Lyrics Language: English Song writer/composer(s): Bobbie Gentry
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Bobbie GentryOde To Billie Joe 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"
Then she said, "I got some news this mornin' from Choctaw Ridge
Today Billie Joe McAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge"
Papa said to Mama as he passed around the black-eyed peas
"Well, Billie Joe never had a lick o' 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 McAllister's jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge
Brother said he recollected when he and Tom and Billie 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 Billie Joe's jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge
Mama said to me, "Child what's happened to your appetite?
I been cookin' all mornin' and you haven't touched 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 throwin' somethin' off the Tallahatchie Bridge"
A year has come and gone since I heard the news 'bout Billie Joe
Brother married Becky Thompson, they bought a store in Tupelo
There was a virus goin' round, papa caught it and he died last spring
And now Mama doesn't seem to want to do much of anything
And me I spend a lot of time picking flowers up on Choctaw Ridge
And drop them into the muddy water off the Tallahatchie Bridge
The lyrics on the most recent version are sanctioned by the composer, or owner of the rights to the lyrics, however, there may be lyrics that are more complete on the prior version(s) that have been submitted by a contributor to mp3lyrics.org
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Bobbie Gentry Ode To Billie Joe Lyrics Information:
"ODE TO BILLIE JOE" 8
Written by: Bobbie Gentry
Arranged by: Jimmie Haskell
Produced by: Kelly Gordon & Bobby Paris
Performed by: Bobbie Gentry 910
First released: 11
Single: July 1967
Album: June 1967
1 A low triangular area of silt, mud or other such accumulations, made by
flowing river water and deposited where the river widens just before entering a
larger body of water. These deposits usually form a triangular "island" of
deposits and are thus named because of their shape, which resembles the Greek
letter, Delta.
2 Choctaw Ridge is a long, narrow elevation of land, in Webster County,
Mississippi, U.S.A. It is located a bit north and east of the center of the
state and has an elevation of 133 meters, or 436 feet.
3 Tallahatchie is from the Native-American, Choctaw language, meaning "rock of
waters." The bridge in this song actually exists and its name was inspired by
the Native-American meaning.
4 Lower 40 refers to 40 acres of land in a low-lying area.
5 Caroll County is the next county to the west of Webster County (see note 2).
6 There have been endless speculations as to the meaning of this song. In fact
a movie, books, and countless websites are devoted to to these discussions and
interpretations. However, the fact remains that Bobby Gentry, who wrote the
song, maintains to this day that she made the story up and does not know why
Billie Joe committed suicide, or why everyone is so indifferent to the suicide,
or what the young people were throwing off the bridge.
7 Tupelo, Mississippi, U.S.A., a city in the northeast section of the state,
has one claim to fame -- it is known as the birthplace of Elvis Presley.
8 "Ode to Billie Joe" was a #1 hit in the U.S., and became a big international
seller. The song is ranked #412 on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500
Greatest Songs of All Time. It generated eight Grammy nominations, including
three wins for Gentry and one win for arranger Jimmie Haskell. Sometimes spelled
"Billy Joe," the album covers and most of the single sleeves are printed,
"Billie Joe." If Bobby Gentry wrote it as "Billy Joe," it has been permanently
and irrevocably co-opted.
9 Roberta Lee Streeter (born July 27, 1944, Chickasaw County, Mississippi),
professionally known as Bobbie Gentry, is one of the first female country
artists to write and produce her own material. Her lyrics are drawn from her
Mississippi roots and they compose vignettes of life in the southern United
States. Typically her songs have autobiographic characteristics.
10 Covered by:
Ronnie Aldrich & His Two Pianos,
Liz Anderson,
Chet Atkins,
Patricia Barber,
Blowzone,
Booker T. & the MG's,
Ray Bryant
John Butler,
Jaki Byard,
Ray Charles,
Carla Cook,
Floyd Cramer,
Sonny Criss,
Jimmy Dawkins,
Lou Donaldson,
Julia Douglass,
Harry "Sweets" Edison,
Eric Essix,
Fantastic Stings,
The 5th Dimension,
Flatt & Scruggs,
Lester Flatt,
Danny Gatton,
Earl Grant,
Urbie Green,
The Gene Harris Quartet,
Lee Hazelwood,
Willis "Gator" Jackson,
Henry Kaiser,
King Curtis,
Ramsey Lewis,
Patti Littlefield,
Tommy McCook,
Jimmy McGriff,
Ellen McIlwaine,
Al McKibbon,
Sarah McQuaid,
Roy Meriwether,
Buddy Merrill,
Megan Mullally,
Fausto Papetti,
Joe Pass,
Jaco Pastorius,
Lucky Peterson,
Oscar Peterson,
Phranc,
Pop Defect,
Pam Purvis,
The Racket Squad,
Buddy Rich,
Howard Roberts,
Diana Ross & the Supremes,
Satan & Adam,
Leslie Satcher,
Earl Scruggs,
Margie Singleton,
Jimmy Smith,
Johnny "Hammond" Smith,
Billy Jo Spears,
Cal Tjader,
The True Historians,
Ike & Tina Turner,
The Ventures,
Susan Voelz,
Tricia Walker,
Clarence White,
Barney Wilen & His Amazing Free Rock Band,
Stephanie Beck Williams,
Jackie Wilson,
Nancy Wilson,
Tammy Wynette,
Tania Yegelwel,
et al.
(2)A-side: Bobby Gentry, "Ode to Billy Joe" (Soundtrack version.)
Produced by: Larry Shayne Music, Inc.
B-side: Michael LeGrand, "There'll Be Time"
1. Made for the movie, Ode to Billy Joe, 7-Inch, Vinyl, 45rpm,
#WBS-8210, US-1976.(#65-Top 100.)
EP(s):
(1)Bobby Gentry
Track 1: "Ode to Billie Joe"
Track 2: "Mississippi Delta"
Track 3: "Papa, Won't You Take Me to Town With You"
1. Vadeca, 3-Track EP, 7-Inch, Vinyl, 45rpm, #EAP5-2830, Portugal-1967.
(2)Bobby Gentry: Ode to Billie Joe
1. Capitol, 12-Track, Stereo CD, #471206-2, US-1992 12 .
et al. * This list is not intended to be the complete discography
on which this song appears.
12 Transcribed from the track on this album.
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