I actually went over this song with my students recently. The song is about a young girl who gets pregnant with a boy and upon having the child goes with the boy (Billy Joe) and throws the baby into the river. The boy then throws himself off the next day. The girl is hearing all of this over dinner and the background story (once you figure it out) along with the preacher coming over and a big family dinner lends quite an ambiance of stress and regret.
The last stanza, in which the father is now dead and the mother is stricken with great depression drives home the idea that she is now cursed to unhappiness for her role in this unfortunate teenage decision.
According to my mother, there is a movie which dramatizes the story... but I have yet to run across it.
And yes... this is not the complete song. But it is a great song. I think I'll DL it from Itunes tomorrow.
I actually went over this song with my students recently. The song is about a young girl who gets pregnant with a boy and upon having the child goes with the boy (Billy Joe) and throws the baby into the river. The boy then throws himself off the next day. The girl is hearing all of this over dinner and the background story (once you figure it out) along with the preacher coming over and a big family dinner lends quite an ambiance of stress and regret.
The last stanza, in which the father is now dead and the mother is stricken with great depression drives home the idea that she is now cursed to unhappiness for her role in this unfortunate teenage decision.
According to my mother, there is a movie which dramatizes the story... but I have yet to run across it.
And yes... this is not the complete song. But it is a great song. I think I'll DL it from Itunes tomorrow.