According to Bobbie, the story was never about what was thrown off the bridge, it was about everyone's complete disconnect from the fact that this young man took his own life. It's a great song and your reaction was priceless.
Exactly....Gentry said this a long time ago and STILL people think, like some dime store novel, it's about what was thrown off the bridge, and speculate to no end why Billy Jo jumped off the bridge. Even a very bad TV movie was made about this with a made up BS story why he jumped off the bridge to cash in on the song's story, which was never the point of the song. I don't think Bobbi Gentry even approved of the story.
This song is an absolute classic. There was a time when everybody in North America knew that Billie Joe McCallister jumped off the Tallahatchee Bridge and were obsessed with figuring out why. You simply could not turn on the radio without hearing Bobby Gentry's haunting tale. After all these years, I still love it.
@@angelabluebird609 The movie had to provide an answer and this is what was chosen; as I understand it, Miss Gentry never intended there to be a definitive answer as it wasn't the point of her song.
I kind of felt like the movie took a sharp left into ick though. I HATED the idea that he killed himself over sexuality. I had a major crush on Robby Benson though, so that might have had a little to do with it at the time. 🤭 I prefer the song to the movie interpretation is all I'm getting at. 😉
I almost envy you getting to hear this song for the first time. I was 12 years old when the song came out (it went to # 1 knocking the Beatles out of the spot). I was fascinated by not just the story, but her sad voice, and the fact that her family was so indifferent while she sat in silence, obviously devastated by the news. Great song!
Yes this is a great song and her delivery just draws you into the story as much as the lyrics do. I think the “unconscious cruelty” of the song is that no one in her family, not even her mother, seemed to have a clue that she had pretty strong feelings for Billy Joe. They talked about the tragedy so nonchalantly over dinner and then went about their day while she was so affected that a year later, she is still tossing flowers in the river in his memory. Great reaction (as usual)!
the cruelty was just that but also how it brings us into the song... her family was no chelaunt about his death.. then we learn they threw "somthing" off the bridge, which pulls us in.. but we never find out what... then 5 minutes after the song ends.. we too forget about the darkness of what was going on.. and went on with our lives... genius song
@@gripp62 Wow,I just seen your comment about Reba and her song Fancy, I did not know that it wasn't her's, omg,I love Reba and the Song,and I love Bobbie Gentry was the Original singer, I'm fixing to check it out. Thank you for that information Sir and I hope you have a blessed day 🙏
She lives in Tennessee but no longer performs. She was quoted as saying, Nobody wants to see a woman my age perform." I absolutely would love to hear her sing again!
Me too. And for that matter, I’ve seen one more or less recent picture of her in her beautiful Southern-styled-very feminine-living room, And she is still gorgeous-trim and petite-looking, dressed impeccably, with her hair up-it’s a beautiful white now-and her face still looking young and like a flower, still with that adorable under lip. She’s just the epitome of an old-school southern woman in that she doesn’t let the side down, she still takes care to appear attractive and feminine and classy. I believe it’s her son by Jim Stanford in the picture with her. He seems to be tall/at any rate he’s way taller than her-and the picture of them together is so sweet. I’ve seen a few reactions from male reactors on YT, and they’re still falling in love with her beauty and mystery and femininity.
Retired music teacher here 😁. sharing that moment with someone who is hearing a musical masterpiece for the first time is always priceless. Keep looking, learning and listening. So many fantastic musical works across countless countries, cultures, genres, not too mention centuries! Enjoy
it is the same, for me, with a beloved classic movie, too. When watching (or listening) with someone whose never seen/heard it before it is almost (almost) as good as seeing/hearing it for the first time yourself.
Bobbie is still alive and well at 80. She never revealed what they threw off the bridge. It's all speculation. Just the fact that they turned a song into a movie is incredible. Great reaction.
Younger generations were not brought up on storytelling music ( I was 5 when this came out) like us older folks your reaction is a joy to watch. The way you followed the words is so sweet!!
@@doctorfeinstone6524 There is only emptiness in most of the music being made these days, it is like the movies young people watching them keep talking over the scenes because they are not used to being "led" by the dialogue/events on the screen.
The thing thrown off the bridge is a red herring and the song is experiment on unconscious cruelty both about how nobody really cares about Billy Joe, but also how the girls own family ignores how its effecting her
I was eight years old when that song came out. I just fell in love with her after seeing her and hearing her. She actually wrote it too. I remember it knocked "All You Need is Love" off No 1 on the charts. Great song beautiful woman.
Bobbie was a huge star from 1965 to 1975, , She was the 1st female singer songwriter of her generation ,she could not be controlled by the music industry, She wrote produced and sang her own music... She is the original/ She is a legend... This song went on to win 3 grammys the 1st time for a country artist she also had the number one song in a country, Which knocked The Beatles off the Billboard charts, She went on to be one of the biggest selling artists of this era...
I remember hearing, and being chilled by, this song as a kid. I'd say it was the first song I ever heard that affected me emotionally. I still remember moment when the meaning, or rather the reveal of the relationship between the narrator and Billie Joe, clicked on the lines, "Mama said to me child, what's happened to your appetite/I've been cooking all morning and you haven't touched a single bite," and I just "got" the song in that instant, that this girl was sitting at the dinner table hearing the news of her lover's death related in an off-hand and casual way and wasn't able to show her emotion to her family.
This happened to me when I was a bit younger maybe 10. I instantly thought how can her parents not care about a person they know that killed himself (I had great parents that I knew would never react that way). You did mail it
I got the feeling a child was involved. It's left to the imaginatiion as to if that is what was thrown from the bridge...hidden pregnancy, miscarriage ??? The father couldn't be that cold do he toom his own life too but the girl could not talk about it. None of them could or would talk about it ❤
People miss that it’s two stories, the bigger one is how she encapsulates southern country life at this time. My Grandparents would have sat around the table and had very a similar conversation. Tragedy was common and the “local news” wasn’t on TV, it was parlor talk. PS, I love your knowledge of music, and fact that you can sing any note you hear!
I agree. I'm 71 now, and live in Minnesota. But for much of my life I lived down South (TN, GA, VA) and I grew up on a farm. Back then (when this song was made) most parents would have gone through both the Great Depression AND World War 2. So death was just a part of life. Nobody was happy about it, but nobody got all drama queen over it, either, unless they had a deep personal connection to the one who died. In my opinion, it was a good way to live. This is a great song, highlighting the diverse ways in which people react to death...
Exactly you nailed it; I was a young boy from the South; when this tune was first released. It speaks volumes to art imitating life; so hauntingly beautiful in such an iconic memorably bittersweet way. Bobby Gentry takes ya back; lays ya down then sings your soul like a breeze sent from heaven scented with honeysuckle vine. She Leaves ya longing for no place on earth like the great magnolia state where lunch was called dinner; and not only at the kitchen table but through out the community every ones elders were addressed mam and Sir; spoken with highest regard; O' the feel of a Mississippi morning and hot afternoon; evening shade; then the cool tone of the night sky filled with the sounds of all Gods nocturnal creation beneath those Mississippi stars. And Lord only knows the dreams and wishes that were made by every child born and raised in the South but especially in Mississippi beneath her bright Magnolia stars. Philippians 1:3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,
I'm from Carroll County but live 100 miles away now and drove all the way to Greenwood last year to see the 3rd of June remembrance of this song. I was hoping to see and hear Bobbie, but I heard blues music instead.
@@frankethomas1248 Yes. I agree. This would have been the same for my family in my parents and grandparents years of growing up in the hills of TN. Life was very rough for them. A hard life creates hard people. Everyone lived with tragedies every day. Not a lot of energy to get upset over all of them. Does not mean that they did not care. They sure did, but they had to accept it, pick each other up and keep going.
The reason she could not eat (like when her mother said she cooked all morning and she hadn't eaten a bite) and tossed flowers off the bridge was because she was in love with him and no one knew.
One of the greatest mysteries in song ever - what did they throw off the bridge and why did he jump to his death. Bobbie liked to write songs that really made the listener struggle with their thoughts and feelings about hard situations in life. Another example of this is the song Fancy, which she also wrote, and that Reba McIntyre made famous.
@@susanoakley7322 In fact, Bobbie recorded a version of it on the album that was also titled Fancy. Even though it's the same song, it sounds very different than Reba's version.
I've always thought it could have been their secret child that had died and the father couldn't deal with the death and so jumped of the bridge in grief......such a sad and atmospheric piece of music
It doesn't matter what they threw off the bridge.What matters is Billy Joe was her boyfriend and her family are not sensitive enough to understand she is hurting.Don't be like her family.
Bobbie is a mystery. She disappeared from the music scene at the height of her popularity in 1982 and never gave a single interview since. She wrote so many amazing songs. One of my favorites is Reunion. Also another awesome one by her is Okolona River Bottom Band.
