WHAT A PERFORMER & WHAT A SONG!! First Time Hearing Bobbie Gentry - Ode To Billie Joe Reaction!

Hello, music lovers! Today, we're taking a deep dive into a classic as we experience Bobbie Gentry's "Ode to Billie Joe" for the first time. Known for its haunting storytelling and Gentry's captivating performance, this song is a piece of music history we can't wait to uncover. Join us as we explore the layers of this iconic track and react to the powerful narrative and melody that have made it a timeless piece.
⭐️ WHAT WE COVER IN THIS VIDEO:
Our initial impressions of Bobbie Gentry and her musical style.
Reacting to the storytelling and atmosphere in "Ode to Billie Joe."
Discussing the song's lyrics, the mysterious storyline, and Gentry's vocal delivery.
Our thoughts on the song's impact on music and its lasting legacy.
🎶 ABOUT BOBBIE GENTRY & "ODE TO BILLIE JOE":
Bobbie Gentry, a pioneering figure in country music, is celebrated for her unique storytelling ability and distinct sound. "Ode to Billie Joe," with its narrative-driven lyrics and Gentry's emotive performance, remains one of her most famous and intriguing works.
👫 WHO WE ARE:
We're a couple who loves exploring the richness of music, from the stories behind the songs to the artists who bring them to life. Join us as we delve into various genres and eras, sharing our reactions and musical journeys with you.
💬 COMMENT BELOW:
What's your interpretation of "Ode to Billie Joe" by Bobbie Gentry?
Any other classic tracks or artists you'd like us to discover and react to?
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You can find Bobbie Gentry - Ode to Billie Joe (1967) - KZbin at the link below:
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#bobbiegentry #billiejoe #firsttimereaction

[@denniswlandry]

Bobbie's words: “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.”

[@noraelliott7304]

Thank you for that quote. I still think this is one of the best story songs. The tempo and strings in the background is so haunting.

[@GinMae]

YES.. Dennis... Bobbie was so convincing in her story-telling, people believed it was real... lol

[@alicestephens2233]

watch the movie...then you will understand more about the song.

[@DouglasJenkins-kp5pv]

You hit it on the head! 🤔💯🤣

[@happyphotoshooter]

I always thought they threw their baby off the bridge, and that Billie Jo committed sucide after she left because she seemed surprised when she was told. The whole song sounds of morning - For her love and for her baby - Hence the flowers. But hey, anything is as right as anything else. Guess I need to FINALLY see if I can find the movie........

[@MelanieAF]

The “eerie” quality is why this song is often characterized as “southern gothic”. And Bobbie Gentry said the point wasn’t what they threw off the bridge, it was the way the narrator’s family didn’t realise that this event meant something more to her than mere gossip.

[@SBel65]

Yes, the “unintentional cruelty”…

[@user-uf7pr3xd8u]

this song and Gordon lightfoots, the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald are the greatest story telling songs of all time.

[@jamiegagnon6390]

@@user-uf7pr3xd8uWhat about 'The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia'?

[@queenslanddiva]

Aussie here - I had to laugh when you said you couldn't understand her accent! Really? I've never had any problem with that. Brilliant song, brilliant singer.

[@johntiggleman4686]

Yeah, I wonder how they would handle Aussie accent...especially the aboriginies (correct term?). Maybe they need to watch Crocodile Dundee to help decipher it. Cheers, mate!

[@joannagodfrey5111]

Im from Scotland and I understand it!

[@torrencemonroe1233]

👍😊

[@eddieevans6692]

Many people are confusing the song with the movie.. The song was written, recorded and released long before some Hollywood scriptwriter was tasked with making a movie out of it. Gentry herself states that the song was a study in unconscious cruelty and what was thrown off the bridge was of little consequence.

[@Polyphemus47]

YES!

[@rbraxley]

Gentry paints a searingly accurate portrait of mid-century Southern rural life in a few, spare lines. My mom was a farm girl in the 1930s in rural Georgia and she described how the main meal was lunch, so that the heat from the oven was generated in the morning, since it was too hot to cook in the afternoon or evening. The farm hands (menfolk) would come in from the fields mid-day for a big meal of fried chicken, greens, and biscuits. I grew up in a house without air conditioning and, sure enough, Mom could holler out the screen door for us to wipe our feet and come on in. This is beautiful writing in authentic voice. Great stuff.

