Incredible story telling - BOBBIE GENTRY ODE TO BILLIE JOE REACTION

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  • čas přidán 27. 07. 2024
  • Reaction to Ode to Billie Joe by Bobbie Gentry.An incredible art of story telling that had me on the edge of my seat!
    Gentry is an amazing story teller and an extremely striking looking woman.
    #bobbieGentry
    #bobbieGentryReaction
    #odeToBillieJoe
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Komentáře • 737

  • @keymack2477
    @keymack2477 Před 3 lety +121

    Nice to see another great reaction from you Harri!!! One day you should consider reacting to "That's The Way I Always Heard It Should Be" by Carly Simon live, "Why" live from Annie Lennox in the year 2000, "One Less Bell To Answer" from the Fifth Dimension, live from 1970, and "The Battle of Evermore" from Heart, live from 1995! Put them on your list to get to one day, Harri, along with the upcoming "Hi-De-Ho" from Blood Sweat and Tears!!! It is upcoming soon, right Harri? Harri? Harri!! *Sigh* oh well . . . . .

    • @sassymessmess9110
      @sassymessmess9110 Před 3 lety +10

      OMG, the Carly Simon song! It's like a time capsule of what was expected of ladies back then.

    • @neilmartin99
      @neilmartin99 Před 3 lety +6

      Great song.
      Powerful

    • @vincentschmitt7597
      @vincentschmitt7597 Před 3 lety +7

      "My father sits at night with no lights on. His cigarette glows in the dark."

    • @davidvornsand6054
      @davidvornsand6054 Před 2 lety +2

      Annie Lennox live “Why” is one of my favorite performances!☮️❤️

    • @MrWhoevr
      @MrWhoevr Před 2 lety +2

      @@sassymessmess9110 Awesome song

  • @paulsmallriver6066
    @paulsmallriver6066 Před 2 lety +12

    Ms Gentry was a rare woman. From the beginning she had control of her musical business. When she decided she had had enough she quit, walked away into her private self. What a woman!

  • @michelepaccione8806
    @michelepaccione8806 Před 3 lety +344

    The song is about cruel indifference; her parents don’t even realize their daughter is seeing Billy Joe (probably because they’re hoping their daughter will end up with the preacher); the news of his suicide is treated as offhand, casual conversation; they don’t seem to care at all that this young man is dead. And the family doesn’t even realize the singer has gone silent during the meal because she’s upset about his death. Bobbie Gentry has said what they threw off the bridge is meaningless. It’s the family dynamic.

    • @vincentschmitt7597
      @vincentschmitt7597 Před 3 lety +19

      That was what I heard She said it was really about.

    • @nothingbutlove40tis
      @nothingbutlove40tis Před 3 lety +14

      Absolutely spot on!

    • @duckduckgoismuchbetter
      @duckduckgoismuchbetter Před 3 lety +11

      It's not meaningless. It was their baby that was thrown off the bridge.
      Bobbie Gentry is incorrect, even though she wrote it. Songwriters, inexplicably, often admit they don't know what their own songs are about.

    • @duckduckgoismuchbetter
      @duckduckgoismuchbetter Před 3 lety +10

      @Uncle Phil Yes, exactly correct. Some girls don't "show", even to themselves. And it's sometimes a big surprise to them. They hope they're just gaining weight, rather than pregnant.
      It's totally clear what happened here. The only questions remaining being whether the baby was born alive or aborted or died shortly after birth due to ignorance and unintentional neglect. It is a story of tragedy no matter what happened.
      I knew what this story was about, as a VERY naive teenager. And, knowing how these stories were "laid between the lines" back then, in order to get on radio, I'm surprised that more people haven't figured it out. It is not a complicated story, and not hard to decipher the clues as to what happened.
      A lot of people, inexplicably, seem to love b̶e̶i̶n̶g̶ c̶o̶n̶f̶u̶s̶e̶d̶ ambiguity. And will argue in favor of everyone else joining them in b̶e̶i̶n̶g̶ c̶o̶n̶f̶u̶s̶e̶d̶, the ambiguity. And they become angry at anyone who insists on NOT b̶e̶i̶n̶g̶ c̶o̶n̶f̶u̶s̶e̶d̶, "contemplating the infinite possible meanings of the song", right along with them.
      I've been argued with by a lot of c̶o̶n̶f̶u̶s̶e̶d̶, consterned people about this song on other CZcams comment sections, lol. So I'm all gassed up and ready for them this time. Although I'm not looking forward to this argument again.

