About The Song
“Promises” was written by Paul Overstreet and Don Schlitz and recorded by Randy Travis in 1989. The song was released as a single from his album “No Holdin’ Back” on Warner Bros. Records. It reached #17 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart, making it a moderate hit during Travis’s successful late 1980s period.
The songwriting team of Paul Overstreet and Don Schlitz had previously collaborated on Travis’s mega-hit “Forever and Ever, Amen” in 1987. Their partnership was known for crafting songs that combined traditional country themes with contemporary appeal, which suited Travis’s neo-traditional country style perfectly.
The recording was produced by Kyle Lehning, who had been working with Travis since his breakthrough album “Storms of Life” in 1986. Lehning’s production style emphasized Travis’s distinctive baritone voice while maintaining the traditional country instrumentation that defined Travis’s sound.
The album “No Holdin’ Back” was Travis’s fourth studio album and continued his string of successful releases during the height of his career. The album also included other notable tracks like “It’s Just a Matter of Time” and “Hard Rock Bottom of Your Heart,” both of which were more successful on the charts than “Promises.”
The song dealt with themes of commitment and keeping one’s word, which were common subjects in Travis’s repertoire. His songs often focused on traditional values, relationships, and moral themes that resonated with country music audiences of the era.
“Promises” represented Travis’s continued collaboration with Nashville’s top songwriters during his peak commercial period. While not one of his biggest hits, it demonstrated the consistency of his recording output during the late 1980s when he was one of country music’s leading artists.
The track showcased Travis’s ability to deliver emotional performances on mid-tempo ballads, which had become one of his signature styles alongside his uptempo honky-tonk numbers and slower romantic songs.
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Lyrics
Cheap perfume and painted faces
Fallen angels fill the places
Where I go when my troubles pull me down
And all the lies, I know they’ll tell me
And the time that they will sell me
For a while, I’ll be the biggest man in town
Back at home
In bed she’s crying
For her love for me is dying
But she’ll pray I make it safely through the night
When the morning sun starts showing
To her bedside I’ll be going
And she’ll hold me
While I face the morning light
And I’ll make promises
Promises to change
I’ll make her promises
Swear I’ll rearrange
And I’ll start giving all the love she needs
If only she will stay
Once again, she’ll reassure me
And I believe her love will cure me
And I’ll fall asleep with tears on my face
And I know she’s just a woman
And her love can’t last forever
And someday soon
I know she’ll leave without a trace
For broken promises will tear her dreams apart
Just token promises will someday break her heart
And for the last time
She’ll hold me when I cry and while I’m sleeping
She’ll quietly say goodbye
OldiesSong