Bobbie Gentry - Ode to Billie Joe

[oxhart3]

Heart Soul song............we can find a corollary some where/some one ;( :(

[DrSlick138]

Stunning & Hunting .... AND a CLASSIC Song

[teresadoyle]

I crossed that bridge many many times when I lived in that area : )

[keliata]

@teresadoyle is it a scary bridge? It looked that way in the movie, very narrow

[teresadoyle]

@keliata Yes it was very narrow!

[teresadoyle]

@teresadoyle only one car at a time could cross the bridge.

[keliata]

If there's one thing I remember most from the movie is just how narrow that bridge was...the scene with the 'bama boys and their truck.

[cyclenut]

Music of the 60's, 70's and 80's, well even 30's and 40's, then was the best music there will every be.

Maybe those 9 lived the life of this song....

[155mia]

Kiss ur hand 10 times and say ur crushes name 15. Post this on 2 other videos and look at ur hand

[billybarber2167]

SHE SO DAMN FINE

[slickwing]

We didn't know what rap or hip-hop was. It was a wonderful time.

[TheCardsfan2]

@slickwing new rap/hip hop is garbage AS IS NEW COUNTRY!

[amydafig]

So this was #1 the week I was born. I'm curious to see what was #1 in my country... Off a-hunting I do go.

[pwoeckener]

#1 song the week I was born. LOL...yeah, I know, I'm old.

[19111ellyc]

I heard what they threw off the bridge was something named 'Jonathan'. Never understood who or what that actually was, but the gay story about BJ was in the movie and I recall it was Ned Beatty who did the assaulting and BJ couldn't live with that so he jumped.

[picnmixmusic]

a wave of nostalgia came over me. Still a great song

[AnwarTheBoss]

man, shes amazing.

[petsoundz1]

The demo was so good they did not do a studio re-recording.

[nauort23]

It sure is telling that more people are more comfortable with the idea that they threw a baby off the bridge than that, as the movie suggested, Billy Jo was gay and couldn't come to terms with it and threw his own life off the bridge. 

And people wonder why gay kids have a higher suicide rate...

[Fathertime1966]

@nauort23 What are you talking about!  The perv raped Billiejoe and BJ did not know what to do about it. He got the girl prego and she had the baby. They through a doll off the bridge. Dummy

[keliata]

@Fathertime1966 Wasn't it the perv preacher that raped BJ? There should be a sequel, and the guy should be thrown from the bridge

[bravebelt67]

i remember that movie around 1978 when i was around 11 years old. Wiki must have more information about this.

[ReviewCam]

I normally hate country music--but always loved this ballad

[plasmatv]

Robbie Benson starred in the movie, "Ode To Billie Joe" Quite honestly, I didn't quite understand the plot-line. Then again, I watched it just once, ions ago. I prolly oughta watch it again.

[ReviewCam]

@plasmatv the plot made no sense. I could get why he jumped off the bridge in the movie, but the intriguing part of the song is what Billie Joe and that girl threw into the water. BS that it was a rag doll.

[blyjoe561]

@ReviewCam He jumped because he had a homosexual encounter with Rosco P Coltrain at least the actor that played Rosco on the Dukes of Hazard

[imdavid666]

@blyjoe561 thats not what the song is about, the movie was stupid. the song is about her getting pregnant by billy joe, she had a miscarriage and they threw the body off the bridge. Billy joe couldnt handle it and committed suicide.

[Elcabong100]

@imdavid666 I kinda always thought that but not sure.

[dieselscience]

@blyjoe561 That was the movie. The song is about them having a kid and throwing it off the bridge, then he jumped.

[reginaldbeverly]

@ReviewCam the plot made plenty sense, remember that night billy joe got drunk at the county fair, well he was sexual assulted, and couldnt live with the embarssment, he had wrote a letter to confess what had happened, but she convience him to tear it up, that what they threw into the water, sorry for the spelling

[brandondorff]

@reginaldbeverly you are correct



[acmesignal]

Exactly right MNB.

I happens a lot in this world.

[MultiNinjaBunny]

Our english teacher sang this to us and asked us questions. She asked us what were they throwing off thr bridge and why. She told us to give are best guess. We all including her guessed that maybe the young girl and billy had a baby. Then the girl threw it off of the bridge, then when that happened, Billy couldn't take it anymore and jumped off the bridge.pretty scary, people say this really happened.

