I've always liked "Ode to Billie Joe" but if others don't like it it doesn't kill me.

In the context of the song it doesn't make sense for "Tupelo honey" to mean a girlfriend, because he's saying about his girlfriend, "She's as sweet as Tupelo honey," which would seem to imply that he's saying one girlfriend is as sweet as another (which is hardly flattering).

Alex
O..O
=o=