LOCATION: Mississippi outside of Vicksburg
PERIOD: 1947-48
DRAMATIS PERSONAE: Beauchamp Raney (1917-1949); Bess Baldwin (1920-1948)
Beauchamp Raney (1917-1949) was one of the middle children of Virgil Raney (1885-1959) and Hazel Tate (1886-1964). His oldest brother, Vernon Raney (1911-1993) was the son who carried on the whiskey making tradition. However, they all helped, and Beau was smart, resourceful, and one of the more valuable members of the family business. However, he did not marry well.
His wife was 19 when they got married, and liked to go out and party, whereas Beau preferred staying close to home except those times when he and Vernon had to move the liquor. One thing led to another and Bess found herself entangled with a wealthy cotton planter, and she lost her head in this adulterous relationship.
Little did she know how Beau would react.
SWEETHEART OF MINE
(F. D. Leone, Jr.)
Sweetheart of mine
Good mornin’
Next time you see me
You better run
You broke my heart
My sweet darlin’
Next time I see you
I’ll have a gun
By the time you see me
Be too late believe me
In my hand will be my .45
Sweetheart of mine
Your new sugar
I’ll leave alone
It ain’t his fault
I don’t blame him
Cheated and lied
Now you’re gone
Treated our vows
Like you never made ’em
Last thing you’ll see will be me
Shoot you where your heart should be
Watch the life leave your lyin’ eyes
Sweetheart of mine
You will learn
That I won’t let you
Walk over me
Like I was dirt
Be one time
Since I met you
That I will get
The last word
By the time you see me
Be too late believe me
In my hand will be my .45
Sweetheart of mine
Last thing you’ll see will be me
Shoot you where your heart should be
Watch the life leave your lyin’ eyes
Sweetheart of mine
© 2025 Frank David Leone, Jr./Highway 80 Music (ASCAP). The songs and stories on the Highway 80 Stories website are works of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
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