    • @duckduckgoismuchbetter
      @duckduckgoismuchbetter Před 3 lety +5

      @Uncle PhilNo, I know what they've said and how they say it, and it's more about them not wanting others to be able to see things clearly when they cannot.
      Some things have objectively correct answers, or in this case inevitable and inescapable answers.
      It is not wrong to point out when things are clear-cut. And it is not relevant if some few others cannot see it, and actually get angry because they want others to not be able to see it either.
      If you knew that 2 plus 2 equalled 4, and someone else couldn't see it, would you be wrong to insist that there really, inevitably, was only one answer to that question. There is no ambiguity to that question to anyone who understands math. And I can see through what some others think is ambiguity in this song, at least with regard to the "mysterious something" thrown off the bridge, just as easily.
      I'm not going to pretend otherwise. It is just as clear as the answer to 2 plus 2, that it was a baby. And equally clear that no one, including myself, knows precisely how the baby died, unless it would be Bobbie Gentry herself.
      I'm not insisting on "being right". I'm insisting that the song is not hard to understand, which it definitely is not.
      And none of these people have ever proposed anything that fits the lyrics anywhere near as well as a baby. Some people actually stated that they thought it could be a ring. So, they think there are rings big enough to be seen from a considerable distance, which is implied directly by the implied fact that the girl did not see the preacher. So they must have put the ring...in a BIG box or something, and then heaved it into the river with all four of their hands? Ridiculous! Besides, no young penniless man would ever throw a ring he had PAID for, and was likely making payments on...into a river. Let alone, in a big package, held by his girlfriend who had just rejected his wedding ring. Nor would she throw flowers into a river where a ring had been thrown into, and her jilted boyfriend had killed himself.
      In another video comment argument, some idiots actually argued that the above scenario was more likely than a baby. A ring. And that was one of the less absurd things that they argued for.
      The bottom line is, nothing, except for a baby, fits every single one of the song facts. Nothing. Period.
      It's absurd that I have to even say this. The song is a great song. And the, very obvious, story was laid between the lines to get it on radio. And also, to make it a much better song, rather than just telling it directly. But the story can be inferred quite easily. And if you substitute "baby" for anything and everything else on the planet, you will find that absolutely nothing else fits the lyrics...except for a baby.

  • @jamescox4231
    @jamescox4231 Před 3 lety +134

    I’ve been hearing this for 50 years and it’s still chilling to me.

  • @waynebrown3266
    @waynebrown3266 Před 3 lety +252

    That has got to be just about the most haunting melody and song there has ever been. Gets to me every time.

    • @lauriejones8082
      @lauriejones8082 Před 2 lety +14

      I agree...’Haunting “ is the only word I can find to describe her voice in this song, along with the lyrics of course. A perfect match for the story and the tune. ❤️🔥

    • @christinegelabert1651
      @christinegelabert1651 Před 2 lety +16

      @Wayne Brown you're exactly right. I'm old enough to remember when this song first came out. When it gets to the line about her mother asking her what happened to her appetite? It's like I can feel what she's going through just sitting there as people making small talk. I know she has a feeling of tightness in her throat and knots in her stomach. THAT'S the point in the song where I start to lose it and I begin to cry. I'm in my mid-50s now and this song gets to me exactly the same way as it did when I was younger. It's still one of my favorites of all time but there's just something very deep that's underlying there. She has such a beautiful and angelic voice. But it's true that this is a haunting song.

    • @missmajestic2158
      @missmajestic2158 Před rokem +1

      Read my comment up above.

    • @abrahammorrison6374
      @abrahammorrison6374 Před rokem +1

      That pales in comparison to the poignant but haunting ballad by my fellow countryman, Gordon Lightfoot. Listen to The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald and read the thousands of people who can relate to the song.

  • @martinwilliams3595
    @martinwilliams3595 Před 10 měsíci +10

    Beauty meets talent meets stunning voice meets great song writing meets story telling.
    Perfection.

  • @lindaharrell3916
    @lindaharrell3916 Před 3 měsíci +3

    Pure Poetry! Awesome! I have loved this song from my youth. Brings back such “feels.”

  • @martyemmons1859
    @martyemmons1859 Před 3 měsíci +4

    "Ode To Billy Joe" has an ominous quality to it. It's hard not to be affected when I was listening to it.

  • @coffee-xg6my
    @coffee-xg6my Před 3 lety +238

    Powerful performance by Bobbie Gentry. By the way Harri, what you are hearing coming out of Bobbie's mouth is an 'authentic' American deep south accent. No fake Hollywood style southern accents here. I grew up down around that area and am very familiar with it. In Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and even far East Texas, that was the predominant accent especially in the rural areas. And the images she's depicting in the lyrics, sitting around the table, passing around the biscuits and black eyed peas, men working at the saw mill, the father talking about how he still has 5 more acres to plow and the young preacher offering to have dinner on Sunday. With all these kinds of images, Bobbie skillfully paints an authentic vivid picture of what rural small town southern culture used to be. It's still that way in some areas but not as prominent today I would say. For me, in some ways, this song preserves just a little of that simple life and culture which I personally feel is slowly disappearing.

