Bobbie Gentry later said in an interview that the song was about "casual cruelty," and that Billie Joe killed himself because he was gay, or rather, killed himself to stop the suffering forced upon a gay teen in rural Mississippi because he was gay.
A haunting and beautiful song.
Glasgow Jan's brother-in-law loves county music, but most the songs "that tell a story." So I made him a compilation of good old story songs, which tie up rather nicely in the Jenkins' ode to southern story songs, "Blame It On Mama."
When I was six or seven, Mama tucked me in,
With a lullaby that made my eyes open wide again.
I'd lie awake and wonder why a boy named Billie Joe,
Jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge to the river far below...
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