Escrita por
Bobbie Gentry, foi gravada por ela em 10 de julho de 1967, na Capitol
Records, em Hollywood, California. Foi lançada em um compacto que
tinha Mississipi Delta no Lado b, no final de julho de 1967 e chegou
ao número 1 dos charts pop americanos, número 1 no Canadá, número
3 na Nova Zelandia e número 13 no Reino Unido . Se tornou um grande
hit internacional. É a número 412 das 500 maiores canções de
todos os tempos da revista Rolling Stone. Ela ganhou 3 Grammies com
essa gravação.
A canção
foi composta em uma narrativa de primeira pessoa. Billie Joe
McAllister pulou da Tallahatchie Bridge. Na música falam de suicídio
e outras tragedias que se mesclam com a banalidade diária e
conversas educadas.
A canção
começa com a narradora, seu irmão e seu pai voltando da lida diária
na fazenda. Estao indo pro jantar em casa. A mae avisa pra eles não
entrarem com os pés sujos de lama e avisa que Billie Joe McAllister
pulou da ponte.
Já na mesa,
o pai diz, Billie Joe nunca teve o juizo certo, passe o biscoito por
favor. E diz que tem muito trabalho pra fazer no dia seguinte. O
irmao fica mais chocado, comenta que viu Billie Joe outro dia, mas
não está tao chocado ao ponto de não comer outro pedaço de bolo.
O diálogo continua até que o ouvinte tem a certeza que Billie Joe
era o namorado da narradora.
Foi
regravada por Joe Dassin em francês no mesmo ano. Ficou chamada
Marie-Jeanne. Fala a mesma coisa, só que quem se mata é uma mulher
e o narrador é um homem. Marie-Jeanne Guillaume. Foi traduzida
também em sueco e em alemao.
Foi
regravada por Jaco Pastorius, Dave Bartholomew, Ella Fitzgerald,
Sinead O'Connor, e tantos outros artistas.
A letra:
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 Billie Joe MacAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge."
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 Billie Joe MacAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge."
And Papa said to Mama as he passed
around the black-eyed peas
"Well, Billie 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 a 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
"Well, Billie 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 a 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
He 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."
He 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 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 Billie Joe was throwing somethin' off the Tallahatchie Bridge."
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 Billie Joe was throwing somethin' off the Tallahatchie Bridge."
A year has come 'n' gone since we heard
the news 'bout Billie 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
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
A versão de Bobbie Gentry ao vivo:
A versão de Sheryl Crow, ao vivo:
A versão de Sinead O'Connor:
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