This day in history: American singer-songwriter Bobbie Gentry was born on this day in 1942. Gentry rose to international fame in 1967 with her Southern Gothic narrative "Ode to Billie Joe". The track spent four weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and was third in the Billboard year-end chart of 1967, earning Gentry Grammy awards for Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 1968.
If you have not heard the song, then you are missing out.
For one thing, the song is a mystery story:
"Part of the song's enduring power is that the song asks more questions than it answers. There's a suicide in the first verse, and it just gets weirder after that. Why did Billie Joe jump off the bridge? Is the girl who's singing the same girl spotted with Billie Joe on the bridge? What did they throw off the bridge?" Source
The song was also social commentary:
"In this song, a family finds out about the death of Billie Joe and shares gossip about him at the dinner table along with their other mundane concerns. Bobbie Gentry explained: 'The message of the song revolves around the nonchalant way the family talks about the suicide. The song is a study in unconscious cruelty.'" Source
There is actually an 8 minute long, original, uncut, 11-verse recording of the song that has never surfaced.
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