Unless you are a big fan of Neil Diamond’s song “Desiree,” probably the first song that comes to mind regarding the date of June 3 is Bobbie Gentry’s classic song “Ode to Billie Joe.” The song opens with the line that sets the story in the American South in early June, after schools have closed but before the hottest days of summer have set in.
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;
And then she said, I got some news this mornin’ from Choctaw Ridge;
Today, Billy Joe MacAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge.
The Mysterious Song
Much has been written about the mysteries of both the singer and the song. Many have pondered why the song’s Billie Joe MacAllister jumped off the bridge as well as what the narrator and Billie Joe had earlier thrown off the same bridge. Even a 1978 movie about the song focused on those mysteries. Perceptive music critics, though, have explained how the song is not about those questions but instead is about indifference to human suffering.
The real focus of the song is the narrator’s situation around the family dinner table. When Bobbie Gentry appeared on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in 1967 (in the same episode where the network had censored a Pete Seeger song), the setting around her performance with mannequins around a dinner table highlighted that aspect of the song.
The Mysterious Singer
Bobbie Gentry eventually became a mystery herself. After a successful music career, several wonderful albums, television shows, and a successful business career, she disappeared. Many have tried contacting her, but she remains out of the public eye.
There are some excellent resources about the song and singer, including a wonderful episode of one of my favorite podcasts, Cocaine & Rhinestones. Another great source is Tara Murtha’s book Bobby Gentry’ Ode to Billie Joe in the 33 1/3 book series.
While recently reading Murtha’s book, I noticed a reference to a young Gentry being fascinated with Ayn Rand’s book Atlas Shrugged. While many folks while young become fascinated with Rand’s book and philosophy, many also later reject Rand’s ideas. But I could not help but wonder if Rand’s book, about a man named John Galt who disappears from the world, still had some effect on Gentry’s isolation from fame.
Gentry was extremely talented but often encountered hurdles to being able to make music the way she wanted. So one may imagine that she may have decided she did not owe her talents to the world.
Of course, we do not know, and in some ways her mysterious disappearance has made her more famous. While we may dream of her one day returning to share her music and voice with us, she owes us nothing. She already gave us so much, so the least we can do is be indifferent like the characters in “Ode to Billie Joe.” And the best we can do is to wish her well and to every happiness she deserves.
Leave your two cents in the comments.
Episodes run anywhere between forty minutes and two hours, and each one may examine an artist’s career or may analyze the history behind a certain song, or both. For example, one two-part episode centered on the relationship between Buck Owens and his guitarist Don Rich. Another episode tells the story about how radio stations banned Loretta Lynn’s song, “The Pill.” Another episode focused on Bobby Gentry’s “Ode to Bille Joe” while also giving a fascinating overview of Gentry’s career.