Her disappearance exemplifies the myth that she is, like this song. She's alive and in obscurity, living quietly. Knowone knows where she lives. Even her whereabouts is a mythological mystery Just amazing
Fun fact, the song "Fancy" that you reacted to by Reba McEntire, was written and first recorded by Bobby Gentry. Makes sense when you consider her philosophy background.
Nobody has ever said what you feel about this performance, lyrics, presentation, and talent like I feel, like you have just now. Amazing. You see it and LOVED YOUR REACTION! KEEP DOIN WHAT YOU DO!!!!@❤
The cruelty was the indifference of her family …..casually eating dinner, matter of factly eating their dinner, while talking of this boy’s death. I remember when it came out, and the biggest speculation was ……what did they throw off the bridge? The most popular theory was that she and Billy Joe had been lovers, she became pregnant and suffered a miscarriage. Then she and Billy Joe “ buried “ the remains in the river. Later Billy was so distraught by this that he threw himself off the bridge.
This was a different time, back when people didn't have much time to mourn, because there were things that had to be done to pay the bills and just live. Not much sympathy was given to those who ended their lives.
@@ffjsb It might have been more location than a time thing. I was alive during those times and we most certainly acknowledged tragedies like that, but I grew up, middle class in the city. To me the song suggests they are a poor Southern family, suggestive of a harder life.
@@ffjsb Yup, that was the most accepted of the different possibilities presented by fans. We also had ... 1. She threw an engagement ring off the Ridge after a fight with Billie Joe breaking off their engagement. 2. Billie Joe asked her to marry him and he said no and he threw the ring he bought for her off the Ridge. 3. That Billie admitted to being gay and she broke off their friendship potentially throwing a bible, religious medal or cross off the Ridge. There were a few others that I can't recall at the moment as well.
When people talk about real, TRUE American Classics, this one is right up there in the Top 10 and I won't hear a word against it! This song is magnificent. The story telling, the composition... and her voice. My God, her voice. Yeah. Classic is damn right.
They just don't do storyline songs like this Grammy winner. It just captivated music America, I was about fourteen when this came out . Bobby is truly brilliant . Ode to Bobby Gentry.
This song is a classic and your reaction is priceless, Britt! I've been a fan of Bobbie and especially this song for many years. Thanks for sharing this!
Gentry was a talented pioneer without a doubt. Part of her brilliance as a songwriter was how she could tell a story & paint a picture with just a few words.
I have always loved her body language when she talks about them putting a frog down her back... Bobbie was a tremendous talent... when she left show business, we lost something special.
I grew up listening to her sing this hauntingly beautiful song. This song received widespread attention, because it is such a well written song, but just as importantly Gentry's writing was adapted for the 1976 film "Ode To Billie Joe" which was based on this song, and this movie was nominated for eight Grammy awards, and Bobbie Gentry and her co-producer won three between them. And you have to remember that this is at a time when women weren't normally recognized and given awards of accomplishments. She was a true pioneer for women's rights. She rose to international fame in 1967 with the success of this song "Ode To Billie Joe" and she charted 11 singles, her album "Fancy" brought her a Grammy nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. After her first album she had a successful run of variety shows on the Los Vegas Strip, but in the late 70's Gentry lost interest in performing, and subsequently retired from the music industry. What I find fascinating is that Gentry was raised by her paternal grandparents on a farm without electricity or running water and her grandmother traded one of the family's milk cows for a neighbor's piano, and at age seven, Gentry composed her first song. Boy I'd love to set down and talk to her about her life and what she experienced, I bet she could share some incredible stories, but sadly we shall probably never know. Enjoyed your reaction as always...you go have the day you deserve too
I love this comment and specifics; however, the song may have been nominated for eight Grammy’s, but movies are not nominated for Grammy’s! If it was a TV movie it would be an Emmy and I don’t remember that.
The music was cut off at the end, the strings finish their descent and land on a long open fifth chord. Bobbi's writing and performance was so brilliant in summer of 1967 she had the entire country sitting around their own dinner tables talking about her song. I was 11 at the time. Your reaction was one of the most brilliant, intelligent I have seen...you figured out early on the song was not really about Billy Jo committing suicide as it was, as Bobbi explained and was ignored by so many out there, the unconscious cruelty of reaction to that suicide, the small town gossip BS, which today we have nonstop 24/7 false narratives and BS on the media that they call news. Bobbi fooled them all, leaving them all hanging on the mystery in the song and watching them all BECOME that same family at the dinner table all over the country, gossiping away...like uncaring fools in the story 😂. People wanted to pigeon hole her as a country singer but she was really a musically educated folk singer. Human beings tend to categorize musicians into a one genre act for their own comfort. Linda Ronstadt was another one they tried to do that to...she pushed back and did it all...check her story out, she snag it all, country, rock, jazz, Hispanic, light opera ...with plenty of Grammys to shove in the face of people who told her not to do what she did including producers.
A very beautiful woman. The facial expressions are adorable. The energetic excited eyes are amazing. The beautiful smile is mesmerizing and tugs at the heart strings. That describes Britt. Bobbie and the song are pretty amazing too. ❤
This is the best song, sings as if we were there watching and at the table. She was impoverished too and decided to leave with nothing to get something. Yes the music is haunting just like the story, and I love your "unconcious putdown" line, exactly.
When this song was first played on all the radios in the USA . . . we were ALL listening intently. This was played and played and played. We were spellbound. Still are.
I think you're the first reactor who has mentioned that 'tumbling' sound that the strings make at the end of the song. I love the orchestration, her guitar playing and the fact that she hits those low notes and it all seems so effortless. I believe she was self taught which makes her even more amazing.
In 1976 this song inspired a movie about what happened to Billy Joe. The movie unsurprisingly named Ode to Billy Joe starred Robby Benson as the movie's name sake
a real balad about southern life. I was fifteen at the time. everyone seemed to know the words and discussed the story. I am so glad that some of you young people have a chance to here such great music and appreciate the emotion of it.
Every time I heard this song my mind built another story to go along with her wonderful voice and lyrics. I lived as a child in a backwoods so they were always sad stories of struggle.
I was born and raised in Greenwood, MS in 1964 where Bobbie Gentry spent some part of her life and in which she mentions the Delta of Mississippi and the Yazoo River and the Tallahatchie River. The Yazoo River literally split the North part of Greenwood from the center of town and the South part of Greenwood. The Tallahatchie River ran north of Greenwood towards a small village that historically was just a couple of shops to service the cotton plantations and the workers and cotton pickers in that area,. The village was named Money, MS. The Tallahatchie Bridge crossed the river just behind the village. That's the bridge mentioned in "Ode To Billie Joe". Now...there are more than one Tallahatchie Bridge in that area. A few miles north of Money, MS is a larger village called Glendora, MS. They too have a Tallahatchie Bridge that crosses the Tallahatchie River running through Glendora. And Glendora MS was founded in the 1800's as a sawmill town and logs cut there were floated down the river to another town called Webb. And all that land in the Delta at one time was the homeland of the Choctaw Native American Nation. Now...there is no "Choctaw Ridge" in that area as mentioned in "Ode To Bille Joe". But there were sawmills in Glendora and that land was once Choctaw land. And both Money, MS and Glendora, MS both have a Tallahatchie Bridge. And both Money and Glendora have something else. They have Emmet Till's memory. For in 1955 at Bryant's Grocery in Money, MS with the Tallahatchie Bridge crossing the river just behind the store, Emmet Till supposedly whistled at the wife of the owner of Bryant's Grocery and set in motion his brutal torture and murder at the hands of the store owner and others in his lynch mob. Later, it has been surmised, that after Till's murder his body was dumped in the Tallahatchie River north of Money, MS in Glendora for it was found just a mile or so down river from the town. Just down river from the now abandoned Black Bayou Bridge which some called the Tallahatchie Bridge because that part of the river was originally called Black Bayou west of town but east of town it's known as the Tallahatchie River.... in Glendora....the sawmill town....on what was once Choctaw land. Now when you listen to "Ode To Billie Joe" as she mentions the "Tallahatchie Bridge" and the "sawmill" on "Choctaw" Ridge and the complete indifference of the fictional family members to Billie Joe's suicide....there could be a much darker subtext on top of the text of the lyrics supposedly about the tragic suicide of a teenage boy in the Delta of Mississippi.
Fantastic historical picture of the setting for this song. By the way, Billy Joe never died. She and Billy threw "something" into the river to get the heat off him. Then he left the area. She was, at the least, close to Billy, if not in love with him. Wonder if they met again, later. Just conjecture, but...
I’ve always thought there was a ‘truth’ to this song. Where someone died in the river. As far as I know she never said so. And it makes sense she wouldn’t want to say it was based on a black man’s murder because maybe she would put herself in danger. I did see an interview where she said that the fact that they were eating Sunday dinner and callously talking about someone’s death was the point of the song. I imagine there were many dinners like that in the vietname war era.
