Flower songs (1)

Subject: Lyr Add: THE DANDELION SONG (Linda Allen)^^
From: Croney
Date: 23 May 00 - 03:22 PM

Hi, folks -
Thanks for all the encouraging remarks and the wonderful responses on the Recipe songs and the Mother's Day songs. So now, it being Spring, how about flower songs? Maybe songs that have a flower in the title? White Coral Bells, etc. I wrote one called October Roses that is already in Digital Tradition. Here's another one that my daughters and I wrote about ten years ago. I'm still not exactly clear if the lyrics are coming through correctly--may still need some technical advice--but here it is. This one can be found on Washington Notebook, sung by my then-little girls, Jen and Kristin.
http://www.lindasongs.com
Thanks! Looking forward to what you all come up with.
What an amazing resource you all are!

THE DANDELION SONG
Written by Linda Allen, Kristin and Jennifer Allen-Zito
© Linda Allen 1989

Well, flowers come in green and pink and red
And they sleep all day in their little flower beds
But the little dandelion grows wild and free
With her uncles and her cousins and the whole family

Dandy, dandy, dandy, dandy dandelion
There's something pretty dandy 'bout you
Dandy, dandy, dandy dandy dandelion
I wish that there were more of you

First I make a wish, then I blow real hard
And the little dandelions blow all over the yard
And I wait and I hope for my wish to come true
Guess there's only so much a dandelion can do
CHORUS

Now in 1800 things were bleak and bare
Not a little dandelion anywhere
But Cathy Maynard knew that dandelions cure
So she brought them to Washington, and we thank her
CHORUS

Some people think that dandelions are a pest
But I think that dandelions are the best
Dandelions, don't you know, are really cool
And dandelion haters should go back to school
CHORUS

You can make them into necklaces and bracelets too
You can decorate your laces to tie your shoe
You can make them into salad greens or dandelion tea
That's why dandelions are for me
CHORUS 2X

Notes:
My daughters, Jennifer and Kristin (then ages 12 and 9), rode with me to a concert in Everett. On the way there, I told them about Catherine Maynard's alleged contribution to Washington's history. We created this song together over the next hour in the car, and sang it together at the concert.

[Many song titles in this thread have been converted to links by a Mudelf.]

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: Allan C.
Date: 23 May 00 - 03:36 PM

One of my all-time favorites is "Seven Daffodils" which is in the DT. There is something very romantic about it. I finally got around to learning to play it this year and love to sing it.

"But I can show you morning upon a thousand hills,
And kiss you and give you seven daffodils..."

It has been my habit each spring for many years to give daffodils to the significant other in my life. I think this song has something to do with that tradition.

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: Peg
Date: 23 May 00 - 03:38 PM

Nice song! I love flowers and would love to hear of other traditional/folk songs about them.

My own thoughts, off the top of my head:

Red is the Rose
Lily of the West (not really about flowers!)
Blackberry Blossom
Green Grow the Lilacs
I'll Be with You in Apple Blossom Time
Texas Bluebonnets

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: Dave (the ancient mariner)
Date: 23 May 00 - 03:46 PM

"In An English Country Garden" is a great song but you don't want the words I know to it... Aye. Dave

Subject: Lyr Add: I AM A LITTLE FLOWER GIRL
From: Bert
Date: 23 May 00 - 03:55 PM

When My Great Grandmother was six years old she appeared on stage with a huge basket of flowers and sang this song.

I am a little flower girl and here I take my stand
I'll sell you any kind of flowers I have within my hand.
I've violets and I've roses to make you pretty posies
lilies white and marigolds and orange blossom too
I've lilacs for the ladies, buttercups and daisies
and if you want to buy some flowers
I hope you'll buy from me.

I've violets and I've roses to make you pretty posies
lilies white and marigolds and orange blossom too
I've lilacs for the ladies, buttercups and daisies
and if you will not buy my flowers
I'll throw them all away.

She finished by throwing handfuls of flowers out into the audience.

Bert.

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: SINSULL
Date: 23 May 00 - 04:12 PM

The Rose of No Man's Land
The Rose of Tralee
The Last Rose of Summer
I'm Sending You a Big Bouquet of Roses
Rosie the Riveter
Sweet Rosie O'Grady
The Yellow Rose of Texas
Roses are Red (My Love)
Green Grow the Lilacs
Daisy Bell (A Bicycle Built for Two)
Red Roses for Blue Lady
The Biggest Aspidistra in the World
Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White
Wildwood Flower
Where Have All the Flowers Gone?
Orange Blossom Special
Edelweiss
Tiptoe through the Tulips
Sweet Violets

Note: daffodils are my favorite flowers. Seven Daffodils - I finally have a song to go with the poem - "A host of golden daffodils..."
Thanks.

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: Metchosin
Date: 23 May 00 - 04:27 PM

Well I guess if Rosie the Riveter qualifies so does the Lily of the West

Where Have All the Flowers Gone
Wildwood Flower

And probably 500 others in the DT under "flower".

Gee I'm beginning to sound like a crumudgeon, didn't intend to.

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: Mary in Kentucky
Date: 23 May 00 - 04:59 PM

You can put the name of specific flowers in SuperSearch and come up with zillions of hits.

I like "The Blue Bells of Scotland" which I used to think referred to flowers, but a recent discussion here makes that assumption questionable.

My Wild Irish Rose
Paper Roses
The Rose
etc.
Wild Mountain Thyme
The Heather on the Hill (from Brigadoon)
The Flower Song (from Bizet's Carmen)
The Flower Duet (from Puccini's Madama Butterfly)

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: GUEST
Date: 24 May 00 - 12:03 AM

The Pink, the Lily, and the Blooming Rose ..from Newfoundland..