[@1perfectpitch]

The Noon meal is Dinner. The Evening meal is Supper.

[@rbraxley]

@@1perfectpitch Not in my house, growing up. We used supper and dinner for the evening meal and lunch for, well, lunch.

[@joes2514]

Thank you for clearing up the part about eating the main meal earlier in the day. I've always wondered why the mother said she was cooking "all morning". It would be strange cooking all morning if the meal was at 6pm. The lyrics are too deliberate to have been a mistake, which tells me you're right.

[@elainejones2092]

I was born in rural Georgia and this sounds just like my life. I was terrified to tell my parents anything!! I had a friend die in a car accident in the 9th grade. My best friend. My mom wanted to know why I was crying. 😮

[@paulmazan4909]

I think it is a country vs. city thing In the city we ate breakfast and had a lunch hour at noon where we ate whatever we could put in a lunchbox. We would come home from school and dad from work and sit down to dinner. It was the only meal where we all were together to eat, so it was the main meal of the day. On the farm, especally when the work was still done without machinery, they needed the calories to finish off the day so they had breakfast and their main meal at noon. So while we had Breakfast Lunch and dinner, they had Breakfast, Dinner and Supper.

[@knuteboy3778]

She had a college degree in English literature, so it's no surprise she wrote good lyrics. Same thing with Kris Kristofferson. Not many people are aware that he was a rhodes scholar in English literature, and he was also a great lyric writer

[@vidpie]

Bobbie Gentry sent a demo tape to Capitol Records hoping to be hired as a staff songwriter. They heard this song and were sold. They added some orchestral string arrangements to her demo tape and released it. Gentry told The Washington Post that she only sang on the recording of "Ode to Billie Joe" because it was cheaper than hiring someone to sing it. Bobbie Gentry grew up poor. "When her parents divorced shortly after her birth, her mother moved to California, leaving Gentry to be raised on a farm by her paternal grandparents. She grew up without electricity or plumbing. Her grandmother traded one of the family's milk cows for a neighbor's piano, and, at age seven, Gentry composed her first song, 'My Dog Sergeant Is a Good Dog'. Gentry lived in Greenwood, Mississippi, with her father for a few years and learned to play the guitar and banjo." At 13 she moved to California to live with her mother. Upon graduating from high school, she moved to Los Angeles to attend UCLA as a philosophy major. This performance on the BBC led to Bobbie Gentry being given her own variety show. "Impressed with Gentry's performances on- and off-screen, the head of the BBC invited her, in 1968, to host a variety show on BBC 2, making her the first female songwriter to host a series on the network. The Bobbie Gentry series was a 6-week special, broadcast weekly from July 13 to August 17, 1968." She produced a second series of shows for BBC2 in 1969. In early 1971, Gentry produced a third and final series of shows for BBC 2. In 1974, she hosted a summer replacement variety show on CBS called "The Bobbie Gentry Happiness Hour." After she became a mother she did a Las Vegas residency before that was really a thing. She attended the Best of Vegas Awards on March 21, 1980. On May 10, 1981, during "An All-Star Salute to Mother's Day" television special she performed "Mama, a Rainbow" for her mother who was seated in the audience. This was her final public performance: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aZO3l3umh9aWjpo She walked away from it all to lead a private life.

[@mjg3272]

Yes, a very private life. I'm pretty sure she's still alive. Living in either her home state of Mississippi, or in Tennessee - I forget which.

[@gamestress]

A year had passed since since Billy Joe jumped, and she was picking flowers like one would do, to put on his watery grave.

[@suepool1525]

They had a baby is what they hit at in the movie

[@gamestress]

@@suepool1525 i’ve seen the movie. Billy Joe and Bobby Lee never did have sex. She kept putting him off when he wanted to then by the time she wanted to it was too late. He had already been with a man and decided to kill himself because of it.

[@suepool1525]

@gamestress I don't care just a stupid movie

[@gamestress]

@@suepool1525 LOL sounds like you care.

