with each other, they have greater moral values ( think shout Mom and the preacher and the church references with nothing involving religion), that mental health is a big city problem…. Etc. But this eerie Southern mystery is not in Atlanta but the buckle of the Bible Belt. There is more concern for the food than the boy and the strong family has no clue that the daughter/sister is in pain. Superb reaction to a timeless and under the skin song.

[@allenruss2976]

One of the the best story songs out there if not the best. She paints a complete picture

[@stacey3763]

She is still alive and has been a songwriter for others. Her grandson sings.

[@JaneWalters-ni7se]

Her exquisite voice....❤

[@j.woodbury412]

I love her voice. It has a slight raspiness to it.

[@aura81295]

@@j.woodbury412 that raspiness brings more authentic emotion to the lyrics of the story IMO. The simplicity of the overall production makes for such a hauntingly beautiful piece.

[@j.woodbury412]

@@aura81295 I agree.

[@Me-wk3ix]

I think you got exactly what this song is about.

[@jayhank5838]

No music tells a story like a country ballad. This is one of the all time greats. Bobby Gentry is like a mystery woman. She quit the business at an early age and became very private. One of the greatest talents of her era. Beautiful, talented and very rich, some say she is worth $100 million. That is a long way from Woodland, MS.

[@QB405]

This song is southern gothic storytelling through music at its finest.

[@gilliansl]

This was on the pop/current radio and we did NOT consider her country. Billy Joe was her boyfriend, and they don't know she was seeing him. The thought has always been that they had a child in secret that died, and together threw it off the bridge, which drove him to the point of jumping off the bridge too. It was released 1967.

[@glennburch1081]

Spot on reaction. the song released in 1967 and raced to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in no time, charted for a very long time! The song was playing across multiple genre radio stations, rock, country, and Rythym and Blues. By year end in 1967 Ode to Billy Joe was resting at the #3 position on the US Billboard Hot 100.... that's crazy! the song was nominated for 8 Grammys, taking three between Bobby Gentry and arranger jimmie Haskel. I remeber first listening to this song in the back of my fathers 1963 station wagon as he drove us to football practice. The things we remember. Thanks for reacting.

[@Bijou2013]

This was such a huge conversation in '76! I think they threw a still born baby off the bridge. Thats why a year later, she's throwing flowers off for her lost lover and child.

[@thedobsonsexplicitchannel6187]

That's the story I was told about this song 💔

[@dennisshaper4744]

Except her mother would know if she was pregnant, so no.

[@stephaniecrow7387]

Not necessarily ​@@dennisshaper4744

[@berktv2936]

I thought it was an alligator that was thrown off the bridge.

[@ychaps]

SUCH a great song and so well sung...she is a true southern bell...

[@janesmith146]

The book is a phenomenal read and answers all the questions raised in the song. Nothing living, such as an infant, was tossed off the bridge, as many are suggesting here. It was a toy baby doll that she had as a child, and it was an accident. The reason Billy Joe offed himself.....well let's just say that "Brother Taylor" had a lot to do with it. He was a real dirty birdie. 😉

[@Cchan53]

???

[@rubyslippers8215]

It sounds like the book was a tie-in to the movie. It had nothing to do with the song. The "movie people" made up their own story. It had nothing to do with Gentry's open-ended story/song.

[@sandirobinson6966]

Yup. They made up a story so they could try to cash in on a movie. A REAL lame movie BTW.

[@videoinformer]

I love how she implies far more than she comes right out and says, and how the implications grow to the climatic conclusion that can only be understood for how climactic it is by making inferences, not by what is explicitly said. "Child, what's happened to your appetite?" is the first indication of the relationship the young woman in this first-person story had with Billy Joe. (You can see the scene at the table, the girl looking down, quietly moving her food around the plate as the family discussion takes place.) At the conclusion, she tells us her father died recently, but she spends "a lot of time" picking and dropping flowers where Billy Joe died a year earlier.

[@Mandalore3737]

should listen to one tin soldier !!

[@shirleynoble685]

A prime example of how easily humans forget. The album and the song won 3 Grammies the year it came out (1976) and yet so many reactors have never even heard of her. She was an incredibly talented and beautiful person who grew disenchanted by the music industry after about 10 years and retired to a very private life. But before she did, she also wrote “Fancy” which Reba McIntyre also made a very big hit. Another case of insightful social commentary.

[@dogsoldiertoo1099]

The song released in 1967 or 68. She sang on the demo that she presented to Capitol Records because it was cheaper than hiring someone. She was part owner of the Phoenix Suns until 1987.

[@patrickflannery7949]

This is actually a movie that you should watch.

[@mariaarmindapinheirobarbar4885]

I am portuguese and when i was in school ,learning english this song was the 1st I chose to pick all the words (there was no google 50 years ago) and learned them all by heart to sing it to my teacher! I love it and still know by heart most of its words!

[@TheDivayenta]

Fantastic. Have you learned any Journey songs? Steve Perry is your fellow countryman- his folks came from the Azores. 😊

[@mariaarmindapinheirobarbar4885]

@@TheDivayenta I like Journey a lot and didn't know Steve Perry was half portuguese like Nuno Bettehcourt of Extreme!

[@creid1367]

I'm 66 now - and I still love this entire album. Bobbie Gentry's Ode To Billie Joe and Glen Campbell's By The Time I Get To Phoenix were on constant rotation in our house.

