A Taste Of Honey
Sunday, February 3, 2008 at 11:44PM Today by chance I heard a snippet of a song from my childhood. Anyone remember Bobby Goldsboro? I was working at my desk and the TV was on in the next room. A commercial came on and there was Bobby singing Honey. Wow ... talk about a blast from the past. I guess not a year has gone by since 1968 that I have not thought about that song. I still remember how captivated my 11-year-old self was by Bobby's mellow voice singing the tragic ballad, and by the romance and tenderness conveyed in that poignant lyric.
Reading the story told by the song now, it seems rather treacly, if not downright smarmy. Honey is put over as more of a child than a woman. But as a kid I "saw" the doomed Honey in my mind as an angelic waif with large dewy eyes, perfect skin, a sweet smile, and long blond hair parted in the middle. A womanchild who plants trees, loves puppies, cries at old movies, and is adored by her husband. I sobbed inconsolably when I first realized what the upshot of the whole thing was. Honey dies, at home alone on a beautiful spring day! A lovely young woman who dies long before her song is sung.
I have never owned a Bobby Goldsboro album. I got my first record player when I was 12 and I went on to become a fan of Glen Campbell, The Monkees, The Carpenters, and Neil Diamond. But like an unexpected whiff of the cologne you wore when you were eighteen or the memories released by an old picture album, those songs you loved in the formative years have a strange power to bend the mind backwards.
I heard only a few bars of Honey today, but for those few bars I was 11 years old again. It was the Vietnam era; I was in sixth grade. My teacher, Mr. Brennan, one day praised a Haiku I wrote, sparking a lifelong love of poetry. If I wasn't riding my bike with the wind in my hair and cockleburs spiking my slipping-down ankle socks, I was poking through bushes behind Oakland Park Elementary School looking for huge juicy blackberries to eat until my tongue was stained purple. And the songs ... the songs ... so many of the songs made me cry. How well I remember the taste of Honey.
See the tree, how big it's grown
But friend, it hasn't been too long
It wasn't big
I laughed at her and she got mad
The first day that she planted it,
Was just a twig
Then the first snow came
And she ran out to brush the snow away
So it wouldn't die
Came runnin' in all excited
Slipped and almost hurt herself
And I laughed till I cried
She was always young at heart
Kinda dumb and kinda smart
And I loved her so
And I surprised her with a puppy
Kept me up all Christmas Eve
Two years ago
And it would sure embarrass her
When I came in from workin' late
'Cause I would know
That she'd been sittin' there and cryin'
Over some sad and silly late, late show
And Honey, I miss you
And I'm bein' good
And I'd love to be with you
If only I could
She wrecked the car and she was sad
And so afraid that I'd be mad
But what the heck?
Though I pretended hard to be
Guess you could say she saw through me
And hugged my neck
I came home unexpectedly
And caught her crying needlessly
In the middle of the day
And it was in the early spring
When flowers bloom and robins sing
She went away
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
Reader Comments (2)
Ohhh, Bobby Goldsboro. I haven't thought about him in years. Except Liitle Green Apples is his, and I find myself humming it once in a while. And Watching Scotty Grow was his too. I loved sappy romantic songs when I was a teeneager. Still do, as a matter of fact. Have you looked at his website ? http://www.bobbygoldsboro.com/
He paints now and his paintings are gorgeous and fairly affordable.
Sue, I have looked at his web site! I think it's amazing that BG is still singing, yet one never hears anything about him! And yet another singing artist. So much talent.