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MPR News Staff

Gentry says 'Billie Joe' was about unconscious cruelty

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Today's Morning Edition music is from "Ode to Billie Joe" by Bobbie Gentry, which was No. 1 on the Billboard pop chart 50 years ago.

Ever since the song came out listeners have speculated about what Billie Joe and his girlfriend threw off the Tallahatchie Bridge before he decided to jump off the bridge himself.

Gentry told interviewers that isn't important. She says the song is really about unconscious cruelty illustrated by the casual way the family talks about Billie Joe's suicide during dinner.