WHAT THEY THROW OVER THE BRIDGE!? FIRST TIME HEARING BOBBY GENTRY - ODE TO BILLY JOE | REACTION

[@rattlesnakehaven]

You "got it." The point wasn't the mystery. It was the way the family talked about it so casually over the black-eyed peas, which you were on top of within the first few lines.

[@angelskunk2206]

Billy Joe never had a “lick of sense”…It’s a southern term meaning he didn’t have any sense.

[@JohnJackson-si5bz]

I think he thought 'liquor sense', saying he was a drunk?

[@eviekelpie1]

Even as an Aussie I understood what lick of sense was lol

[@stevedahlberg8680]

​@@JohnJackson-si5bz Naw, in fact the connotation is often that it's someone who is a good person but just kind of simple and a screw up. Makes bad decisions.

[@peacepupppy]

The lyrics on screen were pretty messed up. There were a lot of mistakes and some parts they left the words off completely. Not your fault Sceez. As always you gave us a great reaction. Thank you!!!

[@j.8804]

@@JohnJackson-si5bz he thought that because whoever did the transcribing wrote liquor sense - very bad CC on this one

[@franciswright6672]

Bobby Gentry was a philosophy major in college, that’s why she wrote the song. It was how people were so nonchalant about his death.

[@joannfravel6882]

It’s a “lick of sense,” meaning he had no smarts. And she said “they put a frog down her back.” These subtitles are wrong.

[@jacqueline4514]

Exactly. WHAT did they throw over the bridge? I always suspected it was a baby. Her voice is beautiful, her delivery is haunting, and the lyrics are so deep; the family is discussing Billy Joe’s suicide so coldly, while oblivious to the fact that the daughter is sitting there crushed.

[@edchaput3577]

It was a doll

[@jacqueline4514]

@@edchaput3577 That’s a relief

[@cog4life]

I always thought that too

[@jollyrodgers7272]

A RAG DOLL - watch the movie (Warner Brothers, 1976).

[@jacqueline4514]

@@jollyrodgers7272 The movie was an interpretation, and was obviously done AFTER the song. The movie does not mean that is what Bobby Gentry intended at the time of writing the song; the song certainly does NOT specify and leaves it open to the interpretation at the listener, and that’s how I choose to interpret it.

[@sharonholsapple]

You're the first reactor that caught the " unconscious cruelty " that I've seen so far!! Great reaction!@

[@leahdoerr731]

Ditto

[@TryMyMartini]

Exactly. Nobody really notices that the family was so unaffected, which is truly the point of the song. The particulars are left up to interpretation, and the questions are haunting though.

[@GinMae]

Thanks, Sceez - this was FICTION... Bobby said it was really about the "casual cruelty" of people in the face of tragedy... everyone just goes about their lunch & talks about daily things... while this young girl is the only one who has any feelings... so hauntingly beautiful... Nope, not real, but so well done, you really could believe it was true, right?

[@shawnmazyn7090]

Those lyrics, the music and her delivery of the song is very haunting. Beautiful voice 😊

[@kathleenwilson2708]

Whoever did the closed captions didn’t know what they were doing! I’ve never seen so many mistakes in my life! Her and Billy Joe threw their baby off the bridge then he couldn’t take it and he threw himself off the bridge!

[@susiegines7314]

Bobby Gentry said in an interview that the point of the song was the indifference to tragedy and not what was thrown off the bridge. Remember this isn’t a true story, just a song.

[@greg2976]

Those CCs Never get the words right! They only type what it sounds like! Don't fret it!!!!

[@gregall2178]

When I see so many mistakes in CCs I assume it was computer-generated. "liquor sense"? 😀

[@kimhesketh2016]

There was no baby.

[@greg2976]

@@gregall2178 Sounds about right! A.I. working!😂🤣

[@ramonalfaro3252]

Talented and just as gorgeous!

[@greg2976]

Hauntingly Beautiful!!!!!!

[@shwicaz]

The closed captions on this video were horrible. Her papa said "Billy Joe never had a lick of sense", but it came up as "Billy Joe never had any liquor since",

[@thomastimlin1724]

🤣 Close Caption always seems to have had plenty of liquor...

[@NicholasRonReynolds]

Ok Sceez, thank you for reacting to this classic. I remember when it was a huge hit song though dark..suicide is so sad and tragic and I agree with your comments about the almost cruel indifference of some at the dinner table...Bobbie did a superb performance. Haunting and moving.

