# Ode to Billie Joe question **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 29, 2007, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ode-to-billie-joe-question/405493 "2007-01-29T03:03:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2007, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ode-to-billie-joe-question/405493/21 "2007-01-30T02:46:30Z")
They was throwing out the bathwater. The baby was safe at home. Dirty, but safe. ---
**Author:** ![sinjin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@sinjin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sinjin)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2007, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ode-to-billie-joe-question/405493/22 "2007-01-30T03:04:17Z")
20 minutes of tape. But just once. ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2007, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ode-to-billie-joe-question/405493/23 "2007-01-30T03:15:15Z")
Hopefully it was all the copies of the song ever recorded. ---
**Author:** ![curlyshawe4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8dc957/32.png) [@curlyshawe4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlyshawe4)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2007, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ode-to-billie-joe-question/405493/24 "2007-05-25T15:25:32Z")
Just what the hell did Billie Joe McAllister throw off the Tallahatchie Bridge in the song Ode to Billie Joe by Bobby Gentry? Thanks for any answer. John ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2007, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ode-to-billie-joe-question/405493/25 "2007-05-25T15:27:14Z")
Marcellus Washington’s soul. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2007, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ode-to-billie-joe-question/405493/26 "2007-05-25T15:30:10Z")
In the movie it was Bobby Lee’s ( Billy Joe’s girlfriend) rag doll. In the song we aren’t meant to know. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2007, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ode-to-billie-joe-question/405493/27 "2007-05-25T15:31:38Z")
[QUOTE=silenus] Marcellus Washington’s soul. [/QUOTE] _Wallace_ ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2007, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ode-to-billie-joe-question/405493/28 "2007-05-25T15:33:23Z")
D’oh! That’ll teach me to post while watching to **Shogun**. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2007, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ode-to-billie-joe-question/405493/29 "2007-05-25T15:46:42Z")
What WOOKINPAUB said. Also: In the song, Billie Joe throws something off the bridge the day before he jumps. Many people speculated that it was a baby, which led to his suicide. In the movie, it he throws over a rag doll and jumps because he thinks he might be gay. Gentry: “The message of the song revolves around the nonchalant way the family talks about the suicide. The song is a study in unconscious cruelty.” > **[Ode To Billie Joe by Bobbie Gentry - Songfacts](https://www.songfacts.com/facts/bobbie-gentry/ode-to-billie-joe)** > > Ode To Billie Joe by Bobbie Gentry song meaning, lyric interpretation, video and chart position ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2007, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ode-to-billie-joe-question/405493/30 "2007-05-25T15:49:27Z")
[QUOTE=curlyshawe4] Just what the hell did Billie Joe McAllister throw off the Tallahatchie Bridge in the song Ode to Billie Joe by Bobby Gentry? [/QUOTE] A metaphor. ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2007, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ode-to-billie-joe-question/405493/31 "2007-05-25T15:56:57Z")
[QUOTE=silenus] D’oh! That’ll teach me to post while watching to **Shogun**. [/QUOTE] Watching _to_ Shogun? Put on a pair of clean white tabi; you’ll feel better. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2007, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ode-to-billie-joe-question/405493/32 "2007-05-25T16:00:47Z")
Today is not my day for multi-tasking. I started to say “listening” to Shogun, then changed it to “watching” without editing. \ My students are enjoying the movie, so I guess that counts as a plus. Maybe Toranaga knows what was tossed off the bridge. He seems to know everything else! ---
**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2007, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ode-to-billie-joe-question/405493/33 "2007-05-25T16:31:50Z")
I think it was the guy who was so vain Carly Simon bet he’d think the song was about him. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2007, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ode-to-billie-joe-question/405493/34 "2007-05-25T16:40:56Z")
Hitler’s brain. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2007, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ode-to-billie-joe-question/405493/35 "2007-05-25T16:50:28Z")
I’m sorry, but Bobbi Gentry was absolutely IT for deep-fried white southern soul. ---
**Author:** ![if6was9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47c2d/32.png) [@if6was9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/if6was9)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2007, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ode-to-billie-joe-question/405493/36 "2007-05-25T17:42:38Z")
[QUOTE=Evil Captor] I’m sorry, but Bobbi Gentry was absolutely IT for deep-fried white southern soul. [/QUOTE] Yeah, that song ROCKS. I love the guitar, and the downward string flourish at the end. Like as if a flower were dropped off the bridge, flutters down, and then sets on the surface of the river. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2007, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ode-to-billie-joe-question/405493/37 "2007-05-25T19:50:48Z")
Clinton’s dick. ---
**Author:** ![Labtrash](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/labtrash/32/528_2.png) [@Labtrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labtrash)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2007, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ode-to-billie-joe-question/405493/38 "2007-05-25T19:53:25Z")
I don’t know, but it fell all the way down to the bottom of the Marianas Trench, where it was found, in 1960-something, for…ah, forget it ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2007, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ode-to-billie-joe-question/405493/39 "2007-05-25T20:04:01Z")
Jimmy Hoffa’s plastic-wrapped, duct-taped corpse. See for yourself: [Yahoo | Mail, Weather, Search, Politics, News, Finance, Sports & Videos](http://www.geocities.com/bjaes.geo/lyrics/billyjoe.htm) . ---
**Author:** ![Sunrazor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sunrazor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunrazor)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2007, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ode-to-billie-joe-question/405493/40 "2007-05-25T20:32:18Z")
It was just, y’know, … that thing. You know, the thing? Yeah, \*that \* thing. (Ahhhh, it all becomes clear now, doesn’t it? Just nod knowingly and walk away.) When the song came out, I worked at a small-town radio station, and we got a call from an irate local fundie who was convinced that what was thrown off the bridge was the narrator’s aborted fetus. She “reasoned” that it couldn’t have been an illegitimate child (which, I assume, would have been OK with her) because, well, no one can hide pregnancy that long, and it was clearly the result of their illicit love affair, so it had to be an aborted fetus. Makes no sense whatsoever, but there it was. There’s a very, very funny take on the song [here.](http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=1360) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ode-to-billie-joe-question/405493.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ode-to-billie-joe-question/405493.md?page=3)