    • @inspectorvol951
      @inspectorvol951 Před 3 lety +18

      100% correct coffee. It’s that authenticity in her voice that gets people. That and she doesn’t oversell it. She just leans into enough to emphasis on certain words and phrases.

    • @LAPhil13
      @LAPhil13 Před 3 lety +12

      Simple in superficial ways, but the complexity of the family dynamic, the event they're discussing, and the casual mentions that indicate a connection to it through the daughter indicate that life is anything but simple there.

    • @maryreilly5092
      @maryreilly5092 Před 2 lety +6

      That's the same accent my family in Alabama speaks! My daddy was one of those kids chopping cotton in the sweltering hot fields of Alabama back in the 1940's. This song always gets to me on so many levels. Thanks for reviewing it!

    • @RLucas3000
      @RLucas3000 Před 2 lety +2

      @@maryreilly5092 when i hear this, i think, were cotton gins super expensive? or did it have to be chopped before it was ginned.

    • @maryreilly5092
      @maryreilly5092 Před 2 lety +7

      @@RLucas3000 it had to be chopped manually first. Then taken through a machine to separate the cotton out. My poor Dad had to pick cotton manually as a child. Pulled out of school in the 1st grade to work in the Alabama summer heat. He picked cotton side by side with his siblings and other children from both black and white families. All working together just to survive. My Dad told me how his little fingers got tore up and bloody from working the fields. He told me how there were poisonous snakes all in the fields and how he feared for his life while he worked. My heart goes out to him and all the poor children around the world who had to work and still have to work in terrible and dangerous conditions. So sad. Thank you.

  • @boosuedon
    @boosuedon Před 3 lety +82

    When she pitched this song she walked into the producers office with her ukulele and played just as she did here. The producer (can't remember his name) set up recording studio time that day!

  • @ChuckHackney
    @ChuckHackney Před rokem +9

    The Delta blues so wonderfully incapsulated in this song. Man but the American South has given us soooo many genres of music. From country to jazz to blues to Dixieland. All originated in the southern USA.

  • @colinpate3059
    @colinpate3059 Před 3 lety +120

    This song got an enormous amount of airplay when it came out. It was a summer song and l remember well how that summer felt when l hear it. Ode to Billy Joe and The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald are two of the most haunting songs. They are beautifully done and l love them both.

  • @cherylmcguire2972
    @cherylmcguire2972 Před 11 měsíci +7

    It’s unexpected…eerie…and I have loved it for over 60 years ❤

  • @andrewpetik2034
    @andrewpetik2034 Před 7 měsíci +4

    Shivers down your spine is about right....for me, it happens almost every time I hear it.

  • @BaltoD60
    @BaltoD60 Před 3 lety +54

    The Best can mesmerize you with one instrument and one microphone.

    • @MrVvulf
      @MrVvulf Před 3 lety +2

      He really needs to react to Jim Croce and Harry Chapin.

  • @charlesdavis7461
    @charlesdavis7461 Před rokem +8

    This song is so full of imagery, I can see everything in my mind.

  • @DreamingCatStudio
    @DreamingCatStudio Před měsícem +1

    Been listening to and loving this song for 58 years. The chill you felt was due to Bobbie Gentry’s talent. The violins added so mightily to the poignant sound. It’s worth reading up on what Gentry says about the story.

  • @kellyyork3898
    @kellyyork3898 Před 9 měsíci +8

    I was raised in the SE in America. I’m 66, and spent most of my life in bigger cities in the South where I taught in public schools for 35 years. But I have many relatives who are older who grew up in the country away from larger cities during The Great Depression in the South. Life was hard; many people worked in the fields from dawn till dusk…this “life” persisted even into the 1960s and 70s. At “dinner time” at mid day, the men would come back to the house to eat. They often ate first, and the women and children ate their meal after them because the men had to get back to the field work and they needed the calories. There was a lot of death and injuries, and young children and babies died of common diseases that we can easily cure today. My mother’s baby brother died of pneumonia at only two months old. The singer here wrote this song herself…she’s telling a story…like a ballad/ode. The people at the table are not really too phased by BillieJo’s death, since death was common. Life for them goes on. It’s sad, but…what the singer is really focused on in this song is that the girl’s family never catches on that she’s really suffering due to this boy’s death and that they shared something special. In a better time and place, where people have more money, leisure time, education, introspection, and empathy, perhaps this young girl could have talked about her feelings about the event/what led up to it and could have been heard and comforted, but this is not the time or place for such things. “Pass the biscuits please.”

    • @salty-tomato
      @salty-tomato Před 3 měsíci

      💯 on this presentation of life in the "South"
      Spot on!!

  • @bierce716
    @bierce716 Před 3 lety +23

    Billie Joe is a side issue- the point of the story is that nobody in the family had ever listened to or understood her.

  • @sandrak.robbins6305
    @sandrak.robbins6305 Před 2 lety +6

    This song. It will haunt you forever. I don't think that we will ever know what they threw off that bridge. What a story teller. Thank you!