[@sharonpate5481]

I don’t believe it was a baby. In the movie Billy Joe was gay! Another great storyteller. Love your reactions young man. 👵🏼☮️💜

[@veronicakoonce4600]

That right that why he said he was mess up in the head, he was confused

[@beatleschick1000]

He was not Gaye! He was totally in love with the girl and got her pregnant and was scared about that. That all freaking man at the carnival raped, Billy Joe, and then try to convince him he was gay. He totally loves a girl but back in those days once a man, he got into another man and told this poor boy that he was gay after that, that is why he killed himself. Maybe not in these days and times I get that, but when I was in my teens and saw that movie believe me, it was like what the hell???

[@wilfbentley6738]

What they threw off the bridge has never been revealed. What was more important to Bobby Gentry was the callous way her family talked about Billy-Joe. The "narrator" obviously had feelings for Billy-Joe, but her family just talked him down. It wasn't a "true story", just a fabrication.

[@erniemcgowin4637]

She said. He never had a lick of sense. This was a major crossover hit, it was played on every kind of station. It won several Grammy’s.

[@celestelittek7360]

The phrase was a lick of sense, meaning foolish.❤

[@budcunningham6732]

There are several unanswered issues in this song : Why did Billie Joe jump, What was thrown off the bridge, Who was the girl with Billie Joe , Who did they put the frog down their back And who was the man at church ?

[@almostfm]

Several of those questions are essentially answered in the song. The girl with Billy Joe was the singer. Billy Joe, Tom, and the singer's brother put a frog down her back. I'm not sure who you're talking about when you mention "the man at church" unless you're talking about Billy Joe.

[@JohnJackson-si5bz]

It's a fictional story, but Bobby used her own experiences and background to help build the premise.

[@TryMyMartini]

I've always been so haunted by this song. So many questions.

[@mollydavis6276]

That was her intention. ❤

[@daniel_aka_bombscare]

my Grand father loved his country music and EVERYONE in my family knows the lyrics to this song.. the whole family all came together for christmas every year (32 family members) and this song got played day and night and from Boys to the girls we all sang along word for word!!

[@lromero8181]

“Lick of sense” is an old southern term meaning he wasn’t smart.

[@stevedahlberg8680]

Also that guitar line that she's picking is not necessarily easy to do and sing with at the same time and she's got that incredible storytelling phrasing where she goes on and off the beat, she's got great flow so to speak.

[@finallythere100]

He isn’t listening. He’s reading. Waste of time.

[@ronaldgines171]

"A lick of sense " not " liquor sense " LOL

[@snapdragon8888]

You are one of the only reactors who actually made the connection between the girl and Billy Joe. I was around in the 70's when this song and the movie came out. I thought the movie was lame, and the reason he jumped was not what anyone expected at all. The song, in its cold simplicity, was much better because it left you wondering.

[@timgasper8748]

No....her Pappas said Billie Joe never had a 'lick of sense'. Misread by the translator. The is NOT about how cold ppl are. The only one acting 'cold' is the father of the house. Mamma and everyone else are sympathetic. It's about what did really happen on the bridge. What did they throw off?

[@robertmazzella8121]

Its said what they threw off the bridge was a stillborn baby. Billy Joe couldn't take the pain and thus commited suicide by jumping off the same bridge.

[@TryMyMartini]

YOU UNDERSTOOD THIS SONG!!!

[@mikematusek4233]

You should try Fancy, it was covered years later by Reda, but Bobby was smoking.

[@Yowza78]

I hated that video Reba did for Fancy. Just like the movie for this song, it forced a narrative (and a moral!) on this girl's life that Bobbie Gentry never included in the song. The video added that whole part about rich woman (actress?) comes back to old rundown home to find her locket and start up a charity for runaway girls. so Hollywood! The original.Fancy did what she had to and didn't look back.

[@TheDivayenta]

One hell of a songwriter! The captions were auto generated it seems.

[@tekay44]

lol, it struggled, didn't it? i was watching the sub-titles' they were a riot. between the accent and the names. lol.

[@mollydavis6276]

He deleted himself. We don't know what they threw off the bridge, Bobbie wants to keep that a mystery. It's one of the reasons we are still talking about this song, 50+ years later. 😊

[@heromaniacz]

"Billy Joe ain't never had a lick of sense"

[@YunieDeen13]

the subtitles are like chinese instructions

[@thancrow]

It was lick of sense.