[mkelly566]

@MultiNinjaBunny - That's what I always thought too. But then when I seen the movie, it had a whole other direction. I like our version better then the movie. :)

[ReviewCam]

@MultiNinjaBunny That's what I always thought, too

[Dlanorepmart]

This song isn't from 1968. I remember listening to it in 1967 on the rental car radio while driving around Long Beach, CA.

[j2bodydouble]

shoot anyone oculd jump off that bridge and be fine its 15 fee above the water lol

[artrail]

@j2bodydouble

the River killed him Not the Fall

[MARKSHLO]

I was 12 when this song was released, 43 years later Bobbie Gentry's voice still gives me a chill every time I hear it.

[doom666metal]

I remember this song when i was 8 years old and love the song great folk music in my opinion the only good folk song there is.This song was a big hit on the radio back in late 60's. The movie i didn't like because of what he did and that was sick in the head if you ask me.

[bingobongo445]

But this women could actually sing,i don't know what the hell Amy Winehead was doing on stage.

[sirtom68]

Can yall see anything in this video that may make ya think Amy Winehouse could have been a Bobbie Gentry fan?.....RIP Amy :)

[tselliott]

Classic. Love it.

[possum092194]

I've riden over that bridge several times when i was a kid.

[MegaLovewolves]

*8 people were born and raised in the city and have no idea what country is!

[bvick777]

@MegaLovewolves lol...

[wiske7834]

I love this song. saw the move of it years ago.

[fatz101279]

LOVE TO "Karaoke " THIS SONG...CLASSIC.

[deltasniper32]

This is my hometown. We party on this bridge every weekend. Its no longer wood across it but still an awesome place. Actually, alot of us have jumped off this bridge. Most people just climb on top of it

[deltasniper32]

This is my hometown. We party on this bridge every weekend. Its no longer wood across it but still an awesome place.

[TedEBungfritz]

Hah! I remember someone saying once upon a time..."why would I be singing THAT?"

:)

[MrTickler6657]

I remember auditioning for this movie in 1975 in Atlanta. My agent, Shay Griffin sent me to the Midtown Holiday Inn where I read with 15 other guys just like me. It was my first pro film audition. I met Max Baer there..but the film was not an interpretation of the song...it was a fantasy made up by Herman Raucher.

I met Max Baer 7 years ago in NYC at a film festival. We talked about the audition and the film. He thought a number of boys could have been better than Robby Benson

[mrannecoulter]

Wait.... so she pushed Billie Joe? Or was she just there?

[timbosruger]

@mrannecoulter she was not there. He committed suicide because he thought he might be gay

[ikambor]

i wanna perform orally for her too

[mizzfoxy9]

The Music was simply the Best then

[fiddlestickszz]

beautiful but unforutanely for billie joe.

[PoppySandals]

FC LT COLONEL NATO NAVY "W-5 & O-4"

[70LS6454ss]

It Was A Good Movie, Been Years Since I Last Saw It. Billy Threw Her Doll Off The Bridge, Not A Baby.

[rickyq61]

lol@paulmancieri67



[Paulmancieri67]

Ummmmm yeah.....so Billy Joe jumped off the bridge....ok so what he do? swim to shore? cuz by the looks of it it's about a 12 foot drop.

[Cheryl1166]

@Paulmancieri67 ROFL!! Where I grew up kids would jump off a bridge twice that high, just swimmin on a hot day....

[fredG1941]

When this record came out in 1967 it was huge. I remember people discussing what they thought her and Billie Joe threw of the Tallahachie bridge. Radio station disc jockeys were having contest about what they threw off the bridge. My guess was a baby. F.D.G.

[roughnut1963]

5 people need to jump off the Tallahatchie Bridge

[dreamofmoneymen]

@roughnut1963 that is a very bad thing to say and in no way or shape are you funny

[bvick777]

@roughnut1963 now its 8..lol..

[grpap93]

@roughnut1963 It's up to 9 now

[MRJACKSON19581]

Lets face it

He was Gay.. he didnt just get raped.. he had oral sex with the older man cause he way gay and liked it ... then he cried rape .. That was cool ..

[77snyper77]

Bobbie Gentry is from my hometown of Greenwood, MS. The Tallahatchie River collides with the Yalobusha River and forms the Yazoo River. Notice at 3:33 the narrator says "Bobbie Gentry - Up on Chock-Tower Bridge" - This guy needs his ass whooped - twice.

[ajgolfer1]

@77snyper77 thrice

[dianalovesdel]

I love the old music, it was the best.

