The bad movie had nothing to do with the original song (think Godfather III).
In the time the song seems to be taking place, there were no Oprah’s or Dr.Phil’s. People just didn’t delve into the “meaning of life”at the table. Adults talked about adult things and kids were not to talk about adult subjects.When Bobbie Gentry was asked about the meaning of the song, she pretty much said it is what it is.(Not unlike Dylan said about HIS lyrics.In the Deep South, farm life was harsh. People were divided into useful (Brother Taylor), and useless (Billy Joe). There was no place for in between, no reason to spend a lot of time on the “useless”.
When this song first came out, there was an immediate association with Hamlet’s Ophelia with references to water and flowers. (Were people more literate in ’67?) Ophelia was driven mad with the empty love of Hamlet and the death of her father.
Ophelia’s Flower speech from Hamlet: "There's rosemary, that's for remembrance. Pray you, love, remember. And there is pansies, that's for thoughts," said Ophelia to her brother Laertes. "There's fennel [empty fulfillment] for you, and columbines [foolishness]. There's rue [bitterness] for you, and here's some for me; we may call it herb of grace o' Sundays. O, you must wear your rue with a difference. There's a daisy. I would give you some violets [humility] , but they withered all when my father died."
To me the song is about the quiet pain in the human heart, and how little it means to those around us.
Mucker, I think the last line from your post sums it up. My mother used to love this song. It is very haunting and beautiful. I was in kind of a blue mood and this song popped in my head. As I read the lyrics today, what caught my attention was how nonchalant everyone was about Billy Joe's suicide. Maybe that's just a reflection of how things were. Gentry's voice was perfect.
Mucker, I think the last line from your post sums it up. My mother used to love this song. It is very haunting and beautiful. I was in kind of a blue mood and this song popped in my head. As I read the lyrics today, what caught my attention was how nonchalant everyone was about Billy Joe's suicide. Maybe that's just a reflection of how things were. Gentry's voice was perfect.
Yes. People were more literate in 1967. They actually read books not tweets and didn't have so much bombardment by video. TV was limited and You Tube did not exist. Many instructors have lamented the decay of good writing from the modern usage of text lingo.
Yes. People were more literate in 1967. They actually read books not tweets and didn't have so much bombardment by video. TV was limited and You Tube did not exist. Many instructors have lamented the decay of good writing from the modern usage of text lingo.
That said, you hit close with "useful" and "useless" people. Why can't it be as simple as the girl loved Billie Joe, but her family wanted to offer her up to Brother Taylor?
That said, you hit close with "useful" and "useless" people. Why can't it be as simple as the girl loved Billie Joe, but her family wanted to offer her up to Brother Taylor?
The last verse seems to say if Billie Joe could have waited one year, then the girl's family would not have been such an obstacle to their desire to be together.
The bad movie had nothing to do with the original song (think Godfather III). In the time the song seems to be taking place, there were no Oprah’s or Dr.Phil’s. People just didn’t delve into the “meaning of life”at the table. Adults talked about adult things and kids were not to talk about adult subjects.When Bobbie Gentry was asked about the meaning of the song, she pretty much said it is what it is.(Not unlike Dylan said about HIS lyrics.In the Deep South, farm life was harsh. People were divided into useful (Brother Taylor), and useless (Billy Joe). There was no place for in between, no reason to spend a lot of time on the “useless”. When this song first came out, there was an immediate association with Hamlet’s Ophelia with references to water and flowers. (Were people more literate in ’67?) Ophelia was driven mad with the empty love of Hamlet and the death of her father. Ophelia’s Flower speech from Hamlet: "There's rosemary, that's for remembrance. Pray you, love, remember. And there is pansies, that's for thoughts," said Ophelia to her brother Laertes. "There's fennel [empty fulfillment] for you, and columbines [foolishness]. There's rue [bitterness] for you, and here's some for me; we may call it herb of grace o' Sundays. O, you must wear your rue with a difference. There's a daisy. I would give you some violets [humility] , but they withered all when my father died." To me the song is about the quiet pain in the human heart, and how little it means to those around us.
Mucker, I think the last line from your post sums it up. My mother used to love this song. It is very haunting and beautiful. I was in kind of a blue mood and this song popped in my head. As I read the lyrics today, what caught my attention was how nonchalant everyone was about Billy Joe's suicide. Maybe that's just a reflection of how things were. Gentry's voice was perfect.
Mucker, I think the last line from your post sums it up. My mother used to love this song. It is very haunting and beautiful. I was in kind of a blue mood and this song popped in my head. As I read the lyrics today, what caught my attention was how nonchalant everyone was about Billy Joe's suicide. Maybe that's just a reflection of how things were. Gentry's voice was perfect.
@Mucker
@Mucker
Yes. People were more literate in 1967. They actually read books not tweets and didn't have so much bombardment by video. TV was limited and You Tube did not exist. Many instructors have lamented the decay of good writing from the modern usage of text lingo.
Yes. People were more literate in 1967. They actually read books not tweets and didn't have so much bombardment by video. TV was limited and You Tube did not exist. Many instructors have lamented the decay of good writing from the modern usage of text lingo.
That said, you hit close with "useful" and "useless" people. Why can't it be as simple as the girl loved Billie Joe, but her family wanted to offer her up to Brother Taylor?
That said, you hit close with "useful" and "useless" people. Why can't it be as simple as the girl loved Billie Joe, but her family wanted to offer her up to Brother Taylor?
The last verse seems to say if Billie Joe could have waited one year, then the girl's family would not have been such an obstacle to their desire to be together.