[@CHEEZE69]

Through a baby of the bridge

[@gracemichelli.2am124]

Billy Joe deleted himself. Not sure what they threw off the. Bridge...I always thought it was a baby but someone surly would have noticed a pregnancy 🤷‍♀️❤️

[@BadgerBJJ]

I remember when I was a kid, a girl was arrested for throwing a baby in a dumpster. Nobody ever knew she was pregnant. She kept it all a secret. Checked into a hotel. Squeezed out the baby, and dumpstered it.

[@cog4life]

Great story telling…

[@jannaromine5908]

I believe you would really like "I'm Sorry" by Brenda Lee.. performed live when she was just a girl

[@eviekelpie1]

The auto translation is shocking in this. Bobby said " Billy Joe didn't have a lick of sense", not liquor lol. Don't go by this stupid translation. Great storytelling by Bobby Gentry. Very creative

[@wendel5520]

Sceez not liquor sence "A lick of sence". Lol. 😊😀😀😁

[@CNFringer]

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.

[@p.j.d.8199]

Amazing how screwed up the caption under Bobby's video was, geez Louise

[@diannecardenas9866]

People have speculated that it was a baby's body. Yes they were in a relationship.

[@Yowza78]

One of this song -- and many great short stories -- is that it doesn't spell anything out exactly. You don't know why he jumped, or what they might have thrown off the bridge. It's a song that engages your imagination, which is really rare when you think about it. Most songs are very explicit about the subject matter. I've always been very suspicious of young Brother Taylor. Why was he stalking Bobbie and Billy Joe? Why did he report back to her brother about what she was up to? Why was he planning to come around for dinner soon? And he just said it was a girl who looked like her ... she never said it was. A lot of people feel strongly that they know what really went on because they watched the TV movie based on the song, which filled in a lot of gaps because they had to fill up that hour and a half. But the actual song was vary careful to be open ended and mysterious. That's good writing ... to let your audience get involved in the story telling. Show, don't tell.

[@MaRoach7]

The movie was phenomenal

[@celestelittek7360]

They threw their miscarried baby off the bridge and the grief from it was why he jumped.❤

[@bella-xp7qd]

Not liquor of sense, it was lick of sense. Meaning no common sense. They made a movie of this song.

[@gabrielleangelica1977]

I thought she said, Billy Joe never had a liquor 🥃 since."

[@chevy266nova]

Lick of sense is what Papa said.

[@tammyjomcgregor6725]

That's a really good movie also it's called ode to Billy joe

[@williamparish32]

Take time to watch the movie

[@mrichards2211]

That’s some muddy water 💦

[@lingoman1]

You gotta watch the movie.

[@davidsilver6687]

Not "liquor sense". The saying is he didn't have a "Lick of sense". It means he was foolish.

[@1118alpet]

You can't go by everything the subtitles say. They're wrong a lot of the time. The dad said "Billy Joe ain't never had a lick of sense".

[@diannaellis4708]

One of the theories was that they threw the body of a stillborn infant off the bridge. But there is a lot of speculation about it

[@ReeseRozum-sm1zs]

My family got secrets .

[@mrichards2211]

🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥

[@1969lumbee]

It is "Lick of sense". As in dumb. "He never had a lick of sense".

[@stevebendel]

Poor boy probably never had a drop, until the bridge

[@Yowza78]

The captions on the video were incorrect. The expression is not "liquor since" it's "lick of sense." Basically papa was saying Billy Joe had no common sense. He was foolish.

[@chanaplotke6218]

"lick of sense" not liquor. He didn't have good sense according to papa. you are right, the news is devastating but the family just talks about it casually over dinner without realizing that she is Billy Joe's girlfriend and she and Billy Joe threw something off the bridge.

[@tammyjackson3113]

It's really about how cold people can be while talking about serious issues.

[@brianwilson9206]

That’s actually lick o sense.

[@debbiealvey3537]

I always thought he committed suicide

[@XercesandAlexander]

I can see PJ Harvey and Nick Cave definitely listened to Bobby Gentry.

[@bethking7348]

Welcome to the wormhole

[@raymcarthur3870]

You have to read the book to get the whole story.

[@user-pe9gz8si8k]

lick of sense- no smarts

[@kvhvtke1935]

I remember when this song came out the rumor was that she had a miscarriage and her and Billy Joe to the stillborn baby off the Tallahatchie bridge and he couldn't live with it

[@chevy266nova]

The movie "Ode to Billy Joe " 1976 ‧ Drama/Romance was based on a 1967 hit song. A seventeen-year-old boy is seduced into a homosexual act. His guilt over the incident drives him to commit suicide by jumping off the Tallahatchie Bridge, leaving his girlfriend behind.