  • @WinteryMix84
    @WinteryMix84 Před 3 lety +4

    My Mom and her friends were obsessed with this story-- just what was going on up there on that bridge? They could not stop speculating. LOL

    • @alpenhuhn1
      @alpenhuhn1 Před 2 měsíci

      i always thought they thrown a baby from the bridge !

  • @johncoulombe833
    @johncoulombe833 Před 3 lety +7

    During the 1960s I spent a lot of time in rural Mississippi. Near the town where we went to spend time in the summer with my grandmother is a river similar to the Tallahatchie. There was always an undercurrent of tension during those days. Bobbie Gentry hit the nail on the head with this song, which is not an actual event; but a lot of strange, almost gothic things go on in the Deep South. There are a lot of ghosts down there that many people pretend not to see.

    • @marielaveau5321
      @marielaveau5321 Před 3 lety +1

      Pearl River maybe? Or the Tombigbee? Lived in the 'Sipp all my life. You aren't wrong about the ghosts. ✌️

  • @dsusan17
    @dsusan17 Před 3 lety +36

    Her family were a poor farming family. Their minds were on the chores, bringing in the cotton. No they didn't realize their daughter/sister was this affected by the news of Billy Joe. Day to day life can be hard and cause people not to see what's right in front of them.

    • @hookstomper7322
      @hookstomper7322 Před 3 lety +3

      That's right: they were small farmers, scratching for survival.

    • @kathlelan
      @kathlelan Před 3 lety +2

      This song is fiction and was written by Bobbie Gentry. She already explained the point of it: cruel indifference or unconscious cruelty. She wrote it so she should know.

    • @hookstomper7322
      @hookstomper7322 Před 3 lety +4

      @@kathlelanI think that the characters' fictionality is immaterial. The comments made were that they were busy, preoccupied, tired people, which makes it understandable if they would fail to notice every aspect of a secretive daughter's life.

  • @alicecrumpler1810
    @alicecrumpler1810 Před 3 lety +51

    Not a true story. It's Southern Gothic. The events are open to interpretation, but, as another person commented, it's about the callous reaction of the family. (I think they didn't realize the girl and Billy Joe were in a relationship.)

    • @SueProst
      @SueProst Před 3 lety +2

      I was gonna write something similar. You saved me extra writing. Good job.

    • @beckylawler2768
      @beckylawler2768 Před 2 lety

      A movie by the same title was released nine years after the song. It explained the missing pieces of the song even though it's probably not a true story. Bobbie Gentry never said what the song was really about but the movie was very good.

    • @SueProst
      @SueProst Před 2 lety +1

      @@beckylawler2768 It's not a true story and I thought the movie was ok but not any better IMO

    • @beckylawler2768
      @beckylawler2768 Před 2 lety

      @@SueProst
      I was 18 when I watched the movie and I barely knew of those issues. It impacted me in a way that is different than if I were to watch it today.

    • @victore6242
      @victore6242 Před 2 lety

      you know what happens when you play a country song backwards? you get yer house back, yer dog, back yer job back, yer gurl back...

  • @namesake-mx9nl
    @namesake-mx9nl Před 2 lety +5

    A haunting song , amazing song writing , mysterious and so well delivered , graet story telling too . We had some amazing female singer / song writers back then.

  • @chickmcgee1000
    @chickmcgee1000 Před 3 lety +26

    I saw her show in Las Vegas in 1978, I was eighteen.My parents had this record from ten years before. This record topped nearly every chart that existed at the time. Rock, country, R&B, easy listening. I knew I was seeing something special.

  • @tinas7653
    @tinas7653 Před 2 lety +1

    This is special. Haunting. You will never forget.

  • @moonbeam2062
    @moonbeam2062 Před 3 lety +39

    This is one of those live performances that far surpassed the audio (and the audio was great!). The way Bobbie phrased the lines in this performance were so much more thoughtful and expressive. She's more seasoned as a singer and the song had obviously lived and grown within her since she first recorded it. Plus, I really like the drier sound it has as opposed to the audio version which had much more reverb in the production. It just comes off more personal, and intimate. Even the way she's strumming the guitar seems more connected with the mood of the lyrics. In my humble opinion, this performance in one word is...perfect!

    • @scootdaws25
      @scootdaws25 Před 2 lety +2

      Couldn't agree more. Much better than the original.

  • @marymccloskey9450
    @marymccloskey9450 Před 3 lety +3

    I was thirteen when I first heard this song and it made me cry.

  • @kerryknight228
    @kerryknight228 Před 3 lety +21

    Beautiful. She does a song called Fancy that's very good

  • @watchcity2068
    @watchcity2068 Před 20 dny

    cello, base, beautiful. My generation (we're now in late 60s, early 70s yrs old) was so fortunate to have grown up with thee very best music on the planet from the 60s, 70s, and 80s. It's interesting to see/hear folks listening to it for the first time, not only listening but enjoying and respecting it. Google can answer any questions you've got.

