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Rowdyboy

(22,057 posts) Sun Jun 3, 2012, 08:58 PM Jun 2012

"It was the third of June, another sleepy, dusty delta day....."

I was out choppin' cotton and my brother was bailin' hay.
And at dinner time we stopped and walked back to the house to eat.
And mama hollered out the backdoor, "Y'all remember to wipe your feet."
And then she said, "I got some news this mornin' from Choctaw Ridge.
Today Billy Joe MacAllister's jumped off the Tallahatchee Bridge."

Papa said to mama as he passed around the blackeyed peas,
"Well, Billy Joe never had a lick of sense; pass the biscuits please.
There's 5 more acres in the lower 40 I got to plow."
And mama said it was a shame about Billy Joe anyhow.
Seems like nothin' ever comes to no good up on Choctaw Ridge,
And now Billy Joe MacAllister's jumped off the Tallahatchee Bridge.

And brother said he recollected when he and Tom and Billy Joe
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 Billy Joe's jumped off the Tallahatchee Bridge."

And mama said to me, "Child what's happened to your appetite?
I 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 Billy Joe was throwin' something off the Tallahatchee Bridge."

A year's come and gone since we heard the news 'bout Billy Joe.
My brother married Becky Thompson and they bought a store in Tupelo.
There was a virus goin' round, papa caught it and he died last spring,
And now mama doesnÂ´t seem to wanna do much of anything.
And me, I spend a lotta time pickin' flowers up on Choctaw Ridge,
And drop 'em into the muddy water off the Tallahatchee bridge.

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=bobbie+gentry+youtube&mid=BDC9E4D72F8CDE22E27EBDC9E4D72F8CDE22E27E&view=detail&FORM=VIRE5

23 replies

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Highlight:

"It was the third of June, another sleepy, dusty delta day....." (Original Post) Rowdyboy Jun 2012 OP

Cool! I had totally forgotten! OffWithTheirHeads Jun 2012 #1

They (radio stations) played it non-stop in 1967 (at least here in the south).... Rowdyboy Jun 2012 #10

I had that album! femmocrat Jun 2012 #2

I got tears in my eyes listening emilyg Jun 2012 #3

Me too. Her voice was one of a kind.... Rowdyboy Jun 2012 #4

that tune has always given me chills Joe Shlabotnik Jun 2012 #5

I think it's the violins.... PassingFair Jun 2012 #6

could be. Joe Shlabotnik Jun 2012 #8

Its unique. I can't really compare it to anything since....Great voice, great lyrics.... Rowdyboy Jun 2012 #9

As well it should, my friend, as well it should.... Rowdyboy Jun 2012 #7

My burning question for decades: Why'd he throw himself off that bridge? davsand Jun 2012 #11

Yes. Please. Someone. Anyone? I've been wondering for more than forty years. Mister Ed Jun 2012 #13

There was a movie back in the '70's....In it they threw their engagment ring..... Rowdyboy Jun 2012 #15

A Gentry interview about what they were throwing off the bridge. Jim Lane Jun 2012 #16

Gotta be a baby no? 1620rock Jun 2012 #12

I've always assumed it to be a baby. Frank Cannon Jun 2012 #14

Even if the family didn't pay much notice to the girl in the song Art_from_Ark Jun 2012 #19

Not if it was wrapped up in something. Frank Cannon Jun 2012 #20

I always thought the suicide was unrelated to the girl herself Art_from_Ark Jun 2012 #21

What an incredible artist Tom Ripley Jun 2012 #17

One of my all-time favourites GCP Jun 2012 #18

Spam deleted by gkhouston (MIR Team) Henley96 Jun 2012 #22

One of the all time favorites.... JohnnyLib2 Jun 2012 #23

OffWithTheirHeads

(10,337 posts)

1. Cool! I had totally forgotten!

Reply to Rowdyboy (Original post)

Sun Jun 3, 2012, 09:03 PM

Jun 2012

Rowdyboy

(22,057 posts)

10. They (radio stations) played it non-stop in 1967 (at least here in the south)....

Reply to OffWithTheirHeads (Reply #1)

Mon Jun 4, 2012, 12:44 AM

Jun 2012

femmocrat

(28,394 posts)

2. I had that album!

Reply to Rowdyboy (Original post)

Sun Jun 3, 2012, 10:10 PM

Jun 2012

I might still have it....!

emilyg

(22,742 posts)

3. I got tears in my eyes listening

Reply to Rowdyboy (Original post)

Sun Jun 3, 2012, 10:18 PM

Jun 2012

to it years ago - still do.

Rowdyboy

(22,057 posts)

4. Me too. Her voice was one of a kind....

Reply to emilyg (Reply #3)

Sun Jun 3, 2012, 10:27 PM

Jun 2012

Joe Shlabotnik

(5,604 posts)

5. that tune has always given me chills

Reply to Rowdyboy (Original post)

Mon Jun 4, 2012, 12:08 AM

Jun 2012

&feature=player_detailpage

PassingFair

(22,434 posts)

6. I think it's the violins....

Reply to Joe Shlabotnik (Reply #5)

Mon Jun 4, 2012, 12:12 AM

Jun 2012

Gives me goosebumps.