[twogood41]

Things have came a long way since then Thank GOD

[rebeccaarnold8]

This song & Movie was a smart movie , It made alot of sence, I love Bobbie Gentry.

[fishnchix1]

great song

[revmary]

This song and movie was progressive for the time Homosexuality topic, Billie Joe's boss- Bille Joe was Robbie Benson. Well, Billie Joe's boss raped him. He went to try to have sex with the girl, Glynnis OConner and told her about his boss raing him, he felt guilty and dirty like that made him gay. We all know it didnt. Raped. But the stigma in the 1970's and the bible belt south. Glynnis went away and covered pretend like she got pregnant so to help him

[gijoe989]

i love bobbie gentry-ode to billie joe gijoe989.

[Chetv100]

HOW HOT DAM HOT!!!!!!

[FungusMossGnosis]

She's like if Barbara Steele could sing like Dusty Springfield, only better.

[Fstpicker]

Love her southern accent!! So sweet!

[toonful]

wasn''t this baseed on a boy being a Queer?ANY1?

[jimascia]

A classic American ballad sung beautifully by Bobbie Joe.

[melindavance92]

i loved that movie, had the biggist crush on robby

[doobeedoo58]

Billy Joe never had a lick of sense...pass the biscuits please.....LOL

[TheOriginalMadMatt]

...early Forensic Files... too real... gotta love it... beautiful woman, beautiful song, beautiful story- told w/realism and grace... just... beautiful... 

[cinerama62]

♫appy Birthday to the Mississippi Queen. (July 27, 1944)

[cajundragon67]

a true country classic that is always on my mind and in my heart

[thejunioursenior]

The way I interpret it this is that the narrator is implied to be in a relationship with Billy Joe, they were talking after church sunday night. She and Billy Joe threw something off the bridge, and later Billy Joe kills himself jumping from the same bridge, later the narrator picks flowers and drops them from that bridge. I believe that what they threw was their baby, and Billy Joe killed himself from guilt.

[exhiledtonowhere]

@thejunioursenior google it there is a good article on wikipedia

[ModernDame222]

@thejunioursenior What he throws off the bridge is her doll that the girl was in love with it might have been an accident, and Billy Joe killed himself either trying to go get her doll or he felt guilty because he got drunk one night and had sex with a guy I think it was the sherrif ...

You should watch the movie it really good

[tafyeingodelureau]

@ModernDame222 sure??

[ModernDame222]

@tafyeingodelureau pretty sure watch it. they have the whole thing on here and it's a really good movie

[Sodiumreactor]

"Bobbie Gentry up on Choctower bridge 1968" says the announcer. Fail. Choctaw ridge.

[lifevorce]

Does anybody know why Billie Joe? What did they throw into the river?

[Mr4444bbbb]

@lifevorce the kid

[4n4Me]

Hey I really want to find this movie where a guy throws himself off a bridge and dies after seeing his bestfriend or something with another guy (I think that guy gives her a rose or something).. I just dont know what the movie is called! Oh and in another scene, about 6 people try to drown him in the boys' bathroom toilet.. I don't remember most of the movie so if you know what the movie is called please tell me, (:

[morticianman24]

@4n4Me Ode To Billy Joe......LOL It's on here just type in Ode to Billy Joe part 1



[karenraposo]

@4n4Me If i remember correctly it is called 'Ode To Billie Joe" with Robby Benson and Glynnis O'Connor .... you can look up the movie plot summary on IMDB .... saw it years ago

[obamahellno]

Great, but could have done without the idiot voice at the end. in a few seconds he managed to mistitle the song, mix up the lyrics and mispronounce Choctaw.

[zookpr71]

Southern gothic, Faulkner couldn't have done better.

[nativechild48]

This song make me hungry! The food reminds me off my life in the south good souther food.. Such a great storytelling song by Bobbie Gentry.

[73coolgirl]

Love this song.....loved the movie too!

[73coolgirl]

Love this song.....loved the movie too!

[Mod60s]

Mom said they had to walk a cross a bridge like that everyday to school & back in hill country Texas. During the depression at that. The film will always be in my heart.

[1ClearPerspective]

I have crossed that bridge many a times, this one has always stuck with me....

[jody62371]

i saw the movie .. as i remember it billy joe lived ..... correct me if i am wrong .... i jumped off bridged befor its no biggy

[gypsyheart59baby]

Remembering Bobbie...so long ago.... Her momma and my grama was 1st cousins :) Ruby (Bobbies momma passed from breast cancer) but my gram is still hangin in there.