  • @marinamartinez6886
    @marinamartinez6886 Před 3 lety +15

    A Southern Gothic tale sung well. The strings really add to the atmosphere of this song. 👍👍👍

    • @PAn-su3wy
      @PAn-su3wy Před 2 lety +1

      Agreed. The strings really stand out in this performance in a way I've never noticed before so I looked up the composer. Jimmie Haskell, who also composed/arranged Simon and Garfunkel's 'Bridge over troubled Water' as well as many, many movie soundtracks. He's brilliant.

  • @oldspiritart
    @oldspiritart Před 2 lety +2

    Yes, this is the prettiest face that will ever punch you right in the gut. Angelic voice, absolutely unique.

  • @barrycohen311
    @barrycohen311 Před 2 lety +2

    Quite a profound song. Create a mystery.

  • @margaretsimmons1598
    @margaretsimmons1598 Před 2 lety +2

    She has a haunting voice

  • @jessietucker9342
    @jessietucker9342 Před 3 lety +58

    Bobbie Gentry, so haunting in her quiet but compelling delivery, I always was fascinated by this song with such a mysterious storyline, a movie actually came out in the early 70s based on the song baring the same title, "Ode to Billy Joe", although this is merely a contrived cinematic depiction that used extreme poetic license in my opinion of Ms Gentry's eerie tale. In fact, I don't think Hollywood was accurate at all, but I could be biased, my family is from Greenwood, near the Mississippi Delta, in fact, I found out I am a distant relative, lol! I don't think really that any revelations are ever meant to come from this mysterious beauty!✌

    • @39thala
      @39thala Před 3 lety +9

      Thank you for this comment! I am so glad you mentioned about the movie's depiction. So many people think the Hollywood movie script is some kind of accurate reflection of the story that Bobbie had in mind.

    • @marielaveau5321
      @marielaveau5321 Před 3 lety +2

      My father in law had one of the cast iron spheres from the top of the old Tallahatchie Bridge. I've fished that River many times. ✌️

    • @gailenefuller8330
      @gailenefuller8330 Před 3 lety +1

      I always loved this song and my friends made fun.

  • @JohnSmith-oj6ir
    @JohnSmith-oj6ir Před 2 lety +1

    smoky, sultry voice. this song takes me back to basic training in '67. at fort polk we weren't allowed to have transistor radios, but when we'd walk into the orderly room or supply or other places, this would be on the radio. i still love that mississippi gal.

  • @debbers
    @debbers Před rokem +27

    I always assumed that she had miscarried and they threw their baby into the water off the bridge, and I also assumed that was why Billie Joe committed suicide, he couldn't handle the thought that they threw their baby away instead of giving it a proper burial. I don't know if that's what it was about, it was just always my assumption! Thanks once again for your reaction and for allowing me to sit in with you!

    • @markfll
      @markfll Před rokem +5

      That's what I always thought when I hear this song.

    • @angelabluebird609
      @angelabluebird609 Před rokem +2

      Actually, there was a movie made of it, which Bobbi Jo Gentry helped make. She states the point is not what was thrown off the bridge, but rather the unknowing family not realizing Billie Lee was in love with Billy Joe. Her mom expressed sadness at Billy Joe's death, and knew her daughter was struggling, but not why. Billy Joe was plied with alcohol by a man and assaulted. He committed suicide because of this.

    • @loucilehall9281
      @loucilehall9281 Před rokem +3

      That’s what I always thought too about throwing a baby into the river

    • @harpinpoem
      @harpinpoem Před 8 měsíci +2

      That’s what I thought, too. ❤

    • @harpinpoem
      @harpinpoem Před 8 měsíci +3

      The movie was awful. As much as I loved Robby Benson it was dumb.😊

  • @jonnybalz
    @jonnybalz Před rokem +2

    Ghosts from the way life was in the old south. Teenage pregnancy was incredibly high and small rural towns across the USA were in poverty. The "muddy" waters held the secrets that are still being talked about today.

  • @chopshop5519
    @chopshop5519 Před 2 lety +2

    another super classic.

  • @cherylhughes8212
    @cherylhughes8212 Před 2 lety

    She's got a lot of great songs;
    *Big boss man
    *Son of a preacher man
    *Fancy.
    And can she DANCE?
    HELL YEAH! 💃

  • @buddystewart2020
    @buddystewart2020 Před 2 lety +2

    “Everybody has a different guess about what was thrown off the bridge-flowers, a ring, even a baby. Anyone who hears the song can think what they want, but the real message of the song, if there must be a message, revolves around the nonchalant way the family talks about the suicide. They sit there eating their peas and apple pie and talking, without even realizing that Billie Joe’s girlfriend is sitting at the table, a member of the family.” - Bobbie Gentry

  • @bmm7132
    @bmm7132 Před 2 lety

    Bobbie Gentry was a wonderful wonderful singer guitar player story player. She has the song called FANCY! Try that one you'll like that one also 😁🎶🎵🎵🎼🎸🎸🎹 Thank you for playing Bobbie Gentry!

