About The Song
Bobby Gentry’s “Ode to Billie Joe” is a haunting folk ballad released in 1967 that captivated audiences with its enigmatic storytelling. The song unfolds as a first-person narrative, with the unnamed narrator recounting a seemingly ordinary day on her family’s farm. The tranquility is abruptly shattered by the announcement that Billie Joe McAllister, a local young man, has tragically jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge. The song’s power lies in its deliberate ambiguity, leaving listeners to speculate about the reasons behind Billie Joe’s desperate act. The narrator’s detached yet emotionally charged tone, coupled with the evocative imagery of the Mississippi Delta, creates a sense of mystery and melancholy. While the song offers glimpses into the lives of the characters involved, including the narrator’s family and their interactions, the central question of Billie Joe’s suicide remains unanswered, inviting listeners to piece together their own interpretations.
Video
Lyrics
🎵 Let’s sing along with the lyrics!
It was the third of June, another sleepy, dusty Delta day
I was out choppin’ cotton and my brother was balin’ hay
And at dinner time we stopped and walked back to the house to eat
And Mama hollered out the back door, “Y’all remember to wipe your feet”
And then she said, “I got some news this mornin’ from Choctaw Ridge
Today Billie Joe MacAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge”
And Papa said to Mama as he passed around the black-eyed peas
“Well, Billie Joe never had a lick of sense. Pass the biscuits, please
There’s five more acres in the lower forty I’ve got to plow”
And Mama said it was a shame about Billie Joe, anyhow
Seems like nothin’ ever comes to no good up on Choctaw Ridge
And now Billie Joe MacAllister’s jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge
And brother said he recollected when he and Tom and Billie Joe
He put a frog down my back at the Carroll County picture show
And wasn’t I talkin’ to him after church last Sunday night?
“I’ll have another piece of apple pie. You know, it don’t seem right
I saw him at the sawmill yesterday on Choctaw Ridge
And now you tell me Billie Joe’s jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge”
Mama said to me, “Child, what’s happened to your appetite?
I’ve been cookin’ all morning and you haven’t touched a single bite
That nice young preacher, Brother Taylor, dropped by today
Said he’d be pleased to have dinner on Sunday. Oh, by the way
He said he saw a girl that looked a lot like you up on Choctaw Ridge
And she and Billie Joe was throwing somethin’ off the Tallahatchie Bridge”
A year has come ‘n’ gone since we heard the news ’bout Billie Joe
And brother married Becky Thompson, they bought a store in Tupelo
There was a virus going ’round, Papa caught it and he died last Spring
And now Mama doesn’t seem to wanna do much of anything
And me, I spend a lot of time pickin’ flowers up on Choctaw Ridge
And drop them into the muddy water off the Tallahatchie Bridge