[@mollydavis6276]

That was made up for the film. Bobbie Gentry didn't write that story.

[@shelleycrowe8624]

Some people said it was their baby ?? The movie was great! The made for TV movie sorta portrayed blitz joe as gay and never revealed what they threw off the bridge!!

[@tchampagne1494]

"...never had a lick of sense." That was a mistranslation, should not be liquor.

[@solidrock6524]

Lick of sense

[@robertvaughn6646]

LICK of sense

[@JRoss707]

My speculation is that they threw their baby off the bridge, she had a baby out of wedlock, perhaps hid it like some girls do, they panicked and got rid of it. The guilt was too overwhelming for Billy Joe.

[@SanJoseBob]

Brother, The Captions we’re all messed up. It wasn’t “liquor sense” it was “lick of sense”, “Billy Joe never had a lick of sense, pass the biscuits please.” She’s singing about how people don’t have empathy or compassion any more, they just talk about Billy Joe’s death in between table talk, “I’ll have another piece of apple pie, oh by the way…..” That was the Hook in the song, everybody was guessing what they threw off the bridge, but she never said. There was even speculation that they threw their baby, off the bridge? Good choice in your music. React to Gil-Scott Heron “The Bottle”, kinda Jazzy!…. SanJoséBob

[@frikster5176]

She said A LICK OF SENSE NOT A LIQUOR SENSE

[@notgivennotgiven7776]

Who ever put the lyrics on screwed them up and she didn't say half of what it says. Yeah .peace

[@lynnieiapichino1121]

☮️💙💙💙🔥

[@kimhesketh2016]

Bobby Gentry said what they threw over the bridge was not important. It was not a baby. Do people thing the pregnancy would be missed by everyone? What was important was they were seen together and no one made the connection while her family talked about the suicide like they were talking about the weather.

[@thomastimlin1724]

Finally someone with some common sense....haha

[@TristanandIsolt]

Delta Day. Not Death days, but it did turn out to be Billie's death day. Lick of sense. Not Liquor.

[@tomrom1217]

The captions on the video has a lot of mistakes. She doesn't say a "liquor sense". She says a "lick of sense".

[@safariloverinnc5156]

He said "lick" of sense...just an old saying...............

[@jimyoung6271]

Did you say "old ass funk"?

[@moniqueleroux2198]

Great reaction but the subtitles were sooo bad it was an entertaining distraction!

[@annemarinelli7303]

She was his girlfriend..they might have thrown guess what over the bridge. She was depressed over his death. Thing is her family didn’t know he was her boyfriend. Then she’s on the bridge since he died throwing flowers in Billy’s memory. You have to pay attention to everything in this song and don’t write anything off!

[@sharipetkovsek5502]

the captions on this are awful. "Lick of sense" not liquor lol

[@oxford17]

The captions are wrong.

[@noplacelikehomecrochet5335]

The saying is he never had a lick of sense. No common sense. ❤

[@panamericachicago]

I think whoever included the lyrics misheard some words... It's a LICK of sense... Not Liquor sense. There are other mistakes but that one stood out.

[@amandamankins1293]

When closed caption tries to understand country.... Just like talking into to the microphone for texting it doesn't work lol.

[@terryconnelly484]

Very poor captioning all around she said didn't have a lick of sense

[@bobbiewallace4008]

Always thought it was a baby they were very poor

[@mussongal1232]

'Lick of sense' meaning 'NO sense'. Not liquor sense

[@richardrobinson4020]

"no lick of sense" never had any common sense

[@tomrom1217]

The point of the song was not the suicide, or what was thrown off the bridge. It's a study in behavior. The point is the familys indifference to the suicide. Bobbie Gentry describes it as unconcious cruelty. The movie was horrible; had nothing to do with the song.

[@douglasennis7291]

I hate incorrect captions "lick of sense" not "liquor sense" 🤷🏻🤦🏻

[@mikemiller3069]

The lyrics on your screen are very incorrect. The phrase you asked about is supposed to be, "Billy Joe never had a lick of sense anyhow". The word "liquor" should not have been in there as well as many other words in the closed captioning.

[@rudedogmat]

Whoever typed in the lyrics was smoking crack

[@jillw4983]

A lick of sense. Bad judgement