  • @rolanddeschain965
    @rolanddeschain965 Před 3 lety +5

    A song along these lines , John prine singing ' Sam stone' will just about break your heart.

  • @community1949
    @community1949 Před rokem +7

    That is exactly how I felt and reacted when I first heard it in 1967 - hauntingly beautiful, beautiful chords mostly played in the minor notes and her story telling and beautiful guitar playing was just a masterpiece. She stepped out into the limelight with a masterpiece.

  • @tinaanderson6185
    @tinaanderson6185 Před 2 lety +2

    There was a lot of speculation about what they threw into the river ....some say it was a baby and Bobby Jo would not tell what they actually disposed of.......... it was left that way .... a question without answer and knowing this it gives the song an even more eerie vibe!

  • @shirleymongold9491
    @shirleymongold9491 Před 3 lety +5

    This song has puzzled me for 50 years !! lol but her voice is hauntingly beautiful

    • @markgallemore8856
      @markgallemore8856 Před 3 lety +1

      She made up the song while she was in college in Southern California. She probably had some psychology classes and wrote a song about peoples in difference There should be some more accurate information online

    • @rolanddeschain965
      @rolanddeschain965 Před 3 lety +1

      Shirley Mongold read the comment directly above yours you'll find it interesting I believe

  • @aubrygarrison4435
    @aubrygarrison4435 Před 3 lety +1

    You have good insight, very impressive, credit to you. You are right. She was a very striking woman!!!

  • @fionnmaccumhaill3257
    @fionnmaccumhaill3257 Před 13 dny

    The mother KNEW! She was relishing rubbing it in without outright saying it.

  • @user-wb1nv2iz7w
    @user-wb1nv2iz7w Před 3 měsíci

    She was a great storyteller with her music and the fact that you were trying to analyze the meaning speaks to her genius. She's showing the listener that people are more absorbed with their own daily lives than a tragedy that effects someone else. Her original version of "Fancy" is another great story set to music. Your reaction was perfect.

  • @libbywelch1373
    @libbywelch1373 Před 3 lety +1

    Listened to this as a little girl.. we always wondered what happened to Billy Joe.

  • @robertcraane7910
    @robertcraane7910 Před 2 lety

    She is the most beautiful woman i have ever seen!

  • @Ergot59
    @Ergot59 Před 2 lety +1

    The facts written about her on the screen is interesting.

  • @janetkizer5956
    @janetkizer5956 Před rokem

    I heard this song when it first came out in 1967, and it has never lost its power. It spooked me then and it just sent shivers down my spine again.

  • @39thala
    @39thala Před 3 lety +15

    Harry another great female singer with that 'smokey voice' similar to Bobbie's is the late Sammi Smith - "Help Me Make It Through The Night". A classic song written by the great Kris Kristofferson.

  • @tinaanderson6185
    @tinaanderson6185 Před 2 lety +1

    She was beautiful and had a beautiful voice! She was an excellent songwriter..... very talented lady!

  • @0101tuber
    @0101tuber Před 2 lety +2

    I think you would get a kick out of Jeannie C. Riley - 'Harper Valley P.T.A.'
    Enjoying your take on these classic songs.

  • @dalem8332
    @dalem8332 Před 3 lety +2

    Classic #1 song from 1967. One of the biggest songs of the year. ♥️🎼🎵🎶🎶🇨🇦🇨🇦

  • @SacredWaves
    @SacredWaves Před rokem

    They made a movie from this song. So many good stories are told in older songs... I appreciate your open mind listening to new music. Thank you for sharing your time and opinions with all of us. Be well, and God bless

  • @charlesmarkley220
    @charlesmarkley220 Před 3 lety +4

    You can't make up a story like this. Raw and real.

  • @joeynail6049
    @joeynail6049 Před rokem

    Man I miss those family dinners and reunions from the '60s and '70s.
    Listening to this makes the smell and sights come alive.
    And hearing the conservation from the Grownup Table.

  • @bomcgee7157
    @bomcgee7157 Před rokem +1

    There was a movie made that explained what was thrown from the bridge. Robby Benson and Glynnis O'Conner were the stars. It was heartbreaking.😢

  • @hilarywilkes7853
    @hilarywilkes7853 Před 2 lety +1

    I grew up with my Momma always playing this song. Never understood it until I was older and it is beautiful yet haunting. What a wonderful story teller and singer!❤

  • @joetomasello3746
    @joetomasello3746 Před 2 lety +1

    Was a huge, huge hit when it came out!!