Ok, so I guess It's a song about fictional characters and the then they made a Movie "Ode to Billie Joe". Am I correct? Is there any truth in the story? Beautiful song and a great movie. Really sorta romanticizes the deep south
@@davehoward9045I have read somewhere long ago that she had Emmett Till's murder on her mind but that she wanted the song to be more vague and universal in terms of people's apathy. Part of the way she did this was to bring in a lot of MS landmarks and names into the song that didn't necessarily exist or exist in that location. For instance, there is no Choctaw Ridge in the Delta and nor near Money, MS where the Tallahatchie Bridge is located. However, in the north east part of Mississippi there is a Choctaw Ridge that's pretty much just rural forests. It also just so happens to be located just a few miles south of where Bobbie Gentry was born in Woodland, MS. Also the Carroll County picture show where the song's narrator mentions that her brother, some other kid names Tom and Billie Joe put a frog down the back of her dress. Well...Carroll County is no where near Money, MS or the Tallahatchie Bridge. It's several miles east of Greenwood, MS, my birthplace, and Money is several miles north of Greenwood. I think Bobbie Gentry just needed the correct number of syllables in the lyric at that point to match the beat and the swing of the song. Billie Joe is a myth and a symbol and Bobbie Gentry is in a sense a bit Homeric in the way she weaves this myth with the mentioning of actual places and landmarks in MS but not necessarily in a correct geographical manner. Even going so far as to mention Tupelo, MS where her brother and his wife bought a store and moved to after the death of the narrator's father from some mystery virus. Tupelo....birthplace of....Elvis. This is a gothic Mississippi Greek tragedy all wrapped up in 4 minutes and 15 seconds. She is the GOAT.
@@Karaoke-ny3pcCompletely fictional but as I mentioned to another poster below, it's sort of a Greek tragedy but in a gothic Delta Mississippi style and subject matter. Bobbie Gentry weaves a Mississippi travelogue into the song with various place names she either lived in or was influential to her. So, she was born in Woodland, MS in eastern MS. Just south of where she was born was a place called Choctaw Ridge. But this is not the Choctaw Ridge that she keeps mentioning in the song with the saw mill near the Tallahatchie Bridge, the one the fictional character Bobbie Joe jumps off and commits suicide. In fact, there is no Choctaw Ridge in the Delta and I know because I lived there in Greenwood and worked those cotton fields and crossed that Tallahatchie Bridge numerous times in Money, MS. Also, the Carroll County picture show where her brother, his friend and Bobbie Joe put a frog down the back of the song's narrator is no where near the Tallahatchie Bridge. It's probably a 35 minute or more drive to Carrollton, MS. Now, Bobbie Gentry did grow up in Greenwood where I was born and the Tallahatchie Bridge at Money, MS was right up the road to the north but she moved away from there when she was around 13. Interesting note....if it is true that Bobbie Joe left the Delta at the age of 13 and she was born in July of 1942 that means she very well could have still been in that area when Emmitt Till was lynched in August of 1955 near Money, MS. And the Tallahatchie Bridge is still right behind the store in which Emmitt was accused of whistling and talking back to the white owner's wife which precipitated his lynching. Another interesting note....Bobbie Gentry mentions that the narrator's brother and wife moved away and bought a store in Tupleo, MS. I have to believe this wasn't a coincidence either. For Bobbie Gentry was a huge fan of Elvis who was born in Tupelo, even going so far as performing Elvis in drag in Las Vegas when she had a residency there at one of the casinos. I mean, the scarves, the flair bottom pants, the windmill arms, the karate moves. It was so good that Elvis got wind of it and came and saw one of her shows. They had a lifelong friendship afterwards. Elvis even introduced her on stage at the end of his 1973 tour.
I really enjoy your reactions and you have an a great voice yourself!!!!. There was a movie in the 70's called Ode to Billy Joe with Robbie Benson in it, it was a very good movie.
Be careful bringing up the movie. I mentioned it once in another reaction to this and some guy crawled up my a*s about how the movie had nothing to do with the song and he apparently was in her mind when she wrote it and there for negotiations when the movie was made. The guy was nuts and completely loses it about the movie.
@@shannonbennett987 I remember seeing the movie way back in the 70s, it was a great movie as I remember & everybody talked about how good it was. Nevermind the nuts, they're everywhere as we all know, there's one in every crowd 👍✌️
As I was searching for this movie, I see that it was directed by Max Baer Jr. If you're very old you might know him as Jethro Bodine on The Beverly Hillbillies. Just putting that tidbit out there for no good reason, other than I thought it was interesting.
Bobby Gentry is an American singer-songwriter who was one of the first female artists to compose & produce her own material. A lot of her songs were stories. Her biggest hit was in 1967 with "Ode To Billy Joe". Other songs are "Mississippi Delta", "Fancy", "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head", "I'll Never Fall In Love Again", "Sunday Mornin" (with Glen Campbell) etc.
You need to go down that rabbit hole. She's still living. They've only seen one picture of her in the last decades and she's still absolutely beautiful. Great song writer. Amazing story!!
Me too the and a few years later Don MClaine American Pie that was the year I left home hitchhiking to Dallas Texas and later on to New Orleans . this video brings back some old and powerful memories for me !
Ah... I loved / hated that song growing up. I had a .45 of it, and played it constantly on rotation on those hot, rainy days. When I found this video, I could still sing along, even though I hadn't heard it in years and years!! It IS a brilliant story song, a slice of life in a small town that captures a tragedy from so many angles. A true classic. Thanks!!
Great job with a terrific old song, Britt. I am adding this to my folder of Exceptional Reaction Videos. You reacted just as millions of others have over the decades. Classy too. Thank you.
this song was absolutely HUGE in '67. it was one of the earlier country songs to ever be played on any rock stations - it crossed all lines. i was 14 and to say i loved bobby would be an understatement. every guy i knew was head over heels and a lot of girls too !
The original recording is one of the perfect records, right up there with The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face. It's so intimate that you get to the end of the song and realized you haven't breathed in 2-1/2 minutes.
Interesting fact, There were originally about 11 verses or so that she wrote and sang on the recording, which by the way was just a guitar demo that she did and the record label thought it was so good they just added an acoustic stand up bass and the string section you hear. They edited the song down to playable length for radio and released it and it became a huge hit) The remaining verses that were cut out and which as far as I know, have never been published publicly are reportedly stored away in a vault in the Mississippi State Archives. This live performance is a jewel! Oh, and the actual bridge which you see in the video was burned by vandals and later collapsed into the river in 1972
One of the things that always struck me about this story... life goes on... cotton to chop, fields to plow... meals to prepare, church, visitors, illness, death... Back when the movie Titanic was big, I was visiting my grandmother who was 10 years old at the time the Titanic sunk... I asked her, as a young girl in Kansas, what it like... news was of course word of mouth or local newspapers... she paused for a moment and said "It was big news for a week or so, then life went on". Isn't it true...
Thank you for doing a respectful, sensitive interpretation of the song, “Ode to Billy Joe “. Please remember there was a movie made a few years after this song came out about young love, small-town, mindedness, suicide, and peoples’ reactions to it. If you get a chance, try to watch the movie if you can find it. It’s a haunting movie. It’s also very well done.
The part with mama talking about the preacher. The timing of the pause that Bobbie does just before the line “oh, by the way….”is just perfection. Just like most of the song that is a scene of normal conversation/activities at a dinner table, the pause seems so natural but also just pulls the listener in. And the listener can feel the song narrater’s anxiety or even panic anticipating what the mother is going to say(knows) next. At least that is how I see it . Also myself having southern roots(also Mississippi) my mind picturing the dinner actually at midday as is often the case in south, not evening.
I am on boatd with the meal at the table was a mid day meal, southern speak they had three meals breakfast dinner and supper which are sometimes referred alsewhete as breakfast lunch and dinner, so it being set in the south I'd agree on only that point, but there is another reason. Then farming was done only in daytime hours, the father, not to discount Billy Joe's passing, changes topic to one that he saw as more important and pressing, and spoke of having 5 more acres to plow, as in, something he was more concerned with doing that afternoon, once the currently talked over dinner/lunch meal was done. So, I think you nailed the timing on this being a mid day meal dinner, rather than evening meal else she would have had it convey it to be 5 acres to plow tomorrow. work for the following day or tomorrow and Bobbis writing would have referred to the mid day meal as dinner, not lunch just by its setting being in the southern states. Where dinner was 2nd meal and Supper was the evening and final meal of ones day. Dinner elsewhere some times gets exchanged with what southerners call supper. So, considering the setting the times and conversation concerning what the father said I agree it wad an afternoon lunch break dinner they were conversing over. Now that we have that question answered, Answer me this, what did they throw off the talahatchee bridge before Billy Joe decided to jump off it?
