"Broken Promise Land" is a song co-written by Bill Rice

Bill Rice

Wilbur Steven "Bill" Rice is an American country music singer and songwriter. Rice charted six singles between 1971 and 1978, including the Top 40 hit "Travelin' Minstrel Man", but is better known for his songwriting...

 and Sharon Vaughn

Sharon Vaughn

Sharon Vaughn is a musician, songwriter and producer. She has had over two hundred cuts including several number one hits. She has also been nominated for The Nashville Songwriters Federation "Hall Of Fame". Vaughn was formerly married to songwriter Bill Rice, and later to Howard Bellamy of The...

 and recorded by country music

Country music

Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

 singer Waylon Jennings

Waylon Jennings

Waylon Arnold Jennings was an American country music singer, songwriter, and musician. Jennings began playing at eight. He began performing at twelve, on KVOW radio. Jennings formed a band The Texas Longhorns. Jennings worked as a D.J on KVOW, KDAV and KLLL...

 in 1985 for his album Turn the Page

Turn the Page (album)

Turn the Page is an album by Waylon Jennings, released on RCA Records in 1985. Jennings recorded the album at a time when he was completely drug-free; this had not occurred in his career for around twenty years...

as "The Broken Promise Land". Mark Chesnutt

Mark Chesnutt

Mark Nelson Chesnutt is an American country music singer. Chesnutt recorded and released his first album, Doing My Country Thing, in the late-1980s on private independent record label, Axbar Records, with the vinyl album version now a collector's item...

 recorded a cover of the song in 1990. It was Chesnutt's fifth and final single released from his debut album Too Cold at Home

Too Cold at Home

Too Cold at Home is the second album released by American country music artist Mark Chesnutt, released in 1990 on MCA Records. Certified platinum by the RIAA for sales of one million copies, the album produced five Top Ten singles for Chesnutt on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts...

. It peaked at #10 in the United States, and #7 in Canada in their respective Country Music charts.

Content

The song begins with the narrator and a woman he shouldn't be with in a motel room. He calls his wife, who believes he's on a business trip, out of guilt and tells her he'll be gone a bit longer. In the chorus the narrator refers to where he's at is called Broken Promise Land. When the narrator returns home, he finds his wife has left, her wedding ring on the floor. He says that she's going to Broken Promise Land as well.

Chart performance

Chart (1991)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks	10
Canadian RPM Country Tracks	7