[@coffee-xg6my]

Remember Phil. The song said the girl and Billy Joe were seen throwing something off the bridge. She didn't push Billy Joe off the bridge. The mystery is what _they_ together threw off the bridge. Then he jumped off a few days later to commit suicide. Some have speculated it was a baby that she gave birth to. But the mystery continues. As for the movie, It gives Hollywood's own narrative of what the story was about but that is not necessarily accurate because Bobbie Gentry has never said what the situation was. However, it turns out there were several extra verses that Bobbie had originally written that were edited out of the song for the record. She wrote something like 11 or 12 verses in total. (The full set of lyrics to the song are said to be kept secured in the Mississippi State archives.) The bridge which actually existed and supposedly is the one you see in the video was later set on fire by vandals and so it had to be torn down.

[@christhompson2006]

That's what I always assumed they threw off the bridge together.

[@kimberlyosborne1977]

She was a first as she wrote and produced her own music. She says this song was a study in unconscious cruelty. Great reaction❤❤❤

[@jollyrodgers7272]

She was not THE first, but ONE of the first. Absolutely love this song. Still gets awe when played on the jukebox down at the tavern.

[@T-ShirtMagic]

@@jollyrodgers7272 You should at least provide one name of a female songwriter/producer that came before her if true - don't you think?

[@T-ShirtMagic]

@@parallax3d Yes, good examples. IMO best were they included in your challenge. Although maybe fuzzy regarding full producer status - Bobbie 1967, Carol 1970 or Joni 1971.

[@ericanderson8886]

It has the feel of a southern gothic novel. Just a brilliant song.

[@kathy1013]

I always thought they were breaking up on the bridge and throwing off an engagement ring. He jumped off because of a broken heart. Whatever it was, it made an intriguing story and amazing song. After 50+ years, it still gives me chills.

[@allmusicservices]

Agreed. I've always thought it was very obvious, or at least a logical conclusion, that she was breaking up with him and that is why he committed suicide soon after.

[@sharonmiddelchylde2638]

Somehow this song wraps up the slow pace of Southern living, the weight of the humid summer heat of Mississippi and the lazy passing of the river beneath the bridge. It contrasts them with the incisive intensity of the tragic news. The timelessness of this song is what goes unsaid.

[@daseguin]

The movie made out of this was really good, with Robbie Benson and Glynnis O'Connor. The song is so profound as it reflects the indifference and lack of love, care, and compassion that so many have toward others, even when tragedy strikes so close to home. "Seems like nothin' ever comes to no good up on Choctaw Ridge"....

[@dathorndike4908]

Agreed. The movie explains all the mysteries in the song.

[@pjg58x]

Isn’t the movie just the interpretation of the screenplay writers and not necessarily Bobbie Gentry’s explanation, if there even is one?

[@daseguin]

@@pjg58x Yes, but it is really good.

[@pompanomark2024]

This song was HUGE..

[@MrPercy112]

Back in the day, we all thought it was a baby.

[@CarolynSmith-ld5dz]

Lol! Also remember wondering what happened to Helen Reddys Angie Babys neighbor boy. 🧐🤨🤔😁

[@trishalivingston1051]

I still do.

[@susanelkins3068]

@@CarolynSmith-ld5dz OMG!!!!!!!!!!!! one of the best , creepiest songs EVER- hope they listen

[@jjohn4874]

That's what I thought, too!

[@Wakeupyal]

I thought it was too.

[@kurtsaxton823]

She was born and raised in the Mississippi Delta, so she definitely sings from the heart and hard times.

[@VIDSTORAGE]

She majored in philosophy at UCLA when she moved to California and the message is esoteric and made to make you find an answer and people constantly wonder what it is about .

[@WoodsWoman822]

In the song her brother and his wife Becky bought a store in Tupelo Mississippi which is where Elvis Presley was born in 1935.

[@hokiedoo]

She gave it away in the first 20 seconds of the video Mississippi

[@stevebendel]

I guessed Alabama before the song. Close but no cigar.

[@localnetsolutions]

One of the things that set her apart from every other female singer was she produced and arranged all her own songs

[@dsgp7835]

This story is so easy to see in your minds eye. You must remember this song was released during the Vietnam war. Young American men were dying in a far off place and life just went on here. The public heard it and knew it but could do nothing about it and just moved on. Unconscious cruelty, the real theme to the song according to Bobby Gentry.

[@xiurong888]

She is amazing, but I really love the impact of the strings, from violin to viola to cello.

[@lesgrice4419]

One of the most beautiful mysterious women who ever walked the planet with one of the most beautiful mysterious songs thats been performed, so mesmerising. I believe she was around for quite a while, even did a spell at Vegas then just left the music scene forever, barely if ever gave interviews and I believe she's still with us and is something of an enigma......and someone in showbusiness once said she had the best pair of legs he'd ever seen!