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❤❤❤
I thought the "good ole boys" taunted and raped him bc he dressed better and "acted uppity". I felt THEY questioned his sexuality, not him questioning it so much. He was a dreamer, still childlike who didn't fit in there.
Hello from France. After 4 hours of different people reaction videos on songs, I come across your analysis of one of my favorite songs, and I love your reaction. You have a very fine and sharp analysis, I like all the details that you noticed, and in addition you have a superb voice! Thank you I subscribe !!!
This song is about a particular event in her life and how it plays out in her life through her eyes... and then how her life moves on afterward. It is depicted as how she would perceive it while going through her normal routine...working in the field, sitting at the lunch table, interacting with her family, the preacher and then as time went on. There is an air of unconscious cruelty on some people's part, however it's not about unconscious cruelty per se. The entire song just focused on her; what she recognizes that other people are doing such as eating, speaking, recollecting, asking her. I have been a fan of this song for 56 years. Listen to it for a few dozen times and it will become apparent
If you liked that one, you should try "Harper Valley PTA" by Jeanie C. Riley. It sold over six-million copies and made Riley the first woman to top both the Billboard Hot 100 and the U.S. Hot Country Singles charts.
Harper Valley PTA is a wonderful song written by the legendary country storyteller Tom T. Hall. It's a shame country music isn't country any more. The banjo, fiddle, and steel guitar have been traded in for Stratocasters. Don't get me wrong. I like a good rock song, but don't try to tell me a pig is a horse or a cow is a chicken. I can tell the difference.
@@albondigas9549 Buck and I wouldn't have any problems. He would be smacking around a few so-called country stars however. Taylor Swift wanted to be a pop star and left country music behind. I have no argument with her over that. But what bugs me is some, not all but some, people who claim to be country and their band is playing like a Rush cover band. If you call yourself country be country. If you want to be rock, go be rock. I may even listen to you. A cowboy hat doesn't make you country. And nothing against cowboy hats or boots. Love 'em. And I love Buck Owens. Even The Beatles covered his song Act Naturally with Ringo taking lead vocals.
I remember when the song came out and it still hasn't ended for me. I'm still wondering what it all meant. I've heard plenty of speculation but none that really seem to fit. Great reaction, Britt!
I was 11 years old when this song was released and too this very day it sends a cold chill down my spine. It was the best song of the time and i always love listening to it. Another thing I like is the way their having this conversation and are totally disconnected from the fact that poor billy joe had taken his own life.
One of her Ex-husbands was another Singer named Jim Stafford... In a Stark Contrast to Bobby, He did Comedic Songs like "(I don't Like) Spiders and Snakes", and a cover of "The Wildwood Flower". The Song was cut off. GREAT Reaction!
I meant to include this but forgot. As a little girl, I remember when "Ode To Billie Joe" was played on the car radio...ALL OF THE TIME! Being from Mississippi myself, we naturally thought the song was the best thing EVER written! I am originally from New Albany which is about 20 miles North of Tupelo. Tupelo is where ELVIS was born and raised. By the way, New Albany is the birthplace of William Faulkner, the award winning author! Getting back to "Ode To Billie Joe". The Talahatchie River runs through New Albany, but it is small. It gets much larger the farther south that you go. There are many theories about what was thrown into the river! Many people believe that it was a baby. However, one theory, in particular, says that Billie Joe was gay and jumped to his death from shame! You must remember, this was a very different time! Also one theory implies that he jumped in after a rag doll that he had thrown in. In order to throw away his shame after his father, who was physically abusive raped him, he held on to the rag doll to have something to hold on to physically! Then he threw away the doll so that he could literally throw away his shame and mental anguish! A movie was made about the song. Robbie Benson starred in it, but I cannot remember much else about it! Please delve into the rabbit hole of Bobby Gentry's life! Several books have been written about her and the song "Ode To Billie Joe". You will be so glad that you did! I have to tell you, I ABSOLUTELY LOVE YOUR ENTHUSIASM!!! Please continue to react to as many songs as possible! You have a huge talent for it and are very inciteful! I have to say that you are my favorite reactionist!!! Thank you so much for this one! I loved it!
you would think bobbie gentry herself lived the lyrics of this song by the way she wrote it, played it and sang it. she captures all the knowns and unknowns about a tragic situation in her very thought provoking delivery and it hits it's mark in all of us. you can't hear it and not be touched in some fashion. the music all around her is epic too helping convey the depth of the story. nobody else can sing this song but her. nobody! she, and this song, is a picture of her southern upbringing and all goes down as a classic forever. one classy lady miss bobbie gentry, that's for sure .....
According to Bobbie, the story was never about what was thrown off the bridge, it was about everyone's complete disconnect from the fact that this young man took his own life. It's a great song and your reaction was priceless.
Exactly....Gentry said this a long time ago and STILL people think, like some dime store novel, it's about what was thrown off the bridge, and speculate to no end why Billy Jo jumped off the bridge. Even a very bad TV movie was made about this with a made up BS story why he jumped off the bridge to cash in on the song's story, which was never the point of the song. I don't think Bobbi Gentry even approved of the story.
What was being thrown of the Tallahatchee Bridge was a Macguffin.
They made a movie about it.
@@mikecavaretta2621 Is that you Alfred Hitchcock?
I remember it was made into a tv movie with some dark exploration of why Billy jumped.
Came for the song. Stayed for your reactions. 😎
glad you enjoyed it!
It was like hearing it the 1st time again.
This song is an absolute classic. There was a time when everybody in North America knew that Billie Joe McCallister jumped off the Tallahatchee Bridge and were obsessed with figuring out why. You simply could not turn on the radio without hearing Bobby Gentry's haunting tale. After all these years, I still love it.
Billy Joe was a dude. Billie is a girl's name, he was Billy. You got the Joe part right, a girl would be Jo.
Actually, the why is in the movie: Gentry helped make the film. A man plied Billy Joe with alcohol and assaulted him.
In the movie he isn't afraid of the man. The religious nonsense of "god doesn't approve" is what tortured the character.
@@angelabluebird609 The movie had to provide an answer and this is what was chosen; as I understand it, Miss Gentry never intended there to be a definitive answer as it wasn't the point of her song.
I heard Billy Joe was gay and at that time, it wasn't accepted so he ended it all 😢
Fantastic reaction.. You got it all babe!... Now go find and watch the movie. "ode to Billy Joe"... 😉
I kind of felt like the movie took a sharp left into ick though. I HATED the idea that he killed himself over sexuality. I had a major crush on Robby Benson though, so that might have had a little to do with it at the time. 🤭 I prefer the song to the movie interpretation is all I'm getting at. 😉
Yes! The movie is a classic.
Exactly❤
Is on you tube. I watched again recently. Holds up for sure.
Robbie Benson was my favorite '70s-80s actor.
I almost envy you getting to hear this song for the first time. I was 12 years old when the song came out (it went to # 1 knocking the Beatles out of the spot). I was fascinated by not just the story, but her sad voice, and the fact that her family was so indifferent while she sat in silence, obviously devastated by the news. Great song!
Thank you - love your "analysis".. so many people cannot get beyond literal interpretations..
Yes this is a great song and her delivery just draws you into the story as much as the lyrics do. I think the “unconscious cruelty” of the song is that no one in her family, not even her mother, seemed to have a clue that she had pretty strong feelings for Billy Joe. They talked about the tragedy so nonchalantly over dinner and then went about their day while she was so affected that a year later, she is still tossing flowers in the river in his memory. Great reaction (as usual)!
This is exactly it. Such a timeless, powerful song, and still so relevant... Callousness...
the cruelty was just that but also how it brings us into the song... her family was no chelaunt about his death.. then we learn they threw "somthing" off the bridge, which pulls us in.. but we never find out what... then 5 minutes after the song ends.. we too forget about the darkness of what was going on.. and went on with our lives... genius song
If you like Reba McEntire's song "Fancy", the original was done by Bobbie Gentry!
@@gripp62 Wow,I just seen your comment about Reba and her song Fancy, I did not know that it wasn't her's, omg,I love Reba and the Song,and I love Bobbie Gentry was the Original singer, I'm fixing to check it out. Thank you for that information Sir and I hope you have a blessed day 🙏
You should watch the movie gives more to the story. Is Mitch more involved than most people get from the song
She lives in Tennessee but no longer performs. She was quoted as saying, Nobody wants to see a woman my age perform." I absolutely would love to hear her sing again!
Me too. And for that matter, I’ve seen one more or less recent picture of her in her beautiful Southern-styled-very feminine-living room, And she is still gorgeous-trim and petite-looking, dressed impeccably, with her hair up-it’s a beautiful white now-and her face still looking young and like a flower, still with that adorable under lip. She’s just the epitome of an old-school southern woman in that she doesn’t let the side down, she still takes care to appear attractive and feminine and classy.
