The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
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, Billie Joe MacAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge
And papa said to mama, as he passed around the blackeyed peas
Well, Billie Joe never had a lick of sense, pass the biscuits, please
There's five more acres in the lower forty I've got to plow
And mama said it was shame about Billie Joe, anyhow
Seems like nothin' ever comes to no good up on Choctaw Ridge
And now Billie Joe MacAllister's jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge
And brother said he recollected when he, and Tom, and Billie Joe
Put a frog down my back at the Carroll County picture show
And wasn't I talkin' to him after church last Sunday night?
I'll have another piece-a apple pie you know, it don't seem right
I saw him at the sawmill yesterday on Choctaw Ridge
And now ya tell me Billie Joe's jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge
And mama said to me, child, what's happened to your appetite?
I've been cookin' all morning, and you haven't touched a single bite
That nice young preacher, Brother Taylor, dropped by today
Said he'd be pleased to have dinner on Sunday, oh, by the way
He said he saw a girl that looked a lot like you up on Choctaw Ridge
And she and Billie Joe was throwing somethin' off the Tallahatchie Bridge
A year has come and gone since we heard the news 'bout Billie Joe
And brother married Becky Thompson, they bought a store in Tupelo
There was a virus going 'round, papa caught it, and he died last spring
And now mama doesn't seem to want to do much of anything
And me, I spend a lot of time pickin' flowers up on Choctaw Ridge
And drop them into the muddy water off the Tallahatchie Bridge
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, Billie Joe MacAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge
And papa said to mama, as he passed around the blackeyed peas
Well, Billie Joe never had a lick of sense, pass the biscuits, please
There's five more acres in the lower forty I've got to plow
And mama said it was shame about Billie Joe, anyhow
Seems like nothin' ever comes to no good up on Choctaw Ridge
And now Billie Joe MacAllister's jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge
And brother said he recollected when he, and Tom, and Billie Joe
Put a frog down my back at the Carroll County picture show
And wasn't I talkin' to him after church last Sunday night?
I'll have another piece-a apple pie you know, it don't seem right
I saw him at the sawmill yesterday on Choctaw Ridge
And now ya tell me Billie Joe's jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge
And mama said to me, child, what's happened to your appetite?
I've been cookin' all morning, and you haven't touched a single bite
That nice young preacher, Brother Taylor, dropped by today
Said he'd be pleased to have dinner on Sunday, oh, by the way
He said he saw a girl that looked a lot like you up on Choctaw Ridge
And she and Billie Joe was throwing somethin' off the Tallahatchie Bridge
A year has come and gone since we heard the news 'bout Billie Joe
And brother married Becky Thompson, they bought a store in Tupelo
There was a virus going 'round, papa caught it, and he died last spring
And now mama doesn't seem to want to do much of anything
And me, I spend a lot of time pickin' flowers up on Choctaw Ridge
And drop them into the muddy water off the Tallahatchie Bridge
Lyrics submitted by fLiCkErBiTcH
Ode to Billie Joe Lyrics as written by Bobbie Gentry
Lyrics © Royalty Network, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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My thought is that this was a self-administered abortion. A couple clues that lead me to this thought:
the father disapproves of Billy Jo - while not iron-clad, it reveals a reason for the singer to keep the relationship quiet
the singer is visibly upset to hear the news - again, not a hard reason for abortion, but it implicates her directly in the reason
the item they throw, while possibly a token of love, probably isn't -- Brother Taylor says he saw the singer AND Billy Jo thowing something. If it was a token of love, why would Billy Jo be throwing it, too? More likely he and Billy Jo are throwing something that they SHARE. Otherwise, the phrasing would be different. Something about the singer threw something off the bridge, and Billy Jo got upset, or some other phrasing.
Lastly, the flowers. Flowers represent a lot of things, but in this context, they've got to represent life. She picks flowers - in essence, killing them - and then throws them into the river. The symbolism can't be missed. The life of the fetus, snuffed out in the same fashion, the life of Billy Jo, also ended prematurely --- and both they, and the flowers, go into the river. Notice, she drops the flowers - she doesn't throw them. If she threw them, you could maybe see that as being connected to the throwing, pushing, or killing of Billy Jo. Instead, she's simply dropping them. Adding their terminated lives to the terminated lives of Billy Jo and the baby.
@Sir_Larrikin I always believed they dated and the family didn't know because she was to young,but she ended up having an early miscarriage. She went to him to tell him so they decided to throw the fetus off the bridge together. He felt ashamed of not standing up to her parents and for throwing the baby off so he took his life. She went on by herself in life and spent her time throwing flowers to their graves. I don't think the movie did the mystery any good!
@Sir_Larrikin I also thought they had thrown a baby from the bridge (miscarried very premature or aborted), then Billie Joe couldn't live with it and committed suicide. I thought the flowers were her version of bringing flowers to the grave of Billie Joe and the baby.