[@GR65330]

The way that Bobbie sings this story, I feel that I could be sitting at their dinner table and listening to what they are saying.

[@lorierush6561]

Yes. Me too.

[@tonysc7610]

Bobbie Gentry made you feel like you were sitting in a movie theater watching a movie.

[@timtravasos2742]

One of the best stories in all of music

[@RickTBL]

The most mysterious song ever written.

[@anastasiabeaverhausen516]

Right up there with You’re So Vain.

[@Robbyrool]

This song always gives me chills

[@andreaschmall5560]

All these years later and I still remember every word of this song. Ran out and bought the 45 as soon as I heard it on the radio.

[@kensmith8152]

This song employs a naturalistic narrative with a southern gothic perspective reminiscent of Faulkner!

[@joeabraham8390]

You'll have to listen to the song 2 or 3 more times before you realize that the mystery will remain unsolved, but the amazement of her voice and style will just grow!

[@stevenblock9712]

This first single from Bobbie was a huge #1 hit in the Summer of 1967. It was nominated for eight Grammys and won three, and made her a star. When you are in a country mood again, you might try The Night That the Lights Went Out in Georgia or maybe Harper Valley, PTA.

[@kevinwaters5872]

“Pass the biscuits please” , suddenly we are all around the table ! Lol.

[@MelanieAF]

I always notice how the father says “please” even amongst his own family at the dinner table-love southern manners.

[@dagmar.6954]

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 hits she wrote & recorded were "Mississippi Delta" & "Fancy". She also had hits with "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head", "I'll Never Fall In Love Again", "Sunday Mornin" (with Glen Campbell) etc.

[@johnsainz3056]

Beautiful woman, I was 12 years old hearing this, great time in America

[@CookieCaspari]

I remember watching Bobby Gentry appear on several of the variety shows back in the early 70s.

[@ilonadever8249]

She never says what the relationship was between her and Billie Joe, but we were sure they were in love. Her parents didn't know, probably wouldn't have approved, so she was completely alone in her grief that Billie Joe committed suicide. Always tugs at the heartstrings.

[@Thomas-rw9nt]

I love Bobbie Gentry. I had a big crush on her when I was a kid. Beautiful haunting song. Another good song by Bobbie is "Fancy".

[@candaceh1943]

According to an interview with Bobby Gentry, she said the point of the song was to show the lack of empathy and the emotional cruelty of the family, the mother completely oblivious to her daughter's reaction to this boys death. She said whatever was thrown off the bridge wasn't important and wasn't the focus of the song.

[@LadyGator1983]

Good point, however, I think it was their baby.

[@bobbrinkerhoff3592]

@@LadyGator1983 if you think that a Southern farmer's wife in the Sixties wouldn't have noticed that her teenage daughter was pregnant , you've led a very sheltered life .

[@ernievarela5782]

That's like saying Biden is the only democrat that sniffs children 😂​@@bobbrinkerhoff3592

[@michaelbradley6004]

When you are a small farmer, living off the land, completely dependent on weather and luck to survive, feelings dont mean much. You have bigger issues to deal with. Real tangible things. Its very hard on kids, until you overcome your emotions. Pain, whether emotional or physical must be ignored to provide for the family and community.

[@larindanomikos]

No, they were throwing flowers. Her family was unaware that they were in love. It's not sinister. It's just said.

[@bigham1jb]

A masterpiece of story telling, masterfully sung.

[@mariacavanaugh1010]

There's a movie based on this song. Robbie Benson plays Billy Joe and he has a surprising experience at a fair. And when he and the narrator are on the bridge he takes her babydoll (?) and in the scuffle to get her treasured doll back he dropped it by accident...it's been a long time since I watched it, but this is what I recall off the top of my head.

[@lilakae]

I agree with your memory. That's exactly how I remember it.

[@ScottyM1959]

You're listening to the slow sound of summer on the Mississippi delta.

[@lindanearing4710]

This song always conveys a sense of quiet desperation. She was a wonderful composer and performer. Rather a woman of mystery herself.

[@JimSteele-ck5vu]

Love this song

[@johntiggleman4686]

She is so, so beautiful. I don't care how many times I hear this masterpiece, I still get goosebumps. The best part, this is not lip-synched. Also, look for her playing it on The Smothers Brother's show.