I believe it’s her son by Jim Stanford in the picture with her. He seems to be tall/at any rate he’s way taller than her-and the picture of them together is so sweet.
I’ve seen a few reactions from male reactors on YT, and they’re still falling in love with her beauty and mystery and femininity.
🙏 amen
Our music back then had a lot of life.
Retired music teacher here 😁. sharing that moment with someone who is hearing a musical masterpiece for the first time is always priceless.
Keep looking, learning and listening. So many fantastic musical works across countless countries, cultures, genres, not too mention centuries!
Enjoy
it is the same, for me, with a beloved classic movie, too. When watching (or listening) with someone whose never seen/heard it before it is almost (almost) as good as seeing/hearing it for the first time yourself.
That music absolutely sounds like a Mississippi summer feels.
The way she sings this song, it makes me feel that I'm at the dinner table and listening to the conversation.
Yesss
Bobbie is still alive and well at 80. She never revealed what they threw off the bridge. It's all speculation. Just the fact that they turned a song into a movie is incredible. Great reaction.
I saw This Movie in 1976 at a Drive inn in Whittier California i was 21 years old at the time
@@alohabobbylaguna1702But Bobbie didn’t have anything to do with the movie.
@@patticakes8656 The lead female character is a girl named Bobbie Lee who is in love with Billie Joe.
@ And the songwriter/singer is named Bobbie
Younger generations were not brought up on storytelling music ( I was 5 when this came out) like us older folks your reaction is a joy to watch. The way you followed the words is so sweet!!
Yes. They most definitely were. You have to know their music to know what it contains
@@doctorfeinstone6524 There is only emptiness in most of the music being made these days, it is like the movies young people watching them keep talking over the scenes because they are not used to being "led" by the dialogue/events on the screen.
@@isabelsilva62023 i believe you nailed it Isabel
The thing thrown off the bridge is a red herring and the song is experiment on unconscious cruelty both about how nobody really cares about Billy Joe, but also how the girls own family ignores how its effecting her
I was eight years old when that song came out. I just fell in love with her after seeing her and hearing her. She actually wrote it too. I remember it knocked "All You Need is Love" off No 1 on the charts. Great song beautiful woman.
Bobbie was a huge star from 1965 to 1975, , She was the 1st female singer songwriter of her generation ,she could not be controlled by the music industry, She wrote produced and sang her own music... She is the original/ She is a legend...
This song went on to win 3 grammys the 1st time for a country artist she also had the number one song in a country, Which knocked The Beatles off the Billboard charts, She went on to be one of the biggest selling artists of this era...
She became a legend.
I remember hearing, and being chilled by, this song as a kid. I'd say it was the first song I ever heard that affected me emotionally. I still remember moment when the meaning, or rather the reveal of the relationship between the narrator and Billie Joe, clicked on the lines, "Mama said to me child, what's happened to your appetite/I've been cooking all morning and you haven't touched a single bite," and I just "got" the song in that instant, that this girl was sitting at the dinner table hearing the news of her lover's death related in an off-hand and casual way and wasn't able to show her emotion to her family.
You nailed it
Same! Except i was about 7 at the time.
This happened to me when I was a bit younger maybe 10. I instantly thought how can her parents not care about a person they know that killed himself (I had great parents that I knew would never react that way). You did mail it
I got the feeling a child was involved. It's left to the imaginatiion as to if that is what was thrown from the bridge...hidden pregnancy, miscarriage ??? The father couldn't be that cold do he toom his own life too but the girl could not talk about it. None of them could or would talk about it ❤
Y E S !!!!!!!!!!
People miss that it’s two stories, the bigger one is how she encapsulates southern country life at this time. My Grandparents would have sat around the table and had very a similar conversation. Tragedy was common and the “local news” wasn’t on TV, it was parlor talk. PS, I love your knowledge of music, and fact that you can sing any note you hear!
I agree. I'm 71 now, and live in Minnesota. But for much of my life I lived down South (TN, GA, VA) and I grew up on a farm. Back then (when this song was made) most parents would have gone through both the Great Depression AND World War 2. So death was just a part of life. Nobody was happy about it, but nobody got all drama queen over it, either, unless they had a deep personal connection to the one who died. In my opinion, it was a good way to live. This is a great song, highlighting the diverse ways in which people react to death...
I grew up in poverty in the south, and I heard that, also. You are too tired trying to survive to get too excited about another tragedy.
Exactly you nailed it; I was a young boy from the South; when this tune was first released.
It speaks volumes to art imitating life; so hauntingly beautiful in such an iconic memorably bittersweet way.
Bobby Gentry takes ya back; lays ya down then sings your soul like a breeze sent from heaven scented with honeysuckle vine. She Leaves ya longing for no place on earth like the great magnolia state where lunch was called dinner; and not only at the kitchen table but through out the community every ones elders were addressed mam and Sir; spoken with highest regard; O' the feel of a Mississippi morning and hot afternoon; evening shade; then the cool tone of the night sky filled with the sounds of all Gods nocturnal creation beneath those Mississippi stars.
And Lord only knows the dreams and wishes that were made by every child born and raised in the South
but especially in Mississippi beneath her bright Magnolia stars.
Philippians 1:3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,
I'm from Carroll County but live 100 miles away now and drove all the way to Greenwood last year to see the 3rd of June remembrance of this song. I was hoping to see and hear Bobbie, but I heard blues music instead.
@@frankethomas1248 Yes. I agree. This would have been the same for my family in my parents and grandparents years of growing up in the hills of TN. Life was very rough for them. A hard life creates hard people. Everyone lived with tragedies every day. Not a lot of energy to get upset over all of them. Does not mean that they did not care. They sure did, but they had to accept it, pick each other up and keep going.
Great reaction to one of the most unusual number-one hit records of all time. Fantastic performance by Bobbie.
The reason she could not eat (like when her mother said she cooked all morning and she hadn't eaten a bite) and tossed flowers off the bridge was because she was in love with him and no one knew.
IMO, Billie Joe and the singer had a secret and the singer knows why he jumped off the bridge.
You have to listen to her other son Fancy. Reba remade that song. I wish Bobbie was still singing
WTF, she ate two pieces of apple pie.
She was impregnated by him they threw the fetus off the bridge or baby
@@MichaelCarlo-s5ffinally someone who get it right. Thank you. Baby discarded, father cant live with the guilt and kills himself
One of the greatest mysteries in song ever - what did they throw off the bridge and why did he jump to his death. Bobbie liked to write songs that really made the listener struggle with their thoughts and feelings about hard situations in life. Another example of this is the song Fancy, which she also wrote, and that Reba McIntyre made famous.
I had no idea. I thought Reba wrote that.
@@susanoakley7322 In fact, Bobbie recorded a version of it on the album that was also titled Fancy. Even though it's the same song, it sounds very different than Reba's version.
I've always thought it could have been their secret child that had died and the father couldn't deal with the death and so jumped of the bridge in grief......such a sad and atmospheric piece of music
Watch the movie. It's based on a true story.
It doesn't matter what they threw off the bridge.What matters is Billy Joe was her boyfriend and her family are not sensitive enough to understand she is hurting.Don't be like her family.
In the sixties we all ate around the table like a family and talk just like this brings back good memories all six kids and Mom and Daddy around table
Bobbie is a mystery. She disappeared from the music scene at the height of her popularity in 1982 and never gave a single interview since. She wrote so many amazing songs. One of my favorites is Reunion. Also another awesome one by her is Okolona River Bottom Band.
Her disappearance exemplifies the myth that she is, like this song. She's alive and in obscurity, living quietly. Knowone knows where she lives. Even her whereabouts is a mythological mystery
Just amazing
There are some reports I’ve read on the Internet, that Bobbie Gentry lives a quiet life in the Los Angeles area.
She also wrote Fancy.
This was Dad’s favorite song! Brings back so many memories! 😭😭😭
She paints such an amazing picture. This song is a classic.
Fun fact, the song "Fancy" that you reacted to by Reba McEntire, was written and first recorded by Bobby Gentry. Makes sense when you consider her philosophy background.
Reba was quoted as saying once that she owes a large chunk of her career to this woman and she never even got her one the phone once to thank her.
What??? I had no idea that this song was not Reba's but now I can hear Bobbie Gentry in the lyrics (now that I know she is there) mind blown!🤯🙃😊
All of us that grew up with Bobbie's original version of "Fancy" never thought that Reba's was even close.
