Recorded - January 30, 1968
Released - February 24, 1968
#1 for weeks of April 13, 20 and 27 & May 4 and 11, 1968.
So, how do I "Celebrate" 200 song reviews? By reviewing a song that numerous critics have considered one of the absolute worst of not only the 1960's, but of all time. This song of course being Bobby Goldsboro's "Honey". I actually went out of my way to not listen to this song in advance so I could review it with an open mind. I'll see if this song isn't as bad as critics have made it out to be...
Bobby began his music career playing guitar in Roy Orbison's band, and he released his first solo material in 1964. Much of his charting singles are all country ballads. I've already mentioned I don't care for this sub-genre, but I nonetheless gave similar artists such as Connie Francis fair reviews. In 1968, Bobby recorded "Honey", written by Bobby Russell.
Well...three listens later, and I'm sorry but I'm going to have to side with the critics on this one. "Honey" isn't a very good song. Let's go through the song piece by piece and I'll explain why it just doesn't work.
Right from the beginning, we're greeted with a syrupy operatic vocal and an equally saccharine string arrangement. I know the keyword is angelic, but this pushes the sugar levels beyond my tolerance threshold. While I have nothing wrong with Bobby's singing voice, the lyrics are quite clumsy. With cringe-worthy lines like "Slipped and almost hurt herself, and I laughed 'til I cried", it's hard to figure out whether I should take the song seriously or not.
There is also a near-endless number of verses, and hearing this same musical pattern sung over and over again gets very repetitive. We finally get a chorus, over a minute and half into the song. Unfortunately, it sounds just as flat as the verses.
It isn't until the three minute mark that something different happens, although not for the better. There is a way too sentimental choir arrangement that overpowers the music. If this song was already sugary, now it's pure treacle. I also feel that choosing to fade out the song as opposed to ending on a climatic note reinforces my belief that the song goes on way too long.
I know it seems like I'm being unduly harsh on "Honey", but believe me I really tried to find a silver lining. When I read about the song's subject matter: A man reminiscing about his now departed wife, I wanted to genuinely feel moved. After three listens, I wasn't even remotely emotionally stirred. I think part of the reason is the fact that Bobby's vocal performance is very one dimensional and flat. When you couple this with the fact that he didn't even write the song, it really makes me feel no attachment to the song. Actually, "Honey" does give me an emotion - boredom.
The sad part is, with a little work, "Honey" could have turned out much better. Just give it a more stripped down arrangement with no choir or strings, tweak the lyrics so they aren't as clumsy, and have it sung by someone who can emote better. In fact, if this was sung by someone like Roy Orbison, and with all of my suggestions in place, this could have been something special.
Final Verdict - Just because "Honey" charted for five weeks during turbulent times, it doesn't mean it's a good song. It is lyrically poor, musically boring, and it doesn't strike any emotion within' me at all. A definite thumbs down for me.
Coming Up Next - "Tighten Up" by Archie Bell & The Drells.
Until Next Time, I'm Dr. Rock and I thank all you readers for sticking around through 200 reviews! -
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