The only two things I know about Bobby Goldsboro are likely the only two things most people know. He hit number one with the dreadfully insipid tearjerker “Honey” in 1967 and he also had a hit with the somewhat more mature, possibly autobiographical account of one man's transition from boy to man one hot summer evening with “Summer (The First Time”) later in 1973, a song which did much more poorly but is in my opinion the better written of the two. I don't know if he wrote it, but I know he can't be blamed for “Honey”. Anyway, this is of course neither of those songs, but it has autumn in the title --- he has in fact two songs I could have chosen, I just happened to come across this one first --- so we're gonna give it a spin.
Title: Autumn of my life
Format: Single
Written by: Bobby Goldsboro
Performed by: Bobby Goldsboro
Taken from: The Bobby Goldsboro album
Word Pictures
Year: 1968
Acclaim: Surprisingly (or perhaps not, considering it was the single released after his first big smash, “Honey”) this did quite well when released, breaking the top twenty in both the US Country and the regular US charts of the time.
The first thing I notice, other than the I think accordion opening it, is a blatant attempt to cash in on the big hit, as this opens with another high female choral vocal, just as “Honey” did, and maybe unwary listeners may have been fooled into thinking this was “Honey part 2”, as it were. Sneaky, man! Sneaky! In the event, it seems to be a fairly bog-standard Country/Pop song with some nice strings accompaniment. The melody does sail close to “Honey” too, and it's also about a woman of course and the love she gives him, but unlike “Honey” he at least stays away from having her die, instead preferring to have the flame of love die within him as the “Autumn of his life” approaches. Rather selfishly, he decides to leave his woman, and his child ---
”What do you say to a child of ten/ How do you tell him his daddy's going away?/ Do I tell him that I reached the autumn of my life/ And he'll understand some winter's day?” Yeah, great idea, Bobby! Make the kid so bitter that not only will he hate you for the rest of his life, but implant in him the idea that when he's grown up he can do the same thing to a woman he loves. Fu
cking excellent parenting!
This song, though it's the first time I've heard it, pisses me off. Not a word about the woman he leaves behind, scant regard for the child, and all we get at the end is
”I'm content in the autumn of my life.” Well good for you, you selfish f
uck! This is the kind of crap that would pass for a “heartfelt song” in the sixties. Try that today son and you'd get a whole different reaction!
What do I like about this song?
Very little.
1. The tune's ok but much of it is ripped from his hit of the previous year, “Honey”.
What do I not like about this song?
2. The message it sends, that it's okay when you grow tired of your woman to just desert her, leave your son behind and not care about what happens to him, or indeed her. Yes, I know it's just a song and probably not indicative of the man's own views, but then again, this is the man who wrote (or at least sang) about basically underage sex/statutory rape on his biggest hit. The inherent selfishness and indulgence of it, the sweet sickly voice disguising a message of pure misogyny. As Blackadder once said, “No doubt he's shacked up with a new pair of tights by now!” Cu
nt.
