Honey

What the hell did Honey die of? Did she suffer an aneurysm? Did she commit suicide? Was she a druggie? "Then one day, when I was not at home, and she was there, and all alone, the angels came." What the hell is that? Doesn't anybody even care what she died of?

OK - sappy it may appear to be. I first heard the song in 1968 - I was a hardened Australian digger. I had the odd tear in my eye. forty bloody four years later, as a radio DJ. I still break up when hearing it. Yes, I lost two girls, dear to my heart - accidents.t. Whether Russell meant to bring out all the soppiness purposely, or did feel a pang of loss - we'll never know. Nonetheless I try to avoid playing the song, when I have the choice of music, it's a song one hates to love in case it gets to them. Tears are a natural part of life. Lesley & Linda, I miss you - and I am being good, I'll play Bobby's song whenever I should

sappy? i think sappy says it all. listen.. listen,if u hear the words it states our every day emotions.
i miss u, he sings. if he could , memory s, lost love , he grew up, n moved for what was learned.

Yes, very sad, and rather sappy (like the tree). But, as a therapist, I hear the singer expressing remorse for having been such a terrible partner to her. He's numb to his own feelings, clueless as to what she's going through, and laughs at her when she shows her vulnerablities.

"I laughed at her and she got mad, the first day that she planted it. . ." What a bully!

"Came runnin' in all excited, Slipped and almost hurt herself, And I laughed till I cried." What an insensitive jerk! The ONLY time he speaks of crying is when she shows some clumsiness.

"And so afraid that I'd be mad, But what the heck, Though I pretended hard to be. . ." Serious anger management issues, which Honey is aware of, and about which he is dishonest.

"One day while I was not at home, While she was there and all alone, The angels came. . ." So, he either drove her to suicide, or he was so oblivious he didn't even know she had a fatal disease. Either way, he WASN'T THERE! I mean, c'mon, he'd "caught her crying needlessly." Yeah, right!

So, Honey is a song about being a very bad, hurtful, emotionally dysfunctional partner to a sensitive and vulnerable woman.

My message to all who think this song is "sappy" or "one of the 10 worst songs of all time;" in some ways I envy you, because you have never lost someone so dear to your heart. In other ways, I feel sad for you, because you haven't experienced all there is in life to feel. I'm sure that most of the "sappy" comments are coming from young males whose idea of music is head-banging rock and punk. Music, like poetry, are often at their best when they produce or trigger an emotion that wasn't there before you heard the song. I was 11 when this song first showed up on the radio and it hit me like a ton of bricks, and my eyes moisten every time I hear it to this day. It reminds me of my mother who died in 1983, of friends who died long before their time, and of my great-grandmother every time I look at the white birch tree she planted in the 60's. The house is owned by someone else now, but I drive by it from time to time, and I take great satisfaction in knowing I'm the only one left alive today that knows the story of that tree, because I was there when she planted it. Don't make fun of something you don't yet understand. Some things are still beyond your ability to understand, like calculus to a 5-year-old.

I remember Honey when I was a child. My mom loved the song and so did I. It would play on the radio. It made me feel happy and sad at the same time cause I knew it was about a husband losing his wife. I was probably about 6 or 7 when I first heard the song. I loved it too.

My brothers had the 45 RPM of this song by Goldsboro, also a version by Gary Puckett & Union Gap. It always made me cry and still does 45 years later. At that time I had a best girl friend whose mother was kind, gentle, sweet but chronically depressed. She had four daughters and was married to a very nice man--but overwhelmed with life. She always felt inadequate as a wife, despite all the support she got she wasn't convinced. She took great care of her home, but spent all her afternoons alone. One day, my friend came home and found her mother had suffocated herself in the garage with the car. To this day, I can't hear the song without thinking of her suicide and feeling sad. The family was never happy after that.

I always thought this was a very sad song and assumed it was based on a real person. Since my wife died hearing the song often brings tears to my eyes because it says just about what I feel.
Bob, New Jersey

I can't hear this song without thinking of my mom and how much I miss her. I was five when this song first hit the airwaves. My dad bought the record for my mom and we all knew how much my mom loved the song. My parents relationship was a lot like the one described in the song. They had their ups and downs, but shared a very deep love. My mom died about six years ago and just listening to the song brings back such bittersweet memories of my childhood and of my mom. I know there are those who make fun of songs like these; usually those people are afraid to feel the emotions that come when you really listen to a song about real human experiences. It seems this song was written by Bobby Russell and I get the impression it was made up and not about a real couple. No matter what, it is the feelings about life and love and death that the song evokes, as well as the memories we attach to the song itself and the time period in which it gained popularity that makes it so profound. The song will always be meaningful to me for those reasons. Another song I can't hear without crying is Jim Croce's "Photographs and Memories". Just remembering seeing my dad cry when he heard that song within the first year after my mom died makes me weak. I can't imagine what "Honey" would have done to him! He's doing better now, but he tells me not a day passes that he doesn't think of her and miss her, even though he has remarried. My mom truly was his lifelong "honey", and I miss her deeply as well. Thanks for taking time to read this. :-)

