I first heard this song on an oldies station and loved it! The funny thing was, I always thought it was a black woman singing it. She has a deeper "soul" voice. And the line "cuttin cotton" made me think of poor black people and the food they talk about is very southern (which I guess doesn't make a difference). Considering the time period, I thought Billy Joe was a black man who committed suicide because he couldn't take being black in a white southern society anymore...or...he was murdered and it was covered up. The "throwin something off the bridge" I thought was just the two of them playing, and maybe throwing rocks or something into the water. I read an interview with the artist and she said she never decided on why he committed suicide when she wrote the song. Course, I also though "Son of a Preacher Man" was also sung by a black woman.
I first heard this song on an oldies station and loved it! The funny thing was, I always thought it was a black woman singing it. She has a deeper "soul" voice. And the line "cuttin cotton" made me think of poor black people and the food they talk about is very southern (which I guess doesn't make a difference). Considering the time period, I thought Billy Joe was a black man who committed suicide because he couldn't take being black in a white southern society anymore...or...he was murdered and it was covered up. The "throwin something off the bridge" I thought was just the two of them playing, and maybe throwing rocks or something into the water. I read an interview with the artist and she said she never decided on why he committed suicide when she wrote the song. Course, I also though "Son of a Preacher Man" was also sung by a black woman.