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Marthe48

(20,503 posts) Wed Apr 23, 2025, 08:11 AM 20 hrs ago

First song I heard today was Ode to Billy Joe

Definitely an enigmatic song. There's always been lots of speculation about what they threw off the bridge. But as I listened this morning, I had to wonder, did Billy Joe jump? Or was he pushed?

10 replies

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First song I heard today was Ode to Billy Joe (Original Post) Marthe48 20 hrs ago OP

Just because Billy Joe jumped off a bridge True Dough 20 hrs ago #1

I might jump off the couch Marthe48 20 hrs ago #2

Been a year or two since we got the news about Billy Joe ...... marble falls 20 hrs ago #3

I'll never forget listening to that song with my father, when I was young. Paladin 19 hrs ago #4

Was always a sad song to listen to. Reflected the indifference her family paid to Billie Joe's suicide. Fla Dem 19 hrs ago #5

It could be darker Marthe48 18 hrs ago #6

Maybe, It Could Be Darker wyn borkins 17 hrs ago #7

More like Inspector Clouseau Marthe48 17 hrs ago #8

Okay Then, Inspector Clouseau... wyn borkins 17 hrs ago #9

Anything speculative could be darker. Fla Dem 17 hrs ago #10

True Dough

(22,759 posts)

1. Just because Billy Joe jumped off a bridge

Reply to Marthe48 (Original post)

Wed Apr 23, 2025, 08:14 AM

20 hrs ago

it doesn't mean you have to, Marthe!

Marthe48

(20,503 posts)

2. I might jump off the couch

Reply to True Dough (Reply #1)

Wed Apr 23, 2025, 08:20 AM

20 hrs ago

But I'm nowhere near a bridge. I'm enjoying the mental exercise. Cookin up a fascinating whodunit that explains all.

marble falls

(64,813 posts)

3. Been a year or two since we got the news about Billy Joe ......

Reply to Marthe48 (Original post)

Wed Apr 23, 2025, 08:20 AM

20 hrs ago

Paladin

(30,211 posts)

4. I'll never forget listening to that song with my father, when I was young.

Reply to Marthe48 (Original post)

Wed Apr 23, 2025, 09:48 AM

19 hrs ago

I remember him smiling, and saying that it reminded him of the songs the field hands sang, while they worked on his family's farm in south Texas. Funny how details like that stay with you, over many years...

Fla Dem

(26,538 posts)

5. Was always a sad song to listen to. Reflected the indifference her family paid to Billie Joe's suicide.

Reply to Marthe48 (Original post)

Wed Apr 23, 2025, 10:07 AM

19 hrs ago

"Ode to Billie Joe" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bobbie Gentry released by Capitol Records in July 1967, and later used as the title-track of her debut album. Five weeks after its release, the song topped Billboard's Pop singles chart. It also appeared in the top 10 of the Adult Contemporary and Hot R&B singles charts, and in the top 20 of the Hot Country Songs list.

The song takes the form of a first-person narrative performed over sparse acoustic guitar accompaniment with strings in the background. It tells of a rural Mississippi family's reaction to the news of the suicide of Billie Joe McAllister, a local boy to whom the daughter (and narrator) is (unknown by the rest of the family) connected. The song received widespread attention, leaving its audience intrigued as to what the narrator and Billie Joe threw off the Tallahatchie Bridge. Gentry later clarified that she intended the song to portray the family's indifference to the suicide in what she deemed "a study in unconscious cruelty," while she remarked the object thrown was not relevant to the message.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ode_to_Billie_Joe#:~:text=Gentry%20remarked%20that%20the%20song's,his%20suicide%20the%20next%20day%22.

Marthe48

(20,503 posts)

6. It could be darker

Reply to Fla Dem (Reply #5)

Wed Apr 23, 2025, 10:45 AM

18 hrs ago

Maybe, unknown to the singer, one of her family members threw Billie Joe off the bridge, because the family member knew about the relationship between Billie Joe and the singer. Maybe the family was acting offhand to protect the killer. In a year or two, Dad was dead and brother had moved away. Maybe it wasn't the flu? And maybe Brother got out before he was next?

Every time I have heard the song, from my teens forward, I wondered what they threw off the bridge. This morning, my imagination went a different way, and I keep thinking of the song as a crime scene. I'm reading way too many mysteries

wyn borkins

(1,242 posts)

7. Maybe, It Could Be Darker

Reply to Marthe48 (Reply #6)

Wed Apr 23, 2025, 11:20 AM

17 hrs ago

And I (may have) heard Marthe48(Columbo) exclaim as she crossed over that durn bridge in the dark of night: "just one more thing" (...and the mystery continues...)