THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

18-Bobbie Gentry-Ode to Billie Joe.

1967 Number 13 single.

Best Bit-At 3.11.Sometimes it’s more fun if the reason why something has happened always remains a mystery, rather than find out, and have all the mystique removed.

Bobbie Gentry (see also best songs 740) was born Roberta Lee Streeter on July 27th, 1942, near Woodland, Mississippi, United States, she took her stage name from the character ‘Ruby Gentry’ in the 1952 film of the same name. In the film, Ruby was a poor but beautiful girl from the backwoods, who ended up marrying the town tycoon. Bobbie Gentry was one of the first female artists in America to write and produce her own material, having signed with ‘Capitol Records’ in 1967.The last time she officially appeared in public was in April 1982 when attending the ‘Academy of Country Music Awards,’ she was 39 years old at the time, and since then she has not recorded, performed, or done any interviews. A report in 2016 stated that she now lives in a gated community near Memphis, Tennessee. According to another report, it was stated that Gentry lives in a gated community in Los Angeles.

The discography of Bobbie Gentry includes seven studio Albums released between 1967-1971, which includes a 1968 duets Album with fellow Country singer Glen Campbell. (1936-2017) (see also best songs 846 and 197) She also issued 31 singles between 1966-1978, of which four of those made the Billboard Hot 100 top 40 singles chart in America, with ‘Ode to Billie Joe’ making Number 1, and selling in excess of 3 million copies in that country. In the UK, she has also charted on four occasions, with her 1969 cover version of ‘I’ll Never Fall in Love Again’ reaching Number 1 (see also best songs 740.)

‘Ode to Billie Joe’ was written by Bobbie Gentry, and produced by Kelly Gordon, (1932-1981) and Bobby Paris, (-2009) although Gentry did later take legal action claiming that she was the songs sole producer. On the track Gentry played the acoustic guitar, with the strings, comprising of four violins and two chellos, being arranged by Jimmie Haskell (1926-2016.) ‘Ode to Billie Joe’ tells the story of Billie Joe McAllister who commits suicide by jumping off the ‘Tallahatchie Bridge, in Money, Mississippi. The songs narrator had been observed on the bridge previously with McAllister, and they had been seen throwing something in to the water below. This incident captured the imagination of the general public so much to the extent that ‘Warner Bros.’ commissioned the author Herman Raucher to expand on the songs story, and adapt it into a novel and a screenplay in 1976. Bobbie Gentry when asked for input once again answered by saying that she didn’t know why the couple were stood on the bridge, or what was thrown into the water, which left Raucher free to write his own adaption. In the film and the book McAllister has a homosexual encounter which he enjoyed, but later on he was overcome with guilt. Raucher also revealed that it was a rag doll that the couple had been seen throwing from the bridge to the water, signifying the narrators transformation from a child into an adult.

Bobbie Gentry has been quoted as saying that most people miss the really important messages in the song. She has said,’The song revolves around the nonchalant way the family talks about the suicide, the song is a study in unconscious cruelty, Second, the obvious gap between the girl and her mother is shown when both women experience a common loss, (first Billie Joe, and then Papa) and yet Mama and the girl are unable to recognise their mutual loss or share their grief.’ Bobbie Gentry has also said that what is thrown over the bridge isn’t important, and to fixate on that is to miss the point of the song. The real message is that ‘We often respond to tragic events with cruel dissociation.’

‘And 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.’