“Honey” by Bobby Goldsboro

In 1968, the same year that America lost Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Bobby Goldsboro released a beautiful song written by Bobby Russell called “Honey.” In the song, the narrator shares amusing anecdotes about his lost lover as a way to mourn and remember her. The main anecdote in “Honey” is about a tree planted the lover without the narrator’s approval and is a metaphor for how long she has been gone and how much he misses her (despite the minor grievances she caused while alive). The song begins with the narrator having a conversation with his lost loved one by saying, “See the tree how big it’s grown / But friend it hasn’t been too long / It wasn’t big,” and then informing the audience that when the tree was first planted it “was just a twig.”

As Bobby Goldsboro sings the song, Bobby Russell’s lyrics provide insight into the personality of the recently lost young woman as well as what the mourning narrator loved most about her; he describes her as “always young at heart, kinda dumb and kinda smart and I loved her so.”

Backed by an opening chorus of female singers and a gentle melody, Goldsboro, as the narrator, does not disclose the depth of his mourning until the end of the song before concluding with a return to the tree metaphor. This song is a touching tribute that would be wonderful to play at memorials for young women who have lost their boyfriend, companion or spouse. The sweet lyrics filled with amusing anecdotes demonstrate how much a recently lost loved one is missed, despite what one may have seen as faults at an earlier time. The initially frustrating quirks become something to miss, but also something to cherish:

And honey, I miss you
And I’m bein’ good
And I’d love to be with you
If only I could

One day while I was not at home
While she was there and all alone
The angels came
Now all I have is memories of Honey
And I wake up nights and call her name
Now my life’s an empty stage
Where Honey lived and Honey played
And love grew up
And a small cloud passes overhead
And cries down on the flower bed
That Honey loved…

Read the rest of the lyrics here

You may also like:

• Memorial Music: “Will You Miss Me when I’m Gone?” by The Carter Family
• Memorial Song: “Teen Angel” by Mark Dinning
• ”Though lovers be lost love shall not; and death shall have no dominion.”