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Does anyone have the chords to this song? My wife loves this song, and I was thinking I might be able to play it for her.

I don't imagine that it would be real complicated.
Thanks all.
Artie

Is that the song from the movie? The day that Billy Joe McCallister jumped off the Tallahassee bridge.

I found it in the key of F and in the key of G

quot;Ode to Billy Joequot;

Key of F, Common Time quot;With a beatquot;

Words and music by Bobbie GentryF7
It was the third of June, Cm7 F7
Another sleepy, dusty, F7
I was out choppin' cotton Cm7 F7
And my brother was bailin' hay Bb7
And at dinner time we stopped and walked back to the house to eat F7
And Mama hollered at the back door, Cm7 F7
quot;Y'all remember to wipe your feet.quot;Bb7
Then she said,

quot;I got some news this mornin' from Choctaw Ridge F7
Today Billy Joe McAllister Eb7 F
Jumped off the Tallahatchee Bridge.quot;

found this in the key of G on some Forum:It was the [G]third of June, another [Dm7]sleepy, dusty Delta [G]day

I was [G]out choppin' cotton and my [Dm7]brother was balin' [G]hay

And at [C7]dinner time we stopped and walked back to the house to eat

And Mama [G]hollered out the back door quot;y'all re[Dm7]member to wipe your [G]feetquot;

And then she [C7]said quot;I got some news this mornin' from Choctaw Ridgequot;

quot;Today [G]Billy Joe MacAllister jumped [Bb7]off the Talla[C7]hatchie [G]Bridgequot;CHORDS USED:

G=320003; Dm7=X57565; C7=X32310 (alt. with 3X2310); Bb7=X13131; C7=X35353

Notice there are three forms of the C7 there. The first two (alt. that bass-note) are used in quot;And at [C7]dinner time we stopped and walked back to the house to eatquot; and quot;And then she [C7]said quot;I got some news this mornin' from Choctaw Ridgequot;. The last form is used here: quot;...jumped [Bb7]off the Talla[C7]hatchie [G]Bridge.quot;
(I think the original recording was in the key of F, which was probably actually done capoed on the first fret and then played quot;as ifquot; in E.)

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 we walked back to the house to eat
And mama hollered at the back door quot;y'all remember to wipe your feetquot;
And then she said she got some news this mornin' from Choctaw Ridge
Today Billy Joe MacAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge

Papa said to mama as he passed around the blackeyed peas
quot;Well, Billy Joe never had a lick of sense, pass the biscuits, pleasequot;
quot;There's five more acres in the lower forty I've got to plowquot;
Mama said it was shame about Billy Joe, anyhow
Seems like nothin' ever comes to no good up on Choctaw Ridge
And now Billy Joe MacAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge

And brother said he recollected when he and Tom and Billy 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?
quot;I'll have another piece of apple pie, you know it just don't seem rightquot;
quot;I saw him at the sawmill yesterday on Choctaw Ridgequot;
quot;And now you tell me Billy Joe's jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridgequot;

Mama said to me quot;Child, what's happened to your appetite?quot;
quot;I've been cookin' all morning and you haven't touched a single bitequot;
quot;That nice young preacher, Brother Taylor, dropped by todayquot;
quot;Said he'd be pleased to have dinner on Sunday, oh, by the wayquot;
quot;He said he saw a girl that looked a lot like you up on Choctaw Ridgequot;
quot;And she and Billy Joe was throwing somethin' off the Tallahatchie Bridgequot;

A year has come 'n' gone since we heard the news 'bout Billy Joe
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


Originally Posted by JOLLYIs that the song from the movie? The day that Billy Joe McCallister jumped off the Tallahassee bridge.

Yup . . . sorta.

Thanks Jolly, and my wife thanks you.

Artie

Perhaps for another thread, but I still can't figure out WTF happened in that movie. Did they have a baby, or did Billy Joe get touched by that dude? I have had more than a few alcohol-related arguments on that one.


Originally Posted by FalstaffPerhaps for another thread, but I still can't figure out WTF happened in that movie. Did they have a baby, or did Billy Joe get touched by that dude? I have had more than a few alcohol-related arguments on that one.

Didn't he get raped or something by a Sheriff or someone? I always figured the homosexual encounter is what led to him committing suicide.

Remember . . . the movie was made from the song, not vice-versa. Hollywood just had to . . . quot;dramatizequot; it. I imagine that the song had no correlation to the movie whatsoever.

The song was originally the quot;Bquot; side of Bobby Gentry's song, quot;Mississippi Deltaquot;. The producers liked quot;Ode to Billy Joequot;, and decided to air it. Problem was, it was seven minutes long. That wouldn't work in 1967 radio. So they quot;edittedquot; it.

The quot;truthquot; is in the original song, that went into far more detail. But nobody seems to have a copy, and Bobby ain't talking.

I made a thread in off topic.