  • @user-up3uc6ol4r
    @user-up3uc6ol4r Před 3 měsíci

    She has so many great songs.❤

  • @carolmeindl8973
    @carolmeindl8973 Před 3 lety +124

    It not about what happened to Billy Joe. It’s about the callous and disinterested reaction that the people around the girl exhibited. How often do we do the same sort of thing when we hear about a tragedy... pass judgement like they somehow “had it coming.”
    In a time where death was a pretty frequent occurrence, perhaps people were more cavalier about it , pausing for a second and then moving on.

    • @ocheltree1
      @ocheltree1 Před 3 lety +5

      Well stated, Carol. Agree. Great song.

    • @JK_Clarke
      @JK_Clarke Před 3 lety +14

      Speaking of frequent occurrences, I've heard a rumor that every single person who listens to this song will die one day. Pass the biscuits, please ....

    • @stephenulmer3781
      @stephenulmer3781 Před 3 lety +3

      Thats pretty much how society is now. Guess thats where the "Life goes on" saying comes in

    • @riccileighisreal6889
      @riccileighisreal6889 Před 3 lety +5

      Yes, “you can’t date anyone that low class, you’re better than that. Now where were we?”

    • @davidabercrombie5427
      @davidabercrombie5427 Před 3 lety +12

      i dont feel the girl's family are passing judgement on Billy-Joe for taking his life. In my mind they just swept it away as though it was nothing. They are indifferent and also totally unaware that she is heartbroken. That seems much more cruel.

  • @georgeringley2667
    @georgeringley2667 Před 3 lety +2

    A great piece. An audio tour of the deep south delta area. The humidity stifling your breathing, hanging like a vapor curtain that you just survive in for another day. Life goes on and death is always present.

  • @jannaromine5908
    @jannaromine5908 Před 3 lety +3

    Brenda Lee "I'm Sorry" from the 60's is another song you won't forget

  • @richdiddens4059
    @richdiddens4059 Před 3 lety +4

    People have been trying to analyze this song for over 50 years. The scariest part of the song is how deadpan her face is throughout the song.

  • @peterbooth793
    @peterbooth793 Před 2 lety +2

    Coming from an artist that didn't have that many hits this song has definitely stood the test of time. The mysterious content, the matter of fact way she relays the story, definitely beautiful yet chilling.

  • @Johnnycdrums
    @Johnnycdrums Před 2 lety +1

    That violin thing at the end is spectacular.

  • @aviatom1
    @aviatom1 Před 3 lety +2

    Serious masterpiece by Bobby Gentry

  • @karensimons6885
    @karensimons6885 Před 2 lety

    Isn't that one of the wonders of good songs? We go there to be with them as they tell their story. And then, it is a part of our souls forever after.

  • @missmajestic2158
    @missmajestic2158 Před rokem +2

    It's been said her & Billy Joe threw their baby off of the bridge. Then later he got assaulted by a man, and Billy couldn't live with the shame & guilt. So Billy jumped off the Tallahassee bridge. That way he dies as his baby died, in the same river. When she picked flowers she was throwing them off the bridge into the muddy river for Billy Joe & the baby. Such a sad story & sad song & a sad movie. 😥

  • @letitbesummer6536
    @letitbesummer6536 Před 3 lety +2

    Never heard this song before. Great bluesy song. 🎶 Lovely

  • @connieleighton4375
    @connieleighton4375 Před 3 lety +9

    In your intro you talk about remembering where and what you were doing when you heard a song
    Well this is one of those songs for me,I was in kindergarten and my dad was driving me to school and this song was playing on his radio, remember it like it was yesterday and that was more than 50 years ago...♡

  • @dejns6945
    @dejns6945 Před 2 lety +1

    Love this song. Thanks Harri! Even though that was the edited version.

  • @randyd.8171
    @randyd.8171 Před 2 lety +6

    The story of this song is not something that really happened. It is in fact a tragic love story. I first heard it on the radio, when it first came out, when I was eight tor nine years old. I think it was the first song that ever really made me cry. The emotions are powerful, and make you think. I'm sixty three years old, and this is still one of my all time favorite sings.

  • @theresamca4440
    @theresamca4440 Před 3 měsíci

    Bobbi Gentry and Elvis became good friends. Born near same area of Mississippi Delta.This song was most talked about then. She never revealed anymore but some affair happen that went wrong but not unusual for true or half true stories invthe south to have occurred long before social media.

  • @caroltunis3543
    @caroltunis3543 Před 10 měsíci +1

    I loved this song when it came out and hadn’t heard it again in decades! I remembered every single word of the song and now, I can’t stop listening to this! ❤️

  • @tomh3652
    @tomh3652 Před rokem

    You are so right she was a real beauty those full lips are to die for.