[@soniadenison1690]

Beautiful song, beautiful Bobbie Gentry! Beautiful voice! You are correct, it is a deep eerie song. ❤

[@sherreywurz731]

Her voice gives me goosy bumps love ❤️ 😍

[@Cchan53]

GREAT, GREAT song...a cool story!

[@jeanne2583-w1n]

Joan Baez...listen to her, folk singer and stunning voice.

[@aprilnewsome1932]

This is Awsome!!! I have loved this song my whole life!❤ when i was little my mom had this on a 45, and people were listening to cassette tapes. We would get into the record player and play this and House of the rising sun by the animals. Good times!❤❤ You gotta hear her sing (FANCY)❤❤❤❤❤❤ Oh and Reba done this song too and it was ( FANTASTIC), But i still love Bobby's original version too!

[@jasonmelton4487]

You should really listen to Harper Valley PTA it's another great story

[@frannicole74]

The movie is amazing!! The story goes way deeper… Robbie Benson was the star

[@rubyslippers8215]

I remember the movie, too. The "movie guys" made up their own plot, none of which was presented in Gentry's song. She left the reasons behind the action open to endless speculation...It was never stated.

[@frannicole74]

@@rubyslippers8215 that is very true I actually saw the movie before I heard the song …so I feel they are both amazing in their own right

[@lionandlamb4754]

It was a BABY that they threw off the bridge. The girl at the dinner table who lost her appetite had had the baby, Billy Joe was the father and he jumped off the bridge.

[@valeriecreech6208]

I was 12 when the song came out. In my little mind, I assumed that she and Billy Joe were an item and it was a miscarried baby they threw off the bridge. Billy Joe couldn’t handle it, so he threw himself off the bridge. in the intervening year, she confessed all to her family. Her mother gave up maybe feeling guilt, her brother got married and moved away then dad died. 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@formulas7002]

Ode” was recorded on July 10, 1967 in 40 minutes. She was told it was going to be a B side no one would ever hear it, just put some strings on it so they wouldn't be embarrassed. DJ's didn’t see it that way...B became A and the rest is history.

[@chrismiller4348]

Love your thoughts! “Fancy”

[@OwiggumX]

Honestly thought a black woman sang this. LOL oops. I know the song well, but not the actual singer. Pretty sure Joe Diffie, RIP, references Bobby Joe Gentry, the Homecoming Queen, in the Pickup Truck song. I have at least heard this name, or something similar. But never looked into her. Nice. Enjoyed the video.

[@mikematusek4233]

Smart talented woman. Another of her songs worth the hearing is Fancy, which Reba covered.

[@owlcu]

This is by far the best and most intelligently responsive videos I've seen of yours. Respect.

[@cerisewilson4088]

I grew up with this era of country music and this song always intrigued me. I always tried to imagine what was going on behind the scenes with this story.

[@starlette570]

One of the song suggestions that popped up on your screen at the end was "Harper Valley PTA" by Jeannie C Riley. I hope you will react to that one, it's one of my favorite story-telling songs and I bet it would make you chuckle 😊

[@CJ-Fischer]

This is just about as beautiful as music gets…

[@maridambrosio523]

One of the best classic songs EVER. I still remember every word

[@mamaasaiz]

Bobbie was a doll... and a really good songwriter... she wrote one called 'Fancy'... but if you react to it, do the Reba McEntire version... she really brings it to life.

[@starlaryer4165]

She also wrote Fancy a big hit for Reba McIntire - she had a big hit with it too in 1969

[@TripletDad3]

The pacing of this song is perfect. She makes you lean in to the song as you hang on every word.

[@samposampo9432]

I'm so happy you chose this song!👍

[@johncondon4081]

She does make you feel like you are at the dinner table with the family

[@mspfinney]

The song is hauntingly beautiful.

[@patconine9569]

She wrote most of her songs. Check out 'Fancy'. She wrote it, too.

[@samanthaspringman5527]

BP Mississippi is a huge chunk of what's called the Bible belt. Some backwoods southern church folks wouldn't speak much about somebody that did themselves in. And at the time of this song unmarried or teenage pregnancy were very very much hush hush. Usually the girls went out of town quote to visit a relative and came back quiet. The babies were adopted out on the hush.

[@tjtampa214]

Yeah, sad song. I heard it as a kid watching TV country music shows and boy did I cry. Billy Joe & Bobbie Sue, typical names for kids in the country.😊

[@starlaryer4165]

She was/is quite successful and was part owner of the Phoenix Suns from their inception till the mid 1980's

[@toddmills2651]

That might be the Best reaction EVER! Great Job!

[@JAMESMOORE-gq4vv]

For 30 years it never occurred to me that it was a baby, you talk about being numb, but how about a society that put so much pressure on young people, that they would send them away to have a baby, if she wasn't married, and the pressure from people, society, to jump off a bridge and kill yourself, just out of shame, and what some old asshole might say and think, I'm glad we've moved on from that type of society.

[@juliewhite7469]

👏👏👏👏👏

[@gracemichelli.2am124]

Iconic song 🔥

[@shawnlowrance6528]

Hey Black Pegasus!! This song came out in 1967. She also had another hit with a song called "Fancy". Reba McIntyre recorded a nice remake of the song, but I suggest you listen to the original version first. Great reaction to this song! Keep'em comin'.

[@Jellybean0009]

Gosh! You are listening to all of these songs from my childhood. I love it!

[@tinajustvig5921]

This came out in the ‘60s. I had the 45 record. This was the flip side to “Fancy” which most people think is a Reba McEntire song. Reba covered it from Bobbie Gentry.