Bobbie Gentry

Misheard lyrics (also called mondegreens) occur when people misunderstand the lyrics in a song. These are NOT intentional rephrasing of lyrics, which is called parody. For more information about the misheard lyrics available on this site, please read our FAQ.

This page contains a list of the songs that have stories about their misheard lyrics submitted.

Song names are sorted by first letter, excluding A and The. This is sorted by song title only, not by song title and performer. So if two different performers preformed the same song, you'll see misheard lyrics for both on the same page (provided the song title was spelt the same both times, and misheard lyrics have been submitted for both!).

An American Quilt: 1967-1974 album at Amazon.com

Bobbie Gentry's, "Ode To Billy Joe"

The Misheard Lyrics:

The day Billy Joe McAllistar jumped off the Chattahoochie Bridge.
or
Today, Billy Jo McCalister jumped off the Tallahassee Bridge.

The Real Lyrics:

Today, Billy Joe MacAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge.

The Story: This happened during my English class in high school, circa 1982. The teacher was discussing a short story about a Civil War battle near the Chattahoochie River. She then asked the class, 'What was that song about Billy Joe jumping off the Chattahoochie Bridge?' The annoyed class yelled emphatically, 'That was the Tallahassee Bridge!' And she agreed with them! I was too embarrassed to even correct everyone with 'Tallahatchie' for fear of being castigated as a big mouthed 'know-it-all'. :-[ - Submitted by: indy gent

Bobbie Gentry's, "Ode to Billie Joe"

The Misheard Lyrics:

And throwin' men into the muddy water off the Tallahatchie Bridge...

The Real Lyrics:

And drop them into the muddy water off the Tallahatchie Bridge

The Story: The whole story is dark with overtones of foul play or suicide, but all seems unclear. Listening to the end of the song on old 45 records sounded like she was offering a journal comment of her involvement in Billie Joe's demise. The family would play the end over and over to hear if she was throwing flowers ('them') or people ('men') off the bridge! - Submitted by: Ken Harris

Indexes:

[#]

[A]

[B]

[C]

[D]

[E]

[F]

[G]

[H]

[I]

[J]

[K]

[L]

[M]

[N]

[O]

[P]

[Q]

[R]

[S]

[T]

[U]

[V]

[W]

[Y]

[Z]

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