# Bobby Goldsboro: "Honey" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 22, 2014, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobby-goldsboro-honey/696165 "2014-08-22T04:03:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobby-goldsboro-honey/696165/1 "2014-08-22T04:03:33Z")
I can’t recall how long it had been since I last heard the song, but I happened to stumble upon a video of Bobby Goldsboro singing “Honey”: I understand that the song is "reviled" as being a really terrible song, but ... maybe it's just Robin Williams' death influencing my perception, but listening to the lyrics, I really had the strong impression that the "Honey" character committed suicide. The lyrics never state how she died, but the verses seem, to me, to describe somebody suffering from clinical depression. And maybe, in 1968, that just wasn't well-understood. Is my interpretation sound? ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobby-goldsboro-honey/696165/2 "2014-08-22T05:05:55Z")
I’ve always believed that people misinterpreted the line about how “the Angels came” for Honey. She didn’t _die_–she was just traded to Anaheim. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobby-goldsboro-honey/696165/3 "2014-08-22T06:13:36Z")
I loved the way the Smothers Brothers did the song on their show. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobby-goldsboro-honey/696165/4 "2014-08-22T06:57:05Z")
I disagree. She is not portrayed as as depressive, but as a sentimental simpleton, a (presumably) adult woman with emotions like a child. Much of what makes the song so cringe-inducing (and I am sure I was far from alone in finding it so, even at the time it was a hit) is that this is treated as a good, charming, loveable way for a grown woman to be. Anyway, childlike simpletons are not the sort to commit suicide. The only plausible hint of depression is the line about once finding her “cryin’ needlessly/ In the middle of the day”, but I take the implication to be that she is crying because she has just learned that she has a terminal illness. She dies right after. The fact that she cries over the “late-late show” is merely an example of her sentimentality. Otherwise, the emotions ascribed to her seem to all be naïvely happy ones. I am going to be stuck with this horrible song as an earworm, now.:mad: ---
**Author:** ![from\_a\_to\_z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5fc32e/32.png) [@from\_a\_to\_z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/from_a_to_z)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobby-goldsboro-honey/696165/5 "2014-08-22T07:26:08Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > I’ve always believed that people misinterpreted the line about how “the Angels came” for Honey. She didn’t _die_–she was just traded to Anaheim. For Woodie Held? (He played there in 1968, per [baseball-reference](http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/heldwo01.shtml).) > [@njtt](#): > > I am going to be stuck with this horrible song as an earworm, now.:mad: If it’s any consolation for you, the Mexican singer Chelo ([Consuelo “Chelo” Pérez Rubio](https://www.google.com/search?q=Consuelo+%22Chelo%22+P%C3%A9rez+Rubio)) has a tuneful Spanish version with mariachi (better than her bolero version, imo). YouTube seems to have only a grade Z recording, [here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hX2gHA3R_Ow). Amazon for one has a better, if only 30-second, taste [here](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000S578FW/). ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobby-goldsboro-honey/696165/6 "2014-08-22T08:25:37Z")
> [@from\_a\_to\_z](#): > > If it’s any consolation for you, the Mexican singer Chelo ([Consuelo “Chelo” Pérez Rubio](https://www.google.com/search?q=Consuelo+%22Chelo%22+P%C3%A9rez+Rubio)) has a tuneful Spanish version with mariachi (better than her bolero version, imo). YouTube seems to have only a grade Z recording, [here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hX2gHA3R_Ow). Amazon for one has a better, if only 30-second, taste [here](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000S578FW/). No thank you! I don’t need it to be more “tuneful”. “Tuneful” is the problem. The tune is already plenty catchy enough to stick in my head. That can be annoying even when it happens with songs I love, but much more so when it happens with songs I hate, like this one. My hatred, however, is not (at least primarily) due to the tune, but to the cloyingly misogynistic lyrics associated with it. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobby-goldsboro-honey/696165/7 "2014-08-22T11:26:48Z")
The song was scorned even when it first came out as being syrupy and sentimental,\* but a lot of people either liked that sort of sentimentality or just didn’t listen to the lyrics. The line “the angels came” clearly points to a natural death, not a suicide. \*Not to mention the time we wanted to blast out hard rock as we drove through town, and this was what came up on the radio. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobby-goldsboro-honey/696165/8 "2014-08-22T12:03:46Z")
Any song that rhymes “but what the heck” with “she hugged my neck” deserves to be on the permanent Top 40 in Hell. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobby-goldsboro-honey/696165/9 "2014-08-22T12:29:58Z")
Dave Barry suggests that the song is more bearable if you assume the Hell’s Angels were the ones who came for her. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobby-goldsboro-honey/696165/10 "2014-08-22T16:15:01Z")
