Why did Billy Joe MacAllister Jump?

[traderx]

Why did Billy Joe jump off the Tallahatchie Bridge?

What did she and Billy Joe throw off the bridge?

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"


'n' Papa said to Mama as he passed around the blackeyed peas

"Well Billy 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"

'n' Mama said it was shame about Billy Joe, anyhow

Seems like nothin' ever comes to no good up on Choctaw Ridge

And now Billy Joe MacAllister's jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge


'n' 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"


'n' 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 Billy Joe was throwing somethin' off the Tallahatchie Bridge"


A year has come 'n' gone since we heard the news 'bout Billy Joe

'n' 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 wanna 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

 

[bluemtnrunner]

I forget why he jumped. Was she pregnant?
I remember that she threw a doll off the bridge.

 

[DD]

I've always loved this song. And I've always wondered why Billy Joe jumped.
Great thread tx.

 

[traderx]

The story I always heard was that she and Billy Joe got pregnant and threw the baby off the bridge and of course, Bill Joe could not live with himself. It is a cleverly written song and Bobbie Gentry never has given away the story secret to my knowledge.

Of course, now I will have that song in my head all day. Guess I will need to go to Youtube or Rhapsody to listen to it.

 

[seagrover]

I had heard the same thing as traderx - that Billy Joe was the "baby daddy" - and thanks a lot!!! I have that same song in my head, too!!!

 

[ktschris]

According to the movie -- he jumped because he slept with a man then she told everyone that she was pregnant to save his rep. But of course that is the hollywood take.

 

[traderx]

I had heard the same thing as traderx - that Billy Joe was the "baby daddy" - and thanks a lot!!! I have that same song in my head, too!!!

Rumor has it that just before Billy Joe jumped, he was heard to sing: "it ain't my baby Daddy".

 

[ClintClint]

I heard Billy Joe was pregnant and the Mods took away all his chicklets

 

[Minnie]

Funny thread, I cross the Tallahatchie river weekly going to Oxford, Ms. I always think of the song as I do.

 

[traderx]

Funny thread, I cross the Tallahatchie river weekly going to Oxford, Ms. I always think of the song as I do.

Yeah, it is sort of like when you cross the Suwanee River, only different.