Joe Shlabotnik

(5,604 posts)

8. could be.

Reply to PassingFair (Reply #6)

Mon Jun 4, 2012, 12:17 AM

Jun 2012

But she also has a great voice, great lyrics, and it's a bit of a time capsule for a time and place thats not so familiar to common suburbia.

Rowdyboy

(22,057 posts)

9. Its unique. I can't really compare it to anything since....Great voice, great lyrics....

Reply to Joe Shlabotnik (Reply #8)

Mon Jun 4, 2012, 12:34 AM

Jun 2012

its one of a kind and I'm really not sure why. If you could figure out the appeal, and replicate it, you could make a fortune.

Rowdyboy

(22,057 posts)

7. As well it should, my friend, as well it should....

Reply to Joe Shlabotnik (Reply #5)

Mon Jun 4, 2012, 12:14 AM

Jun 2012

She hooked a lot of us for life....

davsand

(13,421 posts)

11. My burning question for decades: Why'd he throw himself off that bridge?

Reply to Rowdyboy (Original post)

Mon Jun 4, 2012, 01:10 AM

Jun 2012

And WHAT was it she and Billy Joe were throwing off that bridge together?

Laura

Mister Ed

(5,942 posts)

13. Yes. Please. Someone. Anyone? I've been wondering for more than forty years.

Reply to davsand (Reply #11)

Mon Jun 4, 2012, 05:07 AM

Jun 2012

What were they throwing off the bridge?

You'd think maybe a baby, but wouldn't a baby have been kinda hard to hide from Mama and Papa and Brother?

Rowdyboy

(22,057 posts)

15. There was a movie back in the '70's....In it they threw their engagment ring.....

Reply to davsand (Reply #11)

Mon Jun 4, 2012, 07:35 AM

Jun 2012

Billy Joe had a short gay experience and committed suicide in response. Loved the song but hatwed the movie.

Jim Lane

(11,175 posts)

16. A Gentry interview about what they were throwing off the bridge.

Reply to davsand (Reply #11)

Mon Jun 4, 2012, 12:20 PM

Jun 2012

This paragraph is from the Wikipedia article about the song, drawing from a newspaper article that's apparently available only for pay:

Questions arose among the listeners: what did Billie Joe and his girlfriend throw off the Tallahatchie Bridge, and why did Billie Joe commit suicide? Speculation ran rampant after the song hit the airwaves, and Gentry said in a November 1967 interview that it was the question most asked of her by everyone she met. She named flowers, a ring, a draft card, a bottle of LSD pills, and an aborted baby as the most often guessed items. Although she knew definitely what the item was, she would not reveal it, saying only "Suppose it was a wedding ring." "It's in there for two reasons," she said. "First, it locks up a definite relationship between Billie Joe and the girl telling the story, the girl at the table. Second, the fact that Billie Joe was seen throwing something off the bridge – no matter what it was – provides a possible motivation as to why he jumped off the bridge the next day."

The Wikipedia article also says that Gentry herself doesn't know why Billie Joe killed himself.

1620rock

(2,218 posts)

12. Gotta be a baby no?

Reply to Rowdyboy (Original post)

Mon Jun 4, 2012, 02:54 AM

Jun 2012

Frank Cannon

(7,570 posts)

14. I've always assumed it to be a baby.

Reply to 1620rock (Reply #12)

Mon Jun 4, 2012, 07:22 AM

Jun 2012

The family in the song doesn't seem to be particularly engaged in whatever's going on in their daughter's personal life.

But that's the remarkable, creepy beauty of this song: It's left to your imagination to fill in the horrible details, and that's worse than anything the song can describe.

Art_from_Ark

(27,247 posts)

19. Even if the family didn't pay much notice to the girl in the song

Reply to Frank Cannon (Reply #14)

Mon Jun 4, 2012, 11:49 PM

Jun 2012

certainly they would have noticed a baby "in the works". Or at least Brother Taylor would have noticed a baby being thrown from the bridge.

Frank Cannon

(7,570 posts)

20. Not if it was wrapped up in something.

Reply to Art_from_Ark (Reply #19)

Tue Jun 5, 2012, 07:14 AM

Jun 2012

And you hear news reports all the time about teenagers who hide their pregnancies from everyone, including their own families and classmates.

Like I said, it's just one of many possibilities.

Art_from_Ark

(27,247 posts)

21. I always thought the suicide was unrelated to the girl herself

Reply to Frank Cannon (Reply #20)

Tue Jun 5, 2012, 11:26 AM

Jun 2012

She and Billy Joe were apparently having fun throwing things off the bridge-- flowers, perhaps (and perhaps that was why the girl spent a lot of time throwing flowers into the river at the end of the song)-- but something happened to Billie Joe to make him want to commit suicide. Too much bullying or taunting, maybe? He "never had a lick of sense", according to the girl's father, and that might have been the general perception of Billy Joe in that small town.

Of course, this could also be the country version of "Leader of the Pack", where the girl's parents disapprove of the boyfriend, who ends up taking his own life...