  • @lynnetrathen4587
    @lynnetrathen4587 Před 2 lety +2

    It’s definitely a haunting song 😢

  • @charlesdavis7461
    @charlesdavis7461 Před rokem

    She came from Mississippi and her family worked hard to survive and she made it, great for her.

  • @MJ-zh4el
    @MJ-zh4el Před 8 měsíci

    Southern Gothic right here, like a Faulkner novel in song. I was born and raised in Mississippi, but moved away as soon as I turned eighteen. This song always makes me long for the gritty beauty of my childhood home.

  • @tomdowling638
    @tomdowling638 Před 2 lety +1

    Boby Benson, played Billy Joe in the movie. Don't recall how the movie played out, but from the song. I would say a baby was lost, and Billy Joe followed.

  • @bobbiewallace4008
    @bobbiewallace4008 Před 3 měsíci

    Well now you've got me laughing. I've heard this song for many years and loved the look on your face.i love her name.i always thought they threw a baby

  • @aliciahager2961
    @aliciahager2961 Před rokem

    Haunting tale of the South. You can just picture the Spanish Moss hanging from huge cypress trees. The background music certainly adds to that spooky feeling, does it justice. An fyi, Bobby Gentry was married to Jim Stafford around this time; he is a funny, funny musician. She is so serious playing this song you wonder how the two of them ever got together. Another great story song, painting a story of poverty and love in a poor, sleepy dusty delta town. Yes, the song grabs you and pulls you in; I think Lightfoot's Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald does as well, and certainly grabs your emotions moreso. Both are superb. I'm glad you had a chance to hear, and react, to both these iconic story songs.

  • @genor5920
    @genor5920 Před 2 lety +1

    This record has been part of my life for 50+ years. You are lucky, being young, to experience it freshly for the first time.

  • @lavender_granny
    @lavender_granny Před 3 lety +2

    yes that is a violin you are hearing, giving you those haunting sounds reminiscent of the movie Deliverance, it gives you that skittering feeling up your spine almost like a horror movie. this is my all-time favorite song. she is such a master of her craft. thank you for this reaction

  • @39thala
    @39thala Před 3 lety +30

    A classic Southern Gothic tale told in a song! Genius! Bobbie said this song was "a study in unconscious cruelty". (Bobbie studied as a philosophy major in college)
    After this song came out, people would go there and try to jump off the bridge. The county started fining people $100 to try and keep them off the bridge. Sometime after the movie came out, the bridge was set on fire by vandals and collapsed in 1972. It was rebuilt later. I had read online somewhere that it was originally built back in the early 1900's.

  • @constancecombs2807
    @constancecombs2807 Před 2 lety +2

    She loved him. He loved her, but he was from the poor part of town. They knew her parents wouldn't approve. They broke up and he died by suicide. People went on with their lives because they didn't love him. But for her, she couldn't get over him leaving her. So sad!

  • @paulwhite5840
    @paulwhite5840 Před 2 měsíci

    This song came out when I was 5 or 6 years old. I played the 45 over and over.

  • @wholeu39
    @wholeu39 Před rokem

    There are great songs..and others that are on an elite level..the music voice lyrics delivery timing becomes something you can't yet describe..I enjoy this song bc I love writing..we I look how the wording and delivery...ALL time classic.

  • @RickTBL
    @RickTBL Před 3 lety +4

    The Great Unsolvable Mystery!

  • @777kvp
    @777kvp Před 3 lety +7

    Evocative. A story. The "style" of this is what we call Southern Gothic...

  • @jdwoods2008
    @jdwoods2008 Před 10 měsíci +1

    great reaction. great song. very haunting music accompaniment.

  • @happymethehappyone8300

    It's Like A 3 For 1 Sale With This Classic,, You Get A Beautiful Song By A Beautiful Woman With A Beautiful Voice,, MERRILEE RUSH & THE TURNABOUTS "ANGEL OF THE MORNING"

  • @Rehbock137
    @Rehbock137 Před 2 lety +1

    Love your clothes. I grew up with the song. Song about Clueless parents. One of the great songs .Wonderful experience to see you so sensitive and yet having never encountered it.

    • @benjalucian1515
      @benjalucian1515 Před 2 lety

      Not just clueless, but a look inside a hard scrabble life. They're poor farmers, can't afford farmhands so the children are helping in the fields. So they don't have the luxury of worrying about emotional or mental issues when life is hard enough just keeping a roof over your head and food on the table. Hence her father dismissing the suicide and her mother feeling sorry, but life goes on...

  • @albertadriftwood3612
    @albertadriftwood3612 Před 9 měsíci

    Honestly, I remember the first time this song came on the radio in the car. (I'm old), I pulled over, remember the exact spot, to listen. .Spooked me too.

  • @jeffjames4064
    @jeffjames4064 Před 2 lety +2

    Welcome to the music of my generation.😁
    That era of story telling , stories with substance is gone and nothing, absolutely nothing has had come close to its power.