[@britblue]

My interpretation (FWIW!!) is the "something" they were throwing off the bridge was an child from unplanned pregnancy (1960's child born out of wedlock and everything!) - & Billy Joe was haunted by the guilt & threw himself off the same bridge later

[@JLALALALA]

I’ve always thought this was the explanation too.

[@vickihirsch8340]

I think everyone focuses on what did they throw off the bridge. The message is her family's ambivalence to her grief at the loss of her good friend. They continue with dinner and life while she is suffering alone. They could've been throwing flowers or whatever, they were close close friends. You're not not even sure they are lovers but they had deep connection and she is in so much pain, but her family mentions a few things but pretty much dismisses her pain

[@danielmesery2904]

The movie is worth the time .🌟

[@chuckleezodiac24]

"she pushed Billie Joe off the bridge." never heard that one. dark & twisted. i like it!

[@AB2B]

The music and her voice is mournful. When something life changing and deeply painful happens to you, you remember the things going on around you with strange clarity. Sights, sounds, smells, they're locked in. This song always struck me as her "forever" memory of the day the boy she loved died. They kept their relationship secret because her dad didn't like him and mamma didn't care for things from Choctaw Ridge, so she couldn't openly mourn.

[@MichaelYoder1961]

She's such a great story teller

[@MrNormaltoo]

this song got my vote for best song of the sixties.

[@stevegans3517]

Incredible song. And she looks simply breathtaking.

[@Polyphemus47]

I saw her first! 😉

[@debmerrifield5426]

hi to all......i am a 70 yr old woman, ...this song was out there when i was a teenager....my friends and i all thought it was young love and a unwanted child was born....to afraid to tell their parents, they got rid of the >>"evidence"-----baby, but billy joe could not accept that he killed his child, so he took his own life...... very sad story

[@carbine5378]

I’m a year older (71) and always loved this song. I have to agree with your theory, it makes perfect sense🇦🇺🦘

[@TristanandIsolt]

That's a widely held story, but to me it makes no sense. If she had a baby the family would have caught on to her being pregnant. Maybe a miscarriage before she started to show. They weren't so horrible that they would have killed their living baby.

[@desertdee1]

@@TristanandIsolt I agree. And there is no way they would have murdered a new born baby, no way.

[@TristanandIsolt]

@@desertdee1 Common sense. Thanks for agreeing with me.

[@desertdee1]

@@TristanandIsolt It's been a lot of years since I watched the movie, and because of Yt's censorship, I have to watch how I word this. 😐 The movie alluded/alleged, after partying, he was tricked into going to a place, where he was taken advantage of. In those days, if you weren't and it was done to you, it definitely would have caused mental or at least depression in a man.

[@patpeterson2671]

Her song is legendary / Iconic in music history .... and she is a Mississippi girl ...

[@firedoc5]

You can actually smell and feel the texture of fresh picked cotton. The way she describes everything brings the story of how it was for a small southern family in a small rural area in MS. There has been a lot of theories of what was thrown off the bridge, and the movie really didn't answer it either, and it goes in a different direction than anyone would have ever guessed. Bobbie seemed to disappear after the sudden fame but showed up in Las Vegas doing some shows. She kept her personal life very private especially after she stopped performing.

[@user-ro8qq7nx3t]

BTW, there is a movie based on this song, I believe it starred ROBBIE BENSON.👍 it was made for TV movie.

[@F1carsguitar]

We are not supposed to know right. Cool! You guys are right on again!

[@danielrdrown1]

This live performance was taken from her successful B.B.C television variety show which ran from 1968-71. The song was a monster hit #1 pop(4 weeks), #5 adult contemporary, #8 r&b and #17 country. Bobbie Gentry sold 5 million copies of the song in 1967 alone between the album and single. It was the #1 song of 1967 with 5 charting covers(incluing King Curtis & The King Pins which charted #26 pop and #6 r&b) and the year ending #3 single of 1967. In 1990 it was inducted into the grammy H.O.F. In 2023, the Library Of Congress put the song on its National Register for its social and historic significance. It received 10 grammy nominations in 1967 and won 4. The song has been covered 256 times and sold 50 million copies. Bobbie Gentry( birth name Roberta Streeter)was born in Chickasaw County ,Mississippi in 1942. In 1975 she became the first woman inducted into The Mississippi state H.O.F. In 2022, at the age of 80, she signed a huge new publishing deal with Universal Music Group giving them the publishing rights to her songs for the next 50 years.