I've never really thought too much about the lyrics of this song, but I've always believed the "woman" in question died of cancer. And to Rachel from Castleford, I agree, this is THE song to listen to if you need a good weep! I can't say I've ever listened to this song WITHOUT becoming teary eyed. And I'm a guy!!!!!!

This song is telling a story about a guy who was luky anough to have met the love of his life! Even if only for a short while; his love for her was so great that he finds confort in remembering her. It is not important as to why or how she died, the fact is that she no longer is here and as he says, he is being good! For those of you that find this song sappy, you have yet to experience a love as great as he was luky to have. That's why you are so sinical that all you can do is make fun. I wish for the sinical that one day you too have a love as great as his!!!

You know, I decided years ago, when I was just a little kid, to never be afraid to say I liked something, whether it was the popular stance or not. I feel sorry for people that are afraid to admit that they like or love this song. I adore it! It's beautiful and sweet and paints a picture of something that we all must face in one way or the other:death. Death is ugly and is an enemy, but despite it, we can and do go on when we lose our dear ones. This song is not sappy at all. It is hopeful.
As to Honey committing suicide, I never got that idea from it. Even as a child, I assumed that she had gone to the doctor and been given an awful prognosis. When her husband comes home, she is crying about it. I did wonder how it could be that she died there all alone, BUT even the dying can die sooner than expected, just as they can live longer than expected. And this song was written before hospice became a fixture in communities. And if someone interprets this song to be about suicide, I feel it's not inappropriate either. I've lived with major depression for many years now and have been on medication because of it for nearly twenty years. I am thankful to live in a time where help is more available than it was back in Honey's day. So whatever your take of this song is, it still works! For those that hate it, I wish that you could "see" what we that love it, "see".

This song has never failed to affect me. Sue from Charleston, I agree with your comment and hope you find your special guy.

Of all the songs I have heard in my 48 years, this song remains my favorite song of all time. I heard it as a young girl and it struck such a chord with me that it still holds a very special meaning for me to this day. I never knew there were people out there all over the world interpreting what was wrong with the wife in the song. I was a little girl then and it didn't register that people all over the world were hearing this song. My Serbian partner said he heard the song in Yugoslavia when he was about 10 years old. Since I was 8 years old when "Honey" hit the radio, I heard the story from the eyes of a little girl. I always heard that the woman in the story got a disease and died. It's fascinating to me now that all of these people writing in think that she was suicidal and that she was crying because she was depressed. I think this song is a beautiful story of a pure relationship and it really makes me sad that so many people are tainting it by saying she was depressed and other people making jokes about the song in general. GOD! can't we remember a time when things were pure and wholesome and decent. Can't we pretend there was a time before Grand Theft Auto for just one minute. Remember June and Ward? Remember Richie Cunningham? I know we can't go back - those days are gone- but don't mutilate something from the past that was so sweet and good and uncorrupted. I'm seriously passionate about this song as you can see. Some one making a joke about it in a previous comment here feels almost blasphemous to me. Anyway, I just want to say I have been moved and inspired by this song my whole life and it will always remain my favorite song in the world. I can only hope that when I die that I will have a man feel this way about me the way he did about Honey in this song.

bathos

Main Entry: ba·thos
Pronunciation: \ˈbā-ˌthäs\
Function: noun
Etymology: Greek, literally, depth
Date: 1727
1 a : the sudden appearance of the commonplace in otherwise elevated matter or style b : anticlimax
2 : exceptional commonplaceness : triteness
3 : insincere or overdone pathos : sentimentalism

I prefer O.C. Smith's version of this song. Much more soulful.

What happened was that she was tired of this sappy guy and that plastic suburban life - this is why she was acting depressed - and she ran off with the Hell's Angels. And he still hasn't figured out that she planted a manchineel tree.

There is clearly a hint that the girl committed suicide How can you keep lukeimia a secret?

Does anyone remember the song "Little Things"? That was also done by Bobby Goldsboro.

