Radio stations held contests. Who had the best guess of what was thrown off the bridge. Though Bobby Gentry never said, most think they were throwing a dead baby in the water.
An interesting note is Bobby Gentry grew up in L.A. She had relatives from the South be never spent much time there.
The movie was made PC, even back then. Billy Joe killed himself because he’d had a homo experience. That was NOT in the song.
Ping to a couple of FReepers for clarification on this. As far as I can determine, she was born in Mississippi and was there, in the Delta region, through the age of 13.
The clue is right in here, 2 times:
[’n’ 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”]
That is not completely accurate
Gentry. Real last name Skeeter.....yes a can of worms with that name no question
Her parents divorced when she was very young and her mom went to southern California.
She stayed in north central Mississippi with her grandparents and lived on their rural farm near Houston in Chickasaw county which is named for arguably the states most warlike Indian tribe from pre Trail of Tears era
At around 10th grade she moved to California to be with her momma and to enter show business given she had her grandmas singing and piano talent and was already showing signs she was pretty photogenic
That’s a synopsis
Her Mississippi dawl is genuine and she makes no attempt to hide it unlike most southern college class kids today
Chickasaw county is nowhere near the delta btw
It is north Mississippi hill country The land of Faulkner
Closest delta is about 50 miles due west past Grenada
I have no clue why Wiki says she went to school in Greenwood which is the Delta on the Yazoo but is an hour and a half minimum from Houston in Chickasaw county