[@kendallcarstens9194]

Bobbie also wrote, produced, and sang the original version of "Fancy"; later made popular by Reba McEntire.

[@matthewdrake4385]

Most people don't realize that.

[@CthtoNicfly5]

I'm in Tennessee I talked to relatives of her. It's a true story about what happened.

[@jameshelm2847]

I'm sure it is true, but I am willing to bet you can go to countless other towns around this time frame and get the same story, especially in the south.

[@Davelakful]

@@jameshelm2847 - I heard it was all "fictional" Just curious...can you provide real names?

[@jameshelm2847]

@@Davelakful How would I have the names? All I said was that I am sure it is true and that the same thing has probably happened in many towns. Have you ever heard of stories where a girl leaves town "for school" or "going to a camp" and returns months later? These stories come from unexpected pregnancies or, in some cases, a boy's suicide, and to hide that it was over his sexuality, his "girlfriend" leaves town for a few months to give the impression that she was pregnant. I know of 3 different situations from my hometown, and no, I will not give you their names.

[@CthtoNicfly5]

@Davelakful I can but I'm not going to, I say this they are from Mississippi and they worked for me and they were relatives, it's a true story. No one approached me I just said I like this song, you guys are from Mississippi, can you take me to where that bridge was. Well I was told all kinds of stuff, that no one knows.

[@Davelakful]

@@CthtoNicfly5 - amazing that you single handily solved a 57-year old mystery. Movie came out in 1967 and there are so many questions, including what was thrown into the river?? I sure you know that too? Haha. So many BS comments on KZbin.😀

[@ronaldmcrae4896]

Thank God! You got it.! I like your channel and would have disappointed if you hadn't. The amount of reactors who don't get that the narrator was the one on the bridge and was why she was upset and couldn't eat is amazing! Kind of like "He stopped Loving her Today", had to stop watching reactions to that song. He stopped loving her because he was dead and the song is about his funeral and the majority don't get it. The very first words in the song literally says "he said I'll love you till I die" Blows my mind!

[@gkiferonhs]

For several years after this song came out, high school English teachers used this a lot as a stimulus for writing.

[@eshiestrik2756]

Wow! It's so long since I heard Bobby Gentry, I'd forgotten about her. Great song long forgotten. Thanks for playing this ❤

[@happymethehappyone8300]

Another storytelling song that when released caused so much controversy that most radio stations wouldn't play it,, Until being constantly flooded with requests for it,, The Buoys "Timothy"

[@samolevski1119]

When I first heard the song after it's release I was still at school, and as far as I remember we decided it had to be either a ring or a baby, as they seemed to be the most obvious things in the context of the song which could lead to a suicide. There was so much other great music around back then, that we left it undecided and just enjoyed all the different songs we heard on our radios - you younger people cannot comprehend what it was like to have so much incredible music with almost every week giving us a new song to include on our lists of never to be forgotten classics.

[@deannajones3849]

Hauntingly beautiful!

[@conureron3792]

This one always causes me to tear-up

[@Zebred2001]

This is what is called a "Southern Gothic" song like Vicki Lawrence's - The Night the Lights Went out in Georgia, covered by Reba McEntire, and Richard Marx's - Hazzard. As to the film. It's just what the filmmakers dreamt up as an explanation and not necessarily what happened in the song as this was undisclosed and left as a mystery.

[@stevepecorella2704]

Harper Valley P.T.A.

[@oldmcdonald3376]

that was not bobby gentry who sang pta.that was jeanie c, riley

[@tomroome4118]

@@oldmcdonald3376 but it is another great (although humourous) story-telling song.

[@oldmcdonald3376]

@@tomroome4118 yes

[@lindapayne1787]

At the end, the girl throwing flowers off the bridge was like bringing flowers to the grave of someone she cared about. There are many references throughout the song that the girl had a relationship with Billy Joe - she cared or possibly loved him and they'd know each other since they were children. But her family is oblivious to that and how she might feel getting the news of his suicide. Instead the are totally absorbed in their own everyday lives to the point of cruelty and indifference of tragedy right in front of them. That was Bobbie Gentry's point in writing the song. But I remember when the song was released and the incredible speculation about what the couple threw off the bridge and if that led to Billy Joe's suicide the next day. Common guesses were a baby, a ring because the couple had a breakup, but whatever it was, the girl not only mourned the loss of Billy Joe but also had guilt about actions that led to his suicide.The movie had an entirely different guess but was more reflective of a later time. Southern gothic bluesy folk song at its best. Read Bobbie Gentry''s bio for a real life mystery /tragedy. I wish she had been able to continue writing and singing - so very talented.