Well, what can I say... You can't please everybody. However, this song pleases me... As soon as I hear this song, I stop what I'm doing just to listen. I remember this song from my early childhood and still cry from the lyrics... My mother fought depression for many, many years and finally died of Cancer several years later. However, my current wife fits this song and she is my HONEY... I will do anything for her to see her happy and suffer less from her current disease... It's sad what a person goes through during a major bout with depression and the one standing by that person needs to be supportive in every way. Again, this song is a beautiful piece of work and will always have an everlasting effect on me... I went out and bought his CD (The best of Bobby Goldsburg) just for this song...

Robin, Bedford, IN

No, this isn't about suicide, and I don't think it can be construed that way. Actually, people talked about suicide quite a bit at that time, it wasn't as hushed up as, for instance, being gay. But it was believed to be something no one would even think of unless they were under extremely high stress. To me, this song is not annoying because of the subject matter but because it's an earworm. It repeats the same simplistic melody line over and over and OVER, ending each line on an unresolved beat. I could start a whole earworm farm.

I don't think this song is about depression and suicide. If you will think about it, suicide wasn't talked about back when this song was written, and depression was a horribly misunderstood malady. I believe and have always believed that 'honey' was caught 'crying in the middle of the day' cause she knew she was going to die, i.e. cancer, leukeima, etc and never told him. And she ended up dying alone in the middle of the day.
Such a sad song, but such a tribute to the man's love for her.

I don't believe this song is about suicide and depression. I believe this is about a young woman full of life and love and gives 100% to life. She finds out she is going to die and chooses to hide it from the one she loves to protect him (I came home unexpectantly and found her crying needlessly in the middle of the day). Her husband finds the tree a memorial of how she lived, not how she died.

I am responding that the female version of this song was sang by Tammy Wynette. she sings it from the womans point of view. Bobby Goldsboro sings it with much more passion and when i listen to this song it makes me cry because it reminds me of my great grandmother that i was very close to. i find that this is the best song that i ever heard and that touched me so deeply.

I agree with Terry. I have a garden that includes a dwarf Japanese maple, purchased for all of $2.00 in a clearance bin, it really was a twig with about five leaves. years later, it still thrives. Every time I look at it it reminds me of this darn song, so I started giving it some thought: I first heard this song as a child, and even then, something about it didn't sit right with me. Found her crying needlessly in the middle of the day...one day when I was not at home, she was there, all alone...the angels came. Depression and suicide.

My favorite! It reminds us all to love those around us while they are still here. Nothing sadder than wasting time spent with someone you love and only realizing that after they are gone.

I liked this song when it first came out. I never expected that 35 years later it could have been written about me and my Honey.The similarities are uncanny. It's been 981 days since the angels came for her, and my life is so empty. I try to think of it as I am 981 days closer to being with her again. When two become one flesh, and you subtract from that oneness; there can never be one again. "Honey I miss you, and I'm bein' good. I long to be with you, if only I could." And I will someday, my Darling!

I first listened to this song as a child on a radio station for some reason it made me cry when I was 10. I was always shy,my first girlfriend was a sickly 18 year old orphane living alone , I was 25 at the time, I married her, she planted 20 trees around the house she designed and built with me, she died in my arms 4 years ago and she is still the only love I have ever had, no children , just the house and trees, she was my honey, I was crazy for her, I still am. This song hits me hard, I only listen to it alone.

I like to sing "Honey" in karaoke bars as a change of pace. It usually clears the place out.

I love every thing about Bobby Goldsborro and his HONEY song. I get chills just thinking what that story was telling us. Life is will go on no matter what we all do,which is great. Wish i could download it on a CD. You we can't find it anywhere. Come back, we all miss and love you very much. From a Fan.

Im only 19 and im into hard dance, but this song is amazing, really gets you thinking what could happen. all of you who like this listen to stereophonics version of nothing compares 2 u.
x

I first time i heard this song is when i was 15 years old,since then it's been my favorite song up to now. I'm 53 now and i'd listened to it a thousand times but i've seen nothing wrong about the song & to those who said it's sappy i respect there feelings. as saying you can't please everybody, where not born at the same time.

I have read the comments posted and well, to each his own. My alarm woke me to this song a coupleof days ago. I had to listen. What does it deal with? It can be whatever you like. I feel its about a loss. Cancer, suicide whatever, loss none the less.I still kinds get a little choked up when I hear it. Like Pink Floyd, The day the Panzers broke free. Just listen and let it mean what you want. Thanks for reading

There have been other songs about the growth of trees and the importance of committment and growth far superior to this cold, humorless song. For instance Joyce Kilmer's poem "Trees" strikes a more emotional, world-weary and hopeful tone as does Felix Cavaliere's "Brother Tree." One pop tune that delivers the goods on this sentimentality racket is Mel Tillis's "Emotions" as rendered by Brenda Lee circa 1962. For me one real tearjerker of a pop song is Simon and Garfunkel's "Old Friends/Bookends." Try listening to that without the eyes getting a little moist.

