There follows a piece I posted two years ago on this day.
I think it bears repeating.
Todays date always rings a certain haunting bell for me.
It was in August in 1967 at the peak of the “Summer of Love” that Bobby Gentry released what must be the most mysterious and intriguing pop song of all time.
Called “Ode to Billy Joe” it is a ballad, in the classic sense of a song that tells a story, which uses many of the techniques of the short story.
From the first line it captures your interest
“It was the third of June, another sleepy dusty Delta day…”
There had obviously been something clandestine happening between the narrator and Billy Joe Mac Allister, who we discover at the same time as the narrator, has just committed suicide.
Various hints are given about her and Billy Joe and that they were seen;“Throwing something off the Tallahatchie Bridge”
What makes it most interesting is that except for the hints no questions are answered, you remain intrigued.
At the time it became a great talking point between my friends and I, various theories of aborted babies, murdered rivals even incriminating evidence being that which was thrown off the bridge.
It haunts me, in the gentlest possible way, to today.
I don’t think a third of June has passed since then that hasn’t reminded me of the song.
Here are the words:
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”
And 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”
And 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
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 of apple pie, you know it don’t seem right”
“I saw him at the sawmill yesterday on Choctaw Ridge”
“And now you 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 Billy Joe was throwing somethin’ off the Tallahatchie Bridge”
A year has come ‘n’ gone since we heard the news ’bout Billy 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 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
Comments
martine joulia
on June 3, 2008Do you know the french version, wrote and sung by Joe Dassin (son of Jules Dassin, filmmaker) ?
Marie-Jeanne
C’était le quatre juin, le soleil tapait depuis le matin
Je m’occupais de la vigne et mon frère chargeait le foin
Et l’heure du déjeuner venue, on est retourné à la maison
Et notre mère a crié de la cuisine: “Essuyez vos pieds sur l’paillasson”
Puis elle nous dit qu’elle avait des nouvelles de Bourg-les-Essonnes
Ce matin Marie-Jeanne Guillaume s’est jetée du pont de la Garonne
Et mon père dit à ma mère en nous passant le plat de gratin :
“La Marie-Jeanne, elle n’était pas très maligne, passe-moi donc le pain.
Y a bien encore deux hectares à labourer dans le champ de la canne.”
Et maman dit: “Tu vois, quand j’y pense, c’est quand même bête pour cette pauvre Marie-Jeanne
On dirait qu’il n’arrive jamais rien de bon à Bourg-les-Essonnes
Et voilà qu’Marie-Jeanne Guillaume va s’jeter du pont de la Garonne”
Et mon frère dit qu’il se souvenait quand lui et moi et le grand Nicolas
On avait mis une grenouille dans le dos de Marie-Jeanne un soir au cinéma
Et il me dit: “Tu te rappelles, tu lui parlais ce dimanche près de l’église
Donne-moi encore un peu de vin, c’est bien injuste la vie
Dire que j’l’ai vue à la scierie hier à Bourg-les-Essonnes
Et qu’aujourd’hui Marie-Jeanne s’est jetée du pont de la Garonne”
Maman m’a dit enfin: “Mon grand, tu n’as pas beaucoup d’appétit
J’ai cuisiné tout ce matin, et tu n’as rien touché, tu n’as rien pris
Dis-moi, la sœur de ce jeune curé est passée en auto
Elle m’a dit qu’elle viendrait dimanche à dîner… oh! et à propos
Elle dit qu’elle a vu un garçon qui t’ressemblait à Bourg-les-Essonnes
Et lui et Marie-Jeanne jetaient quelque chose du pont de la Garonne”
Toute une année est passée, on ne parle plus du tout de Marie-Jeanne
Mon frère qui s’est marié a pris un magasin avec sa femme
La grippe est venue par chez nous et mon père en est mort en janvier
Depuis maman n’a plus envie de faire grand-chose, elle est toujours fatiguée
Et moi, de temps en temps j’vais ramasser quelques fleurs du côté des Essonnes
Et je les jette dans les eaux boueuses du haut du pont de la Garonne
Martin
on June 3, 2008The sex changes of the two protagonists in the French version makes it easier to make sense of the song.
I don’t know though….. I liked the mystery of the original!
(And of course the French one is on the fourth, tomorrow)
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