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LTC Stephen F.
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Edited 3 y ago
Thank you my audiophile friend SGT (Join to see) for posting the music video of Bobbie Gentry performing Ode to Billy Joe in honor of the fact that on August 5, 1967, Bobby Gentry released her hit song "Ode to Billy Joe".

Ode to Billie Joe written by Bobbie Gentry
Lyrics.
Was the third of June, another sleepy, dusty Delta day
I was out choppin' cotton and my brother was balin' hay
And at dinnertime 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 Billie Joe MacAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge

And Papa said to Mama as he passed around the blackeyed peas
Well, Billie Joe never had a lick of sense, pass the biscuits please
There's five more acres in the lower forty I got to plow
And Mama said it was shame about Billie Joe, anyhow
Seems like nothin' ever comes to no good up on Choctaw Ridge
And now Billie 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

Mama said to me, child, what's happened to your appetite?
I've been cookin' all mornin' 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 Billie Joe was throwing somethin' off the Tallahatchie Bridge

A year has come 'n' gone since we heard the news 'bout Billie Joe
An' Brother married Becky Thompson, they bought a store in Tupelo
There was a virus goin' '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.

One classic Bobbie Gentry song inspires me to post a few more

Bobbie Gentry - "Courtyard" and "Louisiana Man" 1968
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1xEw55pDTo
FYI SMSgt Lawrence McCarterLTC (Join to see)MAJ Dale E. Wilson, Ph.D.Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D.PO1 William "Chip" NagelSPC Michael Terrell Lt Col Charlie Brown GySgt Thomas VickCPL Douglas ChryslerLt Col John (Jack) ChristensenGySgt Jack WallaceMSgt James Clark-RosaSGT Charlie LeeSMSgt Mark VenzeioCpl Vic BurkSGT Randell Rose SPC Margaret Higgins SGT Scott AdieSPC Joseph Kopac
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Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen
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Still want to know what they threw off the Tallahatchie Bridge!
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SGT English/Language Arts Teacher
SGT (Join to see)
>1 y
That still fascinates me. Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen
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PO1 John Johnson
PO1 John Johnson
>1 y
Why, that would be Billy Joe McCallister!
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Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen
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Lt Col Charlie Brown
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Very memorable song
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