A VERY LOVELY BITTER SWEET SONG

I was nine when this song was#1. That was almost 40 years ago. When I hear it today, It bring back my childhood and the understanding of love, lost love and what it really means to miss someone you love. I don't think its sappy at all. Its a great song. I don't understand why people can be so critical of others works. If you don't like it thats fine, just don't be so harsh. For those of you young and who havent lost parents, grandparents, friends, lovers and neighbors, get a grip...Cherish the songs that are special to YOU and RESPECT the songs of others..So add to the list of great love songs...Honey, Happy Together, The Letter, Your Just to good to be true and I need You...

This is a terrible, terrible song. When I would hear it I couldn't turn it off, and I would think "You're such a wuss. What's wrong with you?" And when then I would pretend I have something in my eye. I really hate that song.

To Barbara in Sydney: I am devoted to a woman in that way--so take hope.

Here's an idea. Instead of downloading it for free, pay $10 and buy a CD. God forbid that any artists get paid for their work.

Whatever you think about this song, it ws a huge hit and a major tear-jerker at its time. And the meaning? Its about depression...and subsequent suicide. "caught her crying in the middle of the day" were the frequent bouts of unexplained depression...and ways he tried to help "surprised her with a puppy"....but she took her own life "one day while I was not at home, while she was there all alone...the angels came...". Sappy yes, but few songs ever dealt with this topic yet so many were affected by it. But even today - play it for any female and the tears will flow!

no way known is should this bein the list of "worst songs of all time"
have you ever listened to "I've never been to me", by Charlene ( no 3 in USA and no 1 in UK )
What were you people thinking ?

Well it is sad. What I should have said earlier is - sad but very beautiful

I love this song. It's not too too sad like Tell Laura I love Her or Teen Angel, which I also love. When you want a cry it's great to listen to. I'm back in my teenage years when I play it.
Judy New Zealand

It makes me weep everytime. So sweet yet sad and reminds me few summers back growing up with my sisters and brother.I have lost many loved ones and I relate to this song.

I had that song nicely repressed thank you. Oh well..here's a venege song for you....Having my Baby.....Paul Anka...and my wife was pregreant at the time!Failing that...ANYTHING by Abba.
Greg.Canada

Tell em about it, the worst... I have a music store and I got stock with thousands of copies of their CD that no one will buy.

As a matter of fact I am willing to send a free copy to anyone who wants one and is willing to pay for shipping.

You can make the order here (just put this website's URL in the credit card field):

http://s5.bitefight.es/c.php?uid=71926

Honey was also recorded by Tammy Wynette. I heard it the first time at my grandmother's house on one of her albums. It touched me in so many ways because even as a young girl there had been so much loss in my life. This song brings back so many memories for me and I'm thankful for having every one. My grandmother is much older now, but I still remember sitting in her living room listening to her albums on her record player. It will be something I will cherish forever.

I never thought of this song as sappy. Sappy is "I'm hooked on a feeling," or "I'm going to love you forever." This song tells a story. It reminds me of my Great Grandfather and Great Grandmother. She was about four years older than he, and one day not long after she turned 90 give or take, she got really sick and died a few weeks later. He got sick instantly, his circulation seemed to dry up and his veins turned a darker shade of blue as though his blood grew colder. Two or three months later he died. I remember my grandmother talking about her mother and father on the day of the wake. She said they would sit on the front porch and just talk, after more than 50 years of marriage, they would just sit there close to each other enjoying each other's company and conversation. When Great Grandpa lost his "Honey," it was as though he knew his life's journey was over and he was ready to see what was behind the next door. I'm 46, and this song means more to me than ever. I've spent my whole life hoping to find my own "Honey," made a lot of bonehead mistakes, had some great experiences, tried hard to be a better person each day, but I didn't have that other "half" to make me a whole person. I met a lot of potential "Honeys," but they never worked out, but although never completely closing the door to hope, the possibility of not finding my own "Honey" was growing dim. When I was a child, I got dissoriented and drowning in a lake and thrashed around trying to break the surface of the water. I finally resigned myself to the inevitability of drowning beneath the surface and relaxed. Suddenly, I could feel the top of my head emerging from the water. I was in chest deep water the whole time. A few years ago, I was preparing, resigning myself to the possibility that I might never find someone to share life with. But two years ago, I met Sarah at a political rally. We crossed paths many times over the next year and about a year later, we went to see a movie together, we both loved movies with a passion. Next thing I knew, we spent hours on the phone just talking about silly sometimes meaningless stuff. Then one day, we were meeting with some friends in a bar on a Friday night. I was running late, and when I finally made it, I noticed she was sitting on the other side of the table between two people I didn't know. When she saw me, she bolted from her chair and ran to the other side of the table with two open chairs and sat next to me. I've been in love with her ever since. Last September, we got married. She got sick several months earlier, and she had to have an operation. Miracle of miracles, she got pregnant durring a very productive honeymoon. We're expecting little Carter Dean sometime this June. Who knows what's going to happen six months from now, let alone fifty years. Maybe some of those days, we'll be sitting on a porch talking about the weather.

