Ode to Billie Joe

This article is about the 1967 Bobbie Gentry song. For the 1967 Bobbie Gentry album, see Ode to Billie Joe (album). For the 1976 film based on the song, see Ode to Billy Joe (film).

"Ode to Billie Joe"
Label of a 45 single. The design features orange and yellow spirals. On the top it reads "Ode to Billie Joe". The logo of Capitol Records is printed on the left and "Bobbie Gentry" on the bottom. The right side features the catalog number, length of the song and copyright details.
Side A of US single
Single by Bobbie Gentry
from the album Ode to Billie Joe
B-side"Mississippi Delta"
ReleasedJuly 1967
StudioCapitol, Hollywood, California
GenreCountry[1]
Length4:15
LabelCapitol
Songwriter(s)Bobbie Gentry
Producer(s)Kelly Gordon, Bobby Paris
Bobbie Gentry singles chronology
"Stranger in the Mirror"
(1966) 		"Ode to Billie Joe"
(1967) 		"I Saw an Angel Die"
(1967)
Official audio
"Ode To Billie Joe" on YouTube

"Ode to Billie Joe" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bobbie Gentry released by Capitol Records in July 1967, and later used as the title-track of her debut album. Five weeks after its release, the song topped Billboard's Pop singles chart. It also appeared in the top 10 of the Adult Contemporary and Hot R&B singles charts, and in the top 20 of the Hot Country Songs list.

The song takes the form of a first-person narrative performed over sparse acoustic guitar accompaniment with strings in the background. It tells of a rural Mississippi family's reaction to the news of the suicide of Billie Joe McAllister, a local boy to whom the daughter (and narrator) is (unknown by the rest of the family) connected. The song received widespread attention, leaving its audience intrigued as to what the narrator and Billie Joe threw off the Tallahatchie Bridge. Gentry later clarified that she intended the song to portray the family's indifference to the suicide in what she deemed "a study in unconscious cruelty," while she remarked the object thrown was not relevant to the message.

"Ode to Billie Joe" was nominated for eight Grammy Awards; Gentry and arranger Jimmie Haskell won three between them. Gentry's writing was adapted for the 1976 film Ode to Billy Joe. The song appeared on Rolling Stone's lists, 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and Greatest Country Songs, while Pitchfork featured it on their 200 Best Songs of the 1960s list. In 2023, the song was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry.

  1. ^ TERICH, JEFF (July 24, 2020). "BOBBIE GENTRY'S "ODE TO BILLIE JOE" CAPTURED CRUEL DETACHMENT IN THE FACE OF TRAGEDY". Treble Zine. Retrieved April 14, 2022.