[FagosaurusRex]

This woman is so gorgeous.

[mrhulot101]

Today is third of June. Another year has gone by.Thanks Bobbie.

[Foorehtnossip]

@mrhulot101 yea -- you took the words outsa my mouth bro todays the day - it rang a bell in my head too-

[lexes17]

wow havent heard this in a long time.. good one :)

[cajundragon67]

This lady is the absolute bomb digity!!!

[nursenicc]

the movie was about billy jo having sex with a man in the south in the 1950's/1960's

[caroleastrid]

Beautiful song on the loss of one's loved one...

[therealNightSkyWoman]

The baby was born early. Billy Joe couldn't stand knowing that his baby was dead. She threw the flowers in memorial to them both.

[HEARTHEANGELSVOICES]

HOW ODE WAS BILLY JOE WHEN HE JUMPED OFF THE TALLAHATCHIE BRIDGE? DOES ANYBODY KNOW? WHY DID THEY THROW THEIR ILEGITIMATE BABY OFF SAID BRIDGE? DID SHE REALLY THINK THROWING FLOWERS INTO THE MUDDY WATERS WOULD BRING HE OR SHE BACK?

[The120862]

THERE IS MANY YEAR I DON'T HEAR THIS MUSIC, AND I LIKED AND LIKE.

[thecitizens]

absolutely superb ..

[BugsWisely]

When you said "her favorite toy was..." I thought you were going to say a hole in her pocket.

[zynjan]

#75 best songs of the 60s Bobbie Gentry - Ode to Billie Joe

[liveecarbme]

One of the GREATEST songs ever written.

[Camb250]

This song capures the true America, the one we are proud of!

Very descriptive , I feel like I am right in the kitchen with them.

Great tune, I can recognize it from one or 2 notes!

[elstroshitnonstop]

oh man!! i have been looking for this song for about a year, thought it was dinah washington for some reason, only remembered the words jump off bridge. wonderful. simply could not have found this song by looking, it just fell into my lap

[7959225]

I remember when this song came out..It haunted me, but intrigued me at the same time...Now, I know it was because of my childhood..and this could have happened to me.

[melissapenrod]

When they were making the movie,they askied Bobbie Gentry if she had any suggestions,she told them they should leave what what thrown from the bridge a mystery. If they had listened to her the movie would have been better

[SuperCJ429]

This song is a masterpiece of storytelling and has

perfectly written accompanying music. A brilliant performance from an amazing artist. Very haunting.

[kpaigiepoo]

Thank you wildcatter63! Hopefully i can find one now! Thanks :)

[kpaigiepoo]

Love this song. Does anyone know what type of guitar she is playing? In all the pictures it looks very small- almost ukelele-like. Anyways I have been trying to find the answer to this question for weeks and I hoped that someone on here would know. If you know or have any that may be similar please reply. Thanks!

[wildcatter63]

@kpaigiepoo Can't tell for sure, but I think its what they call a "student model" Probably a Martin

[sydneyhope]

This brought back memories...thanks

[monkey8191999]

i saw the movie but when they played this song at the begining it kinda gave the ending away

[thedrizzle09]

@monkey8191999 Not really...sense the whole song is a mystery...

[HerbWalker]

When Bobby took this demo of this song to Nashville, the Record folks liked it the way it was, Just Her voice & her guitar so they KEPT it and just tracked the STRINGS over it and THAT is what you hear on her 1st hit here:)Bet cha didnt know that ??:)

[ipodmaster23]

@HerbWalker yeah i did actually ;) lol :P

[HerbWalker]

I lived in MS when this was out, Those old Country houses looked the same too:)

[goannadream]

Oh the narrative is breathtaking. Somehow it makes me think of the Australian singer and songwriter Paul Kelly. His song, "Who's Going to Make the Gravy ?.". Also makes me think of the beautiful Archie Roach. Some songs are 2 minutes and twrelve seconds of entertainment but these story telling songs just kill me. And I don't know who wrote it.

[deepfried13]

allegory for vietnam? i think so

[Nguli34689]

1968? No, we were listening to KFRC during the summer of 1967 and this is one of the tunes we heard. (KFRC-AM was a San Francisco based radio station that played rock, soul, and took requests. We would listen to AM radio until KMPX-FM went on the air. KMPX, KSAN, and KSJO were the three stations "heads" would listen to.) We distinctly remember this tune and what we were doing when we first heard it.