Nobody has ever said what you feel about this performance, lyrics, presentation, and talent like I feel, like you have just now. Amazing. You see it and LOVED YOUR REACTION! KEEP DOIN WHAT YOU DO!!!!@❤
The cruelty was the indifference of her family …..casually eating dinner, matter of factly eating their dinner, while talking of this boy’s death. I remember when it came out, and the biggest speculation was ……what did they throw off the bridge? The most popular theory was that she and Billy Joe had been lovers, she became pregnant and suffered a miscarriage. Then she and Billy Joe “ buried “ the remains in the river. Later Billy was so distraught by this that he threw himself off the bridge.
This was a different time, back when people didn't have much time to mourn, because there were things that had to be done to pay the bills and just live. Not much sympathy was given to those who ended their lives.
@@ffjsb It might have been more location than a time thing. I was alive during those times and we most certainly acknowledged tragedies like that, but I grew up, middle class in the city. To me the song suggests they are a poor Southern family, suggestive of a harder life.
@@cheryla7480 Definitely they had a harder life. And back then, even in the urban areas, suicide was socially unacceptable.
@@ffjsb Yup, that was the most accepted of the different possibilities presented by fans. We also had ...
1. She threw an engagement ring off the Ridge after a fight with Billie Joe breaking off their engagement.
2. Billie Joe asked her to marry him and he said no and he threw the ring he bought for her off the Ridge.
3. That Billie admitted to being gay and she broke off their friendship potentially throwing a bible, religious medal or cross off the Ridge.
There were a few others that I can't recall at the moment as well.
@@RedDawnRocker Back when the song came out, I don't think being gay was on many people's radar. Different times...
This song never gets old, sounds better every time you hear it.
When people talk about real, TRUE American Classics, this one is right up there in the Top 10 and I won't hear a word against it!
This song is magnificent. The story telling, the composition... and her voice. My God, her voice.
Yeah. Classic is damn right.
They just don't do storyline songs like this Grammy winner. It just captivated music America, I was about fourteen when this came out . Bobby is truly brilliant . Ode to Bobby Gentry.
We understood it to be a miscarriage and the fetus was what was thrown of the bridge
This song is a classic and your reaction is priceless, Britt! I've been a fan of Bobbie and especially this song for many years. Thanks for sharing this!
one of my favorite songs of all time. what a great voice she had!
Billy Joe Mattered... I took that message from the song... All people matter, until people decide they don't... Be Safe and Love One Another
She came to my Jr high school in the bronx and sang that song you could not hear a sound but her beautiful voice I will never forget❤
Gentry was a talented pioneer without a doubt. Part of her brilliance as a songwriter was how she could tell a story & paint a picture with just a few words.
I have always loved her body language when she talks about them putting a frog down her back... Bobbie was a tremendous talent... when she left show business, we lost something special.
She was also business savvy. She was one of the original owners of the Phoenix Suns.
I grew up listening to her sing this hauntingly beautiful song. This song received widespread attention, because it is such a well written song, but just as importantly Gentry's writing was adapted for the 1976 film "Ode To Billie Joe" which was based on this song, and this movie was nominated for eight Grammy awards, and Bobbie Gentry and her co-producer won three between them. And you have to remember that this is at a time when women weren't normally recognized and given awards of accomplishments. She was a true pioneer for women's rights. She rose to international fame in 1967 with the success of this song "Ode To Billie Joe" and she charted 11 singles, her album "Fancy" brought her a Grammy nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. After her first album she had a successful run of variety shows on the Los Vegas Strip, but in the late 70's Gentry lost interest in performing, and subsequently retired from the music industry. What I find fascinating is that Gentry was raised by her paternal grandparents on a farm without electricity or running water and her grandmother traded one of the family's milk cows for a neighbor's piano, and at age seven, Gentry composed her first song. Boy I'd love to set down and talk to her about her life and what she experienced, I bet she could share some incredible stories, but sadly we shall probably never know. Enjoyed your reaction as always...you go have the day you deserve too
i was in the canadian navy at the time 1968 and an american girl sang this difficult song in the coffee house! amazing
I love this comment and specifics; however, the song may have been nominated for eight Grammy’s, but movies are not nominated for Grammy’s! If it was a TV movie it would be an Emmy and I don’t remember that.
Absolutely love your Reaction and Awe of the older classics and the Skill of the Singers!!Your Terrific
Great reaction. I love Miss Bobbie Gentry. Very talented artist.
The music was cut off at the end, the strings finish their descent and land on a long open fifth chord. Bobbi's writing and performance was so brilliant in summer of 1967 she had the entire country sitting around their own dinner tables talking about her song. I was 11 at the time. Your reaction was one of the most brilliant, intelligent I have seen...you figured out early on the song was not really about Billy Jo committing suicide as it was, as Bobbi explained and was ignored by so many out there, the unconscious cruelty of reaction to that suicide, the small town gossip BS, which today we have nonstop 24/7 false narratives and BS on the media that they call news. Bobbi fooled them all, leaving them all hanging on the mystery in the song and watching them all BECOME that same family at the dinner table all over the country, gossiping away...like uncaring fools in the story 😂. People wanted to pigeon hole her as a country singer but she was really a musically educated folk singer. Human beings tend to categorize musicians into a one genre act for their own comfort. Linda Ronstadt was another one they tried to do that to...she pushed back and did it all...check her story out, she snag it all, country, rock, jazz, Hispanic, light opera ...with plenty of Grammys to shove in the face of people who told her not to do what she did including producers.
Man, I adore Linda’s Blue Bayou ❤️❤️❤️
She was the original writer and singer of Fancy. Reba McIntyre later made a cover of it, but nobody can do it like Bobbie Gentry. Check out Fancy.
A very beautiful woman. The facial expressions are adorable. The energetic excited eyes are amazing. The beautiful smile is mesmerizing and tugs at the heart strings. That describes Britt. Bobbie and the song are pretty amazing too. ❤
I recall when it came out, not only her amazing voice, but her stunning good looks. I was somewhat younger, but wished I looked like her.
I love that you picked up on "after church Sunday night", and what that means. I was raised that way.
I love this song....and seeing her do it in person really takes it to another level, IMO.
This is the best song, sings as if we were there watching and at the table. She was impoverished too and decided to leave with nothing to get something. Yes the music is haunting just like the story, and I love your "unconcious putdown" line, exactly.
When this song was first played on all the radios in the USA . . . we were ALL listening intently. This was played and played and played. We were spellbound. Still are.
One of the best ballads ever. Every young man in the late 60s grew up in love with Bobbie Gentry.
I remember this song and the movie, such a sad story, song.
I think you're the first reactor who has mentioned that 'tumbling' sound that the strings make at the end of the song. I love the orchestration, her guitar playing and the fact that she hits those low notes and it all seems so effortless. I believe she was self taught which makes her even more amazing.
She was self taught but did study music in college too
Harry Chapin, Simon and Garfunkle, Barry Manilow, Neil Diamond, Dolly Parton. So many greats in the 60s, 70's!!
In 1976 this song inspired a movie about what happened to Billy Joe. The movie unsurprisingly named Ode to Billy Joe starred Robby Benson as the movie's name sake
a real balad about southern life. I was fifteen at the time. everyone seemed to know the words and discussed the story. I am so glad that some of you young people have a chance to here such great music and appreciate the emotion of it.
Every time I heard this song my mind built another story to go along with her wonderful voice and lyrics. I lived as a child in a backwoods so they were always sad stories of struggle.
I was born and raised in Greenwood, MS in 1964 where Bobbie Gentry spent some part of her life and in which she mentions the Delta of Mississippi and the Yazoo River and the Tallahatchie River. The Yazoo River literally split the North part of Greenwood from the center of town and the South part of Greenwood. The Tallahatchie River ran north of Greenwood towards a small village that historically was just a couple of shops to service the cotton plantations and the workers and cotton pickers in that area,. The village was named Money, MS. The Tallahatchie Bridge crossed the river just behind the village. That's the bridge mentioned in "Ode To Billie Joe".
Now...there are more than one Tallahatchie Bridge in that area. A few miles north of Money, MS is a larger village called Glendora, MS. They too have a Tallahatchie Bridge that crosses the Tallahatchie River running through Glendora. And Glendora MS was founded in the 1800's as a sawmill town and logs cut there were floated down the river to another town called Webb. And all that land in the Delta at one time was the homeland of the Choctaw Native American Nation.
Now...there is no "Choctaw Ridge" in that area as mentioned in "Ode To Bille Joe". But there were sawmills in Glendora and that land was once Choctaw land. And both Money, MS and Glendora, MS both have a Tallahatchie Bridge.
And both Money and Glendora have something else. They have Emmet Till's memory. For in 1955 at Bryant's Grocery in Money, MS with the Tallahatchie Bridge crossing the river just behind the store, Emmet Till supposedly whistled at the wife of the owner of Bryant's Grocery and set in motion his brutal torture and murder at the hands of the store owner and others in his lynch mob. Later, it has been surmised, that after Till's murder his body was dumped in the Tallahatchie River north of Money, MS in Glendora for it was found just a mile or so down river from the town. Just down river from the now abandoned Black Bayou Bridge which some called the Tallahatchie Bridge because that part of the river was originally called Black Bayou west of town but east of town it's known as the Tallahatchie River.... in Glendora....the sawmill town....on what was once Choctaw land.
