Ode to Billie Joe

Uncommon card · No. 93661

"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 in a half-spoken style by the daughter of a family, over sparse acoustic guitar accompaniment with strings in the background. It tells of a rural Mississippi Delta family's reaction to the news of the suicide of Billie Joe McAllister, a local boy to whom the daughter has a connection unbeknownst to her family. The song's cryptic lyrics 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...

Read on Wikipedia