Ode to Billy Joe was one of the tunes I liked from the old days.

[NigelCJones]

They don't sing them like this anymore either...

[BusaFalconer]

This movie was actually curriculum in school when I was very young! Every class had to watch in like 4th grade..

[krkraz]

God has to cause it all. I guess that is all that we explain in our present era. God tells you now don't think about it to hard.

[Clemburke1111]

@krkraz I am not sure I understand.

[krkraz]

@Clemburke1111 ; I guess too much Platonic thinking can get to you. It really is the very radical religion. I like the English accent at the end.

[TheWadejones]

wat did she throw off the bridge

[Dartwith]

@TheWadejones I'd have to have to say girl and Billy Joe were practicin' infanticide :(

[Maitreyafication]

@Dartwith nah, it was drugs lol

[Maitreyafication]

@TheWadejones probably was crack

[Clemburke1111]

@TheWadejones I dead fetus.

[MrHurricaneIKE]

I saw this when I was a young teen and then of course I ask what was Billy Joe the homo was doing? Of course, I was and still is disgusted by this depraved behavior. Billy Joe is in Hell! Billy Joe ate da poo poo and is in Hell for it.

[SirLaurenWilson]

@MrHurricaneIKE lol you are one deprived little individual are you not lol

[thegayprovocateur]

@SirLaurenWilson @MrHurricaneIKE lol - spot on - the boy talks - thinks and dreams about "da poo poo" more than anyone i've ever heard of before in my life. between you and me love - i think Mr Ike has a diaper fetish - can you just imagine him sitting in front of his computer wearing nothing but a huge diaper while typing away with his stubby little fingers? nasty site that is! but then for such a hateful and nasty person . . .

[thegayprovocateur]

@MrHurricaneIKE <------------ is listed as a hater on youtube. and not a very articulate or creative one at that - so please assist youtube in ridding this site of such haters. mark as spam, flag, and report his comments when they violate youtube's community guidelines. thank you! good lord buttercup - if i saw as many gay men under my bed as you dream of having under yours - i'd never stop smiling.

[kakesterr]

There scared the crap out of me at the end where the announcer just started talkin' O_o

[freak49]

I remember this when it was first released.

There's only one word to describe this song - HAUNTING

[baddmanners1]

what exactly besides billy joe and some flowers went off the bridge?

[TheMrBlinx]

@baddmanners1 Good question. There's some kind of under story there. What were they seen throwing off the bridge?

[itsonlycapnkirk]

nice atmosphere possum

[berlynn2]

i love this song and the movie.

[baddmanners1]

@berlynn2 never seen the movie is there any expanation as to why billy jumped or what was thrown in the river which came first the movie or the song

[berlynn2]

@baddmanners1 billy joe jumped because , he couldent believe he got drunk and slept with a man so, i guess he couldent handel the fact that he had done this.

[bfallingstar]

@hellotherehumane  Mississippi >>Tallahatchie River. Let Florida get it's own dang bridges and songs. ;)

[spacegasp]

Good example of Southern people English(or African) descent, mixed with Native Americans, and with a French- influenced accent.

[bobu46]

Great woman (artist) - great voice - great song - simply unique - thanks !!

[list55]

timeless! some achievement!

[TheLisamay01]

i absolutely love this song whenever i hear it i can imagine that im sat around that table and i think it was a baby they threw off the bridge and the billy joe couldnt cope so he took his own life

[MeetTheEnd]

@TheLisamay01 I had that thought too. It's a sad but very beautiful song. Can't get it out of my head now.^^

[kajunmoon]

@TheLisamay01 It wasnt a baby. The movie is posted on youtube.

[synth77]

i thought she was black.

[bjacko688]

They dont write them like this anymore...

[0NoMoreHeroes0]

@bjacko688 it wasn't a baby they threw off the bridge. It was evidence of what happened to billie joe.

[bettydaw1970]

@bjacko688 yea they do, u just dont get out/explore enuff to find em :)

[cajundragon67]

@bjacko688 that is so so true

[femsual]

loved her-- such sweet innocense

[AliceMarr]

I am sure I am wrong. But what I got out of this song wa s that an aborted fetus died that day. And then Billy Joe died for his son. I am;not saying this is definitive.

[TMCRyan]

Mr G, this is for you.

[TMCRyan]

Hey, this is the scary, brill ballad that you should listen to. xx

[TMCRyan]

Another scary narrative balllad. This one is a subtle classic. Listen. Love you xx