Now when you listen to "Ode To Billie Joe" as she mentions the "Tallahatchie Bridge" and the "sawmill" on "Choctaw" Ridge and the complete indifference of the fictional family members to Billie Joe's suicide....there could be a much darker subtext on top of the text of the lyrics supposedly about the tragic suicide of a teenage boy in the Delta of Mississippi.
Fantastic historical picture of the setting for this song. By the way, Billy Joe never died. She and Billy threw "something" into the river to get the heat off him. Then he left the area. She was, at the least, close to Billy, if not in love with him. Wonder if they met again, later. Just conjecture, but...
I’ve always thought there was a ‘truth’ to this song. Where someone died in the river. As far as I know she never said so. And it makes sense she wouldn’t want to say it was based on a black man’s murder because maybe she would put herself in danger.
I did see an interview where she said that the fact that they were eating Sunday dinner and callously talking about someone’s death was the point of the song. I imagine there were many dinners like that in the vietname war era.
Ok, so I guess It's a song about fictional characters and the then they made a Movie "Ode to Billie Joe". Am I correct? Is there any truth in the story? Beautiful song and a great movie. Really sorta romanticizes the deep south
@@davehoward9045I have read somewhere long ago that she had Emmett Till's murder on her mind but that she wanted the song to be more vague and universal in terms of people's apathy. Part of the way she did this was to bring in a lot of MS landmarks and names into the song that didn't necessarily exist or exist in that location. For instance, there is no Choctaw Ridge in the Delta and nor near Money, MS where the Tallahatchie Bridge is located. However, in the north east part of Mississippi there is a Choctaw Ridge that's pretty much just rural forests. It also just so happens to be located just a few miles south of where Bobbie Gentry was born in Woodland, MS. Also the Carroll County picture show where the song's narrator mentions that her brother, some other kid names Tom and Billie Joe put a frog down the back of her dress. Well...Carroll County is no where near Money, MS or the Tallahatchie Bridge. It's several miles east of Greenwood, MS, my birthplace, and Money is several miles north of Greenwood. I think Bobbie Gentry just needed the correct number of syllables in the lyric at that point to match the beat and the swing of the song. Billie Joe is a myth and a symbol and Bobbie Gentry is in a sense a bit Homeric in the way she weaves this myth with the mentioning of actual places and landmarks in MS but not necessarily in a correct geographical manner. Even going so far as to mention Tupelo, MS where her brother and his wife bought a store and moved to after the death of the narrator's father from some mystery virus. Tupelo....birthplace of....Elvis. This is a gothic Mississippi Greek tragedy all wrapped up in 4 minutes and 15 seconds. She is the GOAT.
@@Karaoke-ny3pcCompletely fictional but as I mentioned to another poster below, it's sort of a Greek tragedy but in a gothic Delta Mississippi style and subject matter. Bobbie Gentry weaves a Mississippi travelogue into the song with various place names she either lived in or was influential to her. So, she was born in Woodland, MS in eastern MS. Just south of where she was born was a place called Choctaw Ridge. But this is not the Choctaw Ridge that she keeps mentioning in the song with the saw mill near the Tallahatchie Bridge, the one the fictional character Bobbie Joe jumps off and commits suicide. In fact, there is no Choctaw Ridge in the Delta and I know because I lived there in Greenwood and worked those cotton fields and crossed that Tallahatchie Bridge numerous times in Money, MS. Also, the Carroll County picture show where her brother, his friend and Bobbie Joe put a frog down the back of the song's narrator is no where near the Tallahatchie Bridge. It's probably a 35 minute or more drive to Carrollton, MS. Now, Bobbie Gentry did grow up in Greenwood where I was born and the Tallahatchie Bridge at Money, MS was right up the road to the north but she moved away from there when she was around 13. Interesting note....if it is true that Bobbie Joe left the Delta at the age of 13 and she was born in July of 1942 that means she very well could have still been in that area when Emmitt Till was lynched in August of 1955 near Money, MS. And the Tallahatchie Bridge is still right behind the store in which Emmitt was accused of whistling and talking back to the white owner's wife which precipitated his lynching. Another interesting note....Bobbie Gentry mentions that the narrator's brother and wife moved away and bought a store in Tupleo, MS. I have to believe this wasn't a coincidence either. For Bobbie Gentry was a huge fan of Elvis who was born in Tupelo, even going so far as performing Elvis in drag in Las Vegas when she had a residency there at one of the casinos. I mean, the scarves, the flair bottom pants, the windmill arms, the karate moves. It was so good that Elvis got wind of it and came and saw one of her shows. They had a lifelong friendship afterwards. Elvis even introduced her on stage at the end of his 1973 tour.
I really enjoy your reactions and you have an a great voice yourself!!!!. There was a movie in the 70's called Ode to Billy Joe with Robbie Benson in it, it was a very good movie.
It was a good movie
It was a good movie but hard to find these days (at least for me) because of the subject matter and how Billy Joe dealt with it.
Be careful bringing up the movie. I mentioned it once in another reaction to this and some guy crawled up my a*s about how the movie had nothing to do with the song and he apparently was in her mind when she wrote it and there for negotiations when the movie was made. The guy was nuts and completely loses it about the movie.
@@shannonbennett987 I remember seeing the movie way back in the 70s, it was a great movie as I remember & everybody talked about how good it was. Nevermind the nuts, they're everywhere as we all know, there's one in every crowd 👍✌️
As I was searching for this movie, I see that it was directed by Max Baer Jr. If you're very old you might know him as Jethro Bodine on The Beverly Hillbillies. Just putting that tidbit out there for no good reason, other than I thought it was interesting.
Bobby Gentry is an American singer-songwriter who was one of the first female artists to compose & produce her own material. A lot of her songs were stories. Her biggest hit was in 1967 with "Ode To Billy Joe". Other songs are "Mississippi Delta", "Fancy", "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head", "I'll Never Fall In Love Again", "Sunday Mornin" (with Glen Campbell) etc.
First time seeing this host and she is awesome I am 64 and I just love this girl beautiful, elegant and feisty 😊
You need to go down that rabbit hole. She's still living. They've only seen one picture of her in the last decades and she's still absolutely beautiful. Great song writer. Amazing story!!
Damn, this reminds me of the lazy summer days of 1968. So haunting and the storytelling is so easy to see in your mind.
Me too the and a few years later Don MClaine American Pie that was the year I left home hitchhiking to Dallas Texas and later on to New Orleans . this video brings back some old and powerful memories for me !
Ah... I loved / hated that song growing up. I had a .45 of it, and played it constantly on rotation on those hot, rainy days. When I found this video, I could still sing along, even though I hadn't heard it in years and years!! It IS a brilliant story song, a slice of life in a small town that captures a tragedy from so many angles. A true classic. Thanks!!
Great job with a terrific old song, Britt. I am adding this to my folder of Exceptional Reaction Videos. You reacted just as millions of others have over the decades. Classy too. Thank you.
You are awesome for showing this woman such proper respect for her composition. Such a great song.
This song is beyond beautiful.
Fancy, the video of her singing it in a red pantsuit on the Johnny Gash show is a killer, lol. Love it and I loved your reaction to this one!
this song was absolutely HUGE in '67. it was one of the earlier country songs to ever be played on any rock stations - it crossed all lines. i was 14 and to say i loved bobby would be an understatement. every guy i knew was head over heels and a lot of girls too !
Love how you listen carefully to the lyrics, especially with a "story" song like this- doesn't always happen in reaction videos.
She's stunning to me- always has been. Your reactions & keen eyes are refreshing!
Movie was made a few years after the song was released. It explains why he jumped. Sad but good.
The original recording is one of the perfect records, right up there with The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face. It's so intimate that you get to the end of the song and realized you haven't breathed in 2-1/2 minutes.
Interesting fact, There were originally about 11 verses or so that she wrote and sang on the recording, which by the way was just a guitar demo that she did and the record label thought it was so good they just added an acoustic stand up bass and the string section you hear. They edited the song down to playable length for radio and released it and it became a huge hit) The remaining verses that were cut out and which as far as I know, have never been published publicly are reportedly stored away in a vault in the Mississippi State Archives. This live performance is a jewel! Oh, and the actual bridge which you see in the video was burned by vandals and later collapsed into the river in 1972
One of the things that always struck me about this story... life goes on... cotton to chop, fields to plow... meals to prepare, church, visitors, illness, death... Back when the movie Titanic was big, I was visiting my grandmother who was 10 years old at the time the Titanic sunk... I asked her, as a young girl in Kansas, what it like... news was of course word of mouth or local newspapers... she paused for a moment and said "It was big news for a week or so, then life went on". Isn't it true...
