Fifty-eight years ago today, Bobbie Gentry released an enduring hit single that people are still talking about decades later.
americansongwriter.com
Gentry pointed out that listeners put forward several theories about what the couple threw off the bridge. Some say it was a bouquet of flowers. Others believe it was a ring. Some listeners were convinced that the young couple threw their illegitimate child off the bridge. “Anyone who hears the song can think what they want, but the real message of the song, if there must be a message, revolved around the nonchalant way the family talks about the suicide,” Gentry explained. “They sit there eating their peas and apple pie and talking, without even realizing that Billie Joe’s girlfriend is sitting at the table, a member of the family,” she added.
