Honey

This song was written by Bobby Russell, who got the idea for the song when he noticed how much a tree in his front yard had grown in four years. Russell was a Nashville songwriter who was briefly married to actress/singer Vicki Lawrence, and wrote her 1973 hit "The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia." He also wrote "Little Green Apples" for O.C. Smith (#2, 1968), and "The Joker Went Wild" for Brian Hyland (#20, 1966). Russell, who died of a heart attack in 1992 at age 51, was a singer, but his most successful songs were recorded by other artists. He had minor hits with the songs "1432 Franklin Pike Circle Hero" (#36, 1968) and the novelty song "Saturday Morning Confusion" (#28, 1971).

In this song, a woman who plants a tree, but then she dies a few years later. The story is told from the husband's perspective, who misses her terribly and is reminded of her when he sees the tree. The song has made various "worst song ever" lists as its detractors find it overly sentimental and cloying, but there are many defenders of the song as well, who find it heartfelt and moving. Here's a CNN Article quoting a comment on this very page from one of the songs' supporters.

This was originally recorded by Bob Shane of The Kingston Trio, whose version was released about a week before Goldsboro's. Goldsboro was a more established artist, with six Top 40 US hits to his credit when he released this song. His version, with the much more elaborate production, became the hit.