This song is a piece of someone's life. That touches our hearts 🎉❤🎉
The Song says Life goes on!! Gotta love the southern way of telling a story!
Thank you for doing a respectful, sensitive interpretation of the song, “Ode to Billy Joe “. Please remember there was a movie made a few years after this song came out about young love, small-town, mindedness, suicide, and peoples’ reactions to it. If you get a chance, try to watch the movie if you can find it. It’s a haunting movie. It’s also very well done.
You can watch it free with commercials right here on RUclips. It's an excellent film.
This song will rip your heart out. A devastating loss and an indifferent dinner time discussion.
She wrote this and also wrote Fancy, which you did R eBay's cover off. You should listen to her do fancy.
Girl you listen tight You hear all the little nuances that a singer does with their voices I love that about you❤!
Glad young people are appreciating these classics!!
The part with mama talking about the preacher. The timing of the pause that Bobbie does just before the line “oh, by the way….”is just perfection. Just like most of the song that is a scene of normal conversation/activities at a dinner table, the pause seems so natural but also just pulls the listener in. And the listener can feel the song narrater’s anxiety or even panic anticipating what the mother is going to say(knows) next. At least that is how I see it . Also myself having southern roots(also Mississippi) my mind picturing the dinner actually at midday as is often the case in south, not evening.
I am on boatd with the meal at the table was a mid day meal, southern speak they had three meals breakfast dinner and supper which are sometimes referred alsewhete as breakfast lunch and dinner, so it being set in the south I'd agree on only that point, but there is another reason. Then farming was done only in daytime hours,
the father, not to discount Billy Joe's passing, changes topic to one that he saw as more important and pressing, and spoke of having 5 more acres to plow, as in, something he was more concerned with doing that afternoon, once the currently talked over dinner/lunch meal was done.
So, I think you nailed the timing on this being a mid day meal dinner, rather than evening meal else she would have had it convey it to be 5 acres to plow tomorrow. work for the following day or tomorrow and
Bobbis writing would have referred to the mid day meal as dinner, not lunch just by its setting being in the southern states. Where dinner was 2nd meal and Supper was the evening and final meal of ones day. Dinner elsewhere some times gets exchanged with what southerners call supper. So, considering the setting the times and conversation concerning what the father said I agree it wad an afternoon lunch break dinner they were conversing over. Now that we have that question answered, Answer me this, what did they throw off the talahatchee bridge before Billy Joe decided to jump off it?
This is such an iconic song. I highly recommend watching the movie they made from this song. It's called Ode to Billy Joe (1976). Haunting story.
Yes I love it I’ve found it on Yt
Yep.. Robby Benson played Billy Joe.
One of the great things about this song is that it gives you the broad outline of a story and leaves it to your imagination to fill in the details.
True, when she wrote the song she doesn’t tell you why Billie Joe commits suicide but in the movie it is revealed why he makes this decision.
This is what I grew up on with my Moms music. Dad was a rocker, Motown, folk etc. we loved It all.
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❤❤❤
Billie was taunted because he questioned his sexuality.
Took his life.
Bobbie Gentry is a great painter/artist, too.
Peace on earth.
I thought the "good ole boys" taunted and raped him bc he dressed better and "acted uppity". I felt THEY questioned his sexuality, not him questioning it so much. He was a dreamer, still childlike who didn't fit in there.
You're right. The song is a mystery.@@josephwinder6878
This song if I remember correctly was at #1 for 4 weeks on the billboard 100 chart. That's amazing.
Reba covered Fancy but you might like hearing her original version since she wrote and recorded the song first.
Hello from France. After 4 hours of different people reaction videos on songs, I come across your analysis of one of my favorite songs, and I love your reaction. You have a very fine and sharp analysis, I like all the details that you noticed, and in addition you have a superb voice! Thank you I subscribe !!!
I was 14 years old when I saw this. MASSIVE CRUSH! :)
This song is about a particular event in her life and how it plays out in her life through her eyes... and then how her life moves on afterward. It is depicted as how she would perceive it while going through her normal routine...working in the field, sitting at the lunch table, interacting with her family, the preacher and then as time went on. There is an air of unconscious cruelty on some people's part, however it's not about unconscious cruelty per se. The entire song just focused on her; what she recognizes that other people are doing such as eating, speaking, recollecting, asking her. I have been a fan of this song for 56 years. Listen to it for a few dozen times and it will become apparent
If you liked that one, you should try "Harper Valley PTA" by Jeanie C. Riley. It sold over six-million copies and made Riley the first woman to top both the Billboard Hot 100 and the U.S. Hot Country Singles charts.
LOVE THAT!!!
Harper Valley PTA is a wonderful song written by the legendary country storyteller Tom T. Hall. It's a shame country music isn't country any more. The banjo, fiddle, and steel guitar have been traded in for Stratocasters. Don't get me wrong. I like a good rock song, but don't try to tell me a pig is a horse or a cow is a chicken. I can tell the difference.
@@jackbrooks5487shame on you! Buck Owens would slap the tobacco out yo mouth for saying that about country music and strats and telecasters.
@@albondigas9549 Buck and I wouldn't have any problems. He would be smacking around a few so-called country stars however. Taylor Swift wanted to be a pop star and left country music behind. I have no argument with her over that. But what bugs me is some, not all but some, people who claim to be country and their band is playing like a Rush cover band. If you call yourself country be country. If you want to be rock, go be rock. I may even listen to you. A cowboy hat doesn't make you country. And nothing against cowboy hats or boots. Love 'em. And I love Buck Owens. Even The Beatles covered his song Act Naturally with Ringo taking lead vocals.
Amen to Harper Valley PTA
I remember when the song came out and it still hasn't ended for me. I'm still wondering what it all meant. I've heard plenty of speculation but none that really seem to fit. Great reaction, Britt!
"Ode to Billy Joe" by Bobbie Gentry was one of my favorite singers in the early 70's. Thank you for picking this one.
I was 11 years old when this song was released and too this very day it sends a cold chill down my spine. It was the best song of the time and i always love listening to it. Another thing I like is the way their having this conversation and are totally disconnected from the fact that poor billy joe had taken his own life.
This song is epic because it only applies to a certain few who have suffered traumatic loss. It does not have a plot -other than how to recover.
One of her Ex-husbands was another Singer named Jim Stafford... In a Stark Contrast to Bobby, He did Comedic Songs like "(I don't Like) Spiders and Snakes", and a cover of "The Wildwood Flower".
The Song was cut off.
GREAT Reaction!
Another husband was Bill Harrah, founder of the casino Harrah's.
I didn't know she was married to Jim Stafford. I love his music too
I meant to include this but forgot. As a little girl, I remember when "Ode To Billie Joe" was played on the car radio...ALL OF THE TIME! Being from Mississippi myself, we naturally thought the song was the best thing EVER written! I am originally from New Albany which is about 20 miles North of Tupelo. Tupelo is where ELVIS was born and raised. By the way, New Albany is the birthplace of William Faulkner, the award winning author! Getting back to "Ode To Billie Joe". The Talahatchie River runs through New Albany, but it is small. It gets much larger the farther south that you go. There are many theories about what was thrown into the river! Many people believe that it was a baby. However, one theory, in particular, says that Billie Joe was gay and jumped to his death from shame! You must remember, this was a very different time! Also one theory implies that he jumped in after a rag doll that he had thrown in. In order to throw away his shame after his father, who was physically abusive raped him, he held on to the rag doll to have something to hold on to physically! Then he threw away the doll so that he could literally throw away his shame and mental anguish! A movie was made about the song. Robbie Benson starred in it, but I cannot remember much else about it! Please delve into the rabbit hole of Bobby Gentry's life! Several books have been written about her and the song "Ode To Billie Joe". You will be so glad that you did! I have to tell you, I ABSOLUTELY LOVE YOUR ENTHUSIASM!!! Please continue to react to as many songs as possible! You have a huge talent for it and are very inciteful! I have to say that you are my favorite reactionist!!! Thank you so much for this one! I loved it!
I remember when this came out. My mother would walk around the house singing along with the radio. My dad lives in Chickasaw county MS.
you would think bobbie gentry herself lived the lyrics of this song by the way she wrote it, played it and sang it. she captures all the knowns and unknowns about a tragic situation in her very thought provoking delivery and it hits it's mark in all of us. you can't hear it and not be touched in some fashion. the music all around her is epic too helping convey the depth of the story. nobody else can sing this song but her. nobody! she, and this song, is a picture of her southern upbringing and all goes down as a classic forever. one classy lady miss bobbie gentry, that's for sure .....