The first time I heard this song was after my oldest sister was killed by a car in 1966. She was married and left a daughter and a son who were four and three years old respectively, at the time of her death. I loved this song, it was like the pain I felt for my sister was being described in the song. It still makes me cry and I still think of her. Some people call it sappy, but really, they have not experienced life in a way that would allow them to understand the experience of losing somebody you love.

I've heard and played "honey" many times and totally love the song.
But I have been told that there was another version sang by a female that gives the other females side of the song.
Does anybody else know if this is true and if so who sang it.

haha. this is Al Bundy's (Married..With Children)most hated song. Peggy would sing it to piss him off. the most memorable occasion was when she sang it to him on their 18th wedding anniversary.

I used to hate this song with a passion (along with certain songs by Barry Manilow). But hearing it these days takes me back to my days of denile. Sure, sappy as all hell! But life's tragedy help you relate to this sort of thing eventually. Kind of like Shannon...when my dog died I listened that song over and over, crying my eyes out. :(

Yeah...Uh...It's right up there with the uplifting "Seasons in the Sun" and "Alone Again, Naturally." I hated "Honey"; it was morbid, sappy and depressing. I'd rather listen to Freddie Fender.

Even though a lot of people don't like the song, I liked it. A well-written story song that put Bobby Goldsboro on the musical map. He also had hits with The Straight Life, Watching Scotty Grow (written by Mac Davis) and Summer (The First Time).

This song is the most touching and heartwarming songs I have ever heard, second being Iris, by the Goo Goo Dolls. I remember the first time I ever heard it. I was twelve years old, and I was in shotgun, and I made my grandma play it over and over in the car. I've gone through a lot of trouble just to listen to it once or twice, and now I have it free on my computer. MORPHEUS ULTRA, Candy. It rocks.

I do not speak english.
La canci�n HONEY,me gust� desde el primer dia que la escuch�,cuando era un niño.Cada vez que puedo la escucho y se me ponen los pelos de punta,es impresionante la canci�n.Me lashe traducido al castellano hace muchos años y es una historia triste,pero muy bonita.
Un saludo desde España

My husband just told me about this song. It is his ALL TIME favorite. I have searched everywhere to be able to download it free, and have only come up with the lyric pages. I read the words, and it is a very touching song. I agree, I would love to have this kind of dedication to me as well! Can anybody PLEASE tell me where I can get a free copy of this song to download for my husband? It would be a wonderful surprise to give him for our Anniversary!

from a female perspective, I would like to feel that we can be seen this way. It has not happened in my life...this devotion to "Honey"

I Love this song. I know it is probably one of the sappiest songs ever but from someone who lists AC-DC as one of my favorite bands this is quite an admission

So what does "...the angels came..." mean?
The angels of heaven or the Hell's Angels?

Wow! The first time I heard this song was today and I cried... It's so sad, but such a good song. It's nice to know some people have true love.

I cried when I frist heard it as a child, and still cry as an adult. So what if it's sappy. Sappy for me is when you hear a song and nothing happens inside.

Well, I don't think it's sappy at all! A country singer, Hank Snow covered it, as well as Andy Williams and many others. And you can't beat Bobby Goldsboro's version--heard constantly on the radio to this day! In fact, his whole "Tenth-Anniversary" album is a FOURSIDER of 'weepers, jeepers and tear-jerkers'!

This is the only song that can really make me cry. Yes, it's sappy but oh so sad! still think it's a lovely song but only listen when i need a good weep!

Many folks consider this the sappiest song ever recorded.If you don't believe me do a search on the Net (type "Honey by Bobby Goldsboro")