I’ll buck the trend. Not only do I like the song, to a certain degree, but I think she committed suicide. When the song was new, I thought she died from cancer or something, but as I get older I read it more that she was depressed for a long time and the singer never understood. It was the 60s - not only was knowledge of mental illness not where it is today, but there was a stigma to having it. Maybe if he wasn’t afraid to confront her illness, she could have got help. He’s romanticizing the events after the fact. He’s an unreliable narrator. He thinks she was cute and naive, but that was just him not seeing that she had troubles. She wasn’t a simpleton - that’s how the singer saw her, not how she really was. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobby-goldsboro-honey/696165/11 "2014-08-22T17:22:34Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Dave Barry suggests that the song is more bearable if you assume the Hell’s Angels were the ones who came for her. And ash borers got the tree. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobby-goldsboro-honey/696165/12 "2014-08-22T17:23:50Z")
I have strong memories of my family driving from West Texas to my grandmother’s house in Arkansas at the height of this song’s popularity. This was about an eight-hour drive, and the song got lots of airtime on the radio. I hadn’t thought of Bobby Goldsboro in a long time, just looked him up and am sort of surprised he’s still alive. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobby-goldsboro-honey/696165/13 "2014-08-22T17:26:21Z")
At least it wasn’t pretentious about what it was. Unlike \*\*Nadia’s Theme. \*\* “Ooh, I just love Classical music!” ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobby-goldsboro-honey/696165/14 "2014-08-22T17:33:43Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > I’ve always believed that people misinterpreted the line about how “the Angels came” for Honey. She didn’t _die_–she was just traded to Anaheim. You just made this song a tiny bit less horrible for me. I wish I’d known this 45 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobby-goldsboro-honey/696165/15 "2014-08-22T17:34:38Z")
There are many things that make this song utterly detestable, but near the top of the list for me is the fact that the singer is a complete dick. His wife plants a tree and he laughs at her. Then later she “came runnin’ in all excited/slipped and almost hurt herself/and I laughed till I cried.” Really? What other misfortunes amused you? Her having an incurable disease? Maybe that’s why you couldn’t be bother to be with her the day “the angels came!” She died “One day while I was not at home/While she was there and all alone.” How charming! She died alone. What an asshole! ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobby-goldsboro-honey/696165/16 "2014-08-22T17:39:53Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > My hatred, however, is not (at least primarily) due to the tune, but to the cloyingly misogynistic lyrics associated with it. Here’s something to get that earworm out of your head: You’re having my baby! What a lovely way of saying how much you love me! ---
**Author:** ![OtisCampbellWasRight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/d78d45/32.png) [@OtisCampbellWasRight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtisCampbellWasRight)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobby-goldsboro-honey/696165/17 "2014-08-22T19:36:17Z")
Wow…ya ninja’d me by a mere two hours. I responded to the “songs that make you cry” thread, then scrolled down to see this. I don’t know which makes me feel more foolish; getting ninjaed or crying over that sappy song.:smack: ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobby-goldsboro-honey/696165/18 "2014-08-22T19:42:15Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > Here’s something to get that earworm out of your head: > > You’re having my baby! > What a lovely way of saying how much you love me! There he sits with a pen and a yellow pad. What a handsome lad. That’s my boy. “BRLFQ” spells “Mom and Dad.” Well, that ain’t too bad. Cause that’s my boy. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobby-goldsboro-honey/696165/19 "2014-08-22T19:48:51Z")
> [@Labdad](#): > > There are many things that make this song utterly detestable, but near the top of the list for me is the fact that the singer is a complete dick. > > His wife plants a tree and he laughs at her. Then later she “came runnin’ in all excited/slipped and almost hurt herself/and I laughed till I cried.” Really? What other misfortunes amused you? Her having an incurable disease? Maybe that’s why you couldn’t be bother to be with her the day “the angels came!” She died “One day while I was not at home/While she was there and all alone.” How charming! She died alone. > > What an asshole! So beautifully expressed! I had always reacted negatively to the singer’s apathy without analyzing it. But this does set it straight in my mind now! Perhaps it can be seen as a good example of the [unreliable narrator.](http://fictionwriting.about.com/od/glossary/g/unreliablenarr.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobby-goldsboro-honey/696165/20 "2014-08-22T21:03:45Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > There he sits with a pen and a yellow pad. > What a handsome lad. That’s my boy. > “BRLFQ” spells “Mom and Dad.” > Well, that ain’t too bad. Cause that’s my boy. Kid takes after his mom. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobby-goldsboro-honey/696165.md?page=2)