[@paulwhite5840]

I love your reactions you two. Absolutely pro.

[@SIXX2772]

Folks still talk just like this today right here Phil. lol

[@ralpholson7616]

I have always loved the way the cello sets the mood in this song.

[@susannehouse3857]

I was a small child when this came out and it captivated me then……still does.

[@andrewmccormack4295]

Thanks for reviewing this song,I love her voice,to me it sounds quite dry with a bit of a rasp that she can bring quite easily and I love the way she pronounces yesterday at 6:39.

[@oldmcdonald3376]

i was in love with bobby gentry. stunning woman

[@pompanomark2024]

"Fancy" would be a nice follow-up for Ms. Gentry

[@MarkBtvd]

Expanding a bit on what @kimberlyosborne1977 said, I found this comment from Bobbie: “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. … [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.” Thanks for reviewing this masterpiece. I’m old enough to remember when it hit the airwaves. It was haunting then, and it’s haunting now.

[@elizabethfranco1284]

This is one of the best!

[@aprilnewsome1932]

Love this song❤❤

[@leeyaferguson9019]

You'd love Fancy, recorded Reba McEntire. Song of Bobby's.

[@mynameispaul0530]

The book is a haunting story

[@hume1963]

Great song. My Mom was born in Yazoo City MS.

[@conureron3792]

For another story telling with a western flair, check out El Paso by Marty Robbins.

[@drycanyon]

Great suggestion

[@kweile4339]

Absolutely!

[@allanrose3661]

The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (1971) by Joan Baez is another great story telling song from the 1970s.

[@midnightrambler7716]

Robbie Robertson of the Band wrote that one and they recorded it first and best IMO.

[@allanrose3661]

@@midnightrambler7716 I know. I figured it would have more of a chance of being reacted to with Joan's version.

[@williamcabell142]

There was a movie made from this song! Great song! What a voice! 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@KevinHall-wn4eq]

She was born in Mississippi, I know because I live about 20 miles from the Tallahatchie river.

[@larryairgood4320]

The Kingston Trio was a popular folk and pop music group of the late 1950's and beyond. They had a big storytelling hit called "Tom Dooley", which was a bit dark for sure, and then had an amusing storytelling hit titled "MTA" you might want to check out. Many others, also, of course.

[@jasonremy1627]

Great song!

[@cristobalvalladares973]

For some reason her music brings flanery O'Connor to mind.

[@deannajones3849]

Love this one!

[@kimzwolinski9919]

Mesmerizing

[@hokiedoo]

I listen to all types of music you need to give a listen too Allison Krauss"When You say Nothing At All".its a cover but my God a beautiful song sung by her!

[@user-nu2hp2jn4u]

Grew up riding on dirt roads in the delta listening to this 😊

[@kaychristensen4394]

One of the besr songs of the '60s 😎

[@buckdurant5336]

It's haunting. Southern Gothic from a Southern beauty. That female deep south twang just pulls your heart towards her.

[@steveyaworsky6170]

I grew up with this song (I was 11 when it came out), and yours was the first time I'd heard the theory of her pushing him off the bridge. There's no right or wrong answer, as she left it up to interpretation. My interpretation over the years is that it was a baby, and Billie Joe couldn't deal with it and took his own life. But, that is just my view after hearing it many times over the years.

[@stevedahlberg8680]

Sam nailed it but yeah man that's one of the things about this song that makes it so iconic is that it weaves the most intricate tale and from a musician standpoint, the whole time she's finger picking away with perfect Rhythm and narrative backdrop. Highly impressive. I think she got degrees in both sociology and something else, so she was at least for that time situation tearing it up. And she had other songs than this and she was really good, but at some point she abruptly hung it up and said nah I'm going to focus on this other stuff. Switch to me makes her even stronger.

[@tinajustvig5921]

She was the original singer, songwriter of Fancy. I had the 45 when I was a kid and this sound was the reverse side.