Sweet Forget Me Not...very popular in Newfoundland..not sure of its origins.

Flowers of the Forest.

In Flanders Fields..set to music..

isn't there one from texas?? called Bluebonnets over the Border?

Lavender's Blue

Rose of Mooncoin, Rose of Allendale, Bendemeer's Stream, Buttercup Joe, The Broom of the Cowdenknowes.

that's all for now...nice to see you here and will see you at folklife...mary g.

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: Callie
Date: 24 May 00 - 02:39 AM

Artificial Flowers (dunno who wrote it - Bobby Darin does it swing style and The Beautiful South sing it mournfully. Must be hundreds of other versions out there)

Flowers in the Dirt (Paul McCartney/Elvis Costello)

Honeysuckle Rose

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: Big Mick
Date: 24 May 00 - 02:42 AM

There Were Roses

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: Allan C.
Date: 24 May 00 - 08:14 AM

Bert modestly overlooked the opportunity to mention his own "Plastic Flower Seeds" which is also in the DT. I was pleased to record his playing and singing of it at the 1999 Getaway. Clever song!

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: GUEST,Roger the skiffler
Date: 24 May 00 - 08:18 AM

White Rose of Athens (Nana Mouskouri etc)
RtS

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: GUEST,Pete (at work)
Date: 24 May 00 - 08:58 AM

Try again! sorry. How about the Carter Family's "When the Roses Bloom in Dixieland" and Burnett and Rutherford's Flower from the Fields of Alabama; Harpgirl sings a wonderful song called Local Flowers but I forget its provenance.

Does Sweet Fern count?

PETE

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: Mary in Kentucky
Date: 24 May 00 - 09:08 AM

Now, maryg, was that tongue-in-cheek about the Texas Bluebonnets? As we say in Texas (once a Texan, always a Texan) Don't Mess With Texas!

For the history of Bluebonnets Over The Border, check Barry Taylor's midi here.

And for a look at the gorgeous bluebonnet flower and a little of its history, check here.

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: Peg
Date: 24 May 00 - 10:20 AM

I don't know the exact title but Laurie Lewis does a great song about Texas Bluebonnets:

"Those Texas bluebonnets, how sweetly they grow, out on the wild prairie they're scattered like snow, etc."

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: Matticus
Date: 24 May 00 - 12:45 PM

Wildwood Flower,
Mother Maybelle Carter.

The Dransfield brothers recorded a lovely flower song [I Loved a Lad?]. Man loves woman, woman rejects man, man dies of grief, who would have imagined?
The last verse goes;
Dig me my grave, dig it long wide and deep
And let me lie down there and take a long sleep
And that's the best way to forget her.

There's a nice song by David Laing called My Flowers that is all about flowers, comparing flowers to beautiful women rather than the other way around. I could get the words off of the album...

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: Whistle Stop
Date: 24 May 00 - 12:51 PM

There's "A Good Year For the Roses". It's a real heartbreaker, covered by Elvis Costello on his country-influenced album "Almost Blue". Not sure who did it originally -- George Jones, maybe?

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: Mooh
Date: 24 May 00 - 12:54 PM

Dead Flowers by the Rolling Stones.

Lover's Heart by Silly Wizard. "She threw me a rose that fell between us, it floated on the bay, and as our ship pulled from the shore, I heard her call and say..."

Mooh.

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: Whistle Stop
Date: 24 May 00 - 01:00 PM

As long as we're into rock'n'roll territory, there's the Grateful Dead's "Sugar Magnolia" (yeah, it's a tree, but it flowers -- that counts, right?).

Subject: Lyr Add: SWEET ADELINE^^
From: Tiger
Date: 24 May 00 - 01:48 PM

This was originally titled "The Flower Song"

SWEET ADELINE
Words, Richard H. Gerard. Music, Harry Armstrong.
New York: M. Witmark & Sons, © 1903.

In the evening when I sit alone a-dreaming
Of days gone by, love, to me so dear,
There's a picture that in fancy oft' appearing,
Brings back the time, love, when you were near.

It is then I wonder where you are, my darling,
And if your heart to me is still the same.
For the sighing wind and nightingale a-singing
Are breathing only your own sweet name.

CHORUS
Sweet Adeline, (My Adeline,)
My Adeline, (My Adeline,)
At night, dear heart, (At night, dear heart,)
For you I pine. (For you I pine.)

In all my dreams, (In all my dreams,)
Your fair face beams. (Your fair face beams.)
You're the flower of my heart,
Sweet Adeline. (My Adeline.)

I can see your smiling face as when we wandered
Down by the brookside, just you and I,
And it seems so real at times 'til I awaken,
To find all vanished, a dream gone by.

If we must meet sometime in after years, my darling,
I trust that I will find your love still mine,
Tho' my heart is sad and clouds above are hov'ring
The sun again, love, for me would shine.

CHORUS

Lead (Harmony)

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: Whistle Stop
Date: 24 May 00 - 02:59 PM

While I'm on the Grateful Dead, I'll also offer "Scarlet Begonias".

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: GUEST,Pete peterson at work
Date: 25 May 00 - 09:07 AM

The Dransfield song (I have that record!) is called A Week Before Easter; they got it from the singing of the Copper Family (at the time Bob and Ron).
Matticus, I know that last verse slightly differently as

Go dig me a grave, dig it long wide and deep
Aye, and cover it over with flowers so sweet
That I may lie down there and take a long sleep
And that's the best way to forget her

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: harpgirl
Date: 25 May 00 - 09:12 AM

..."Ring of Clover"... I adore flower songs! Great list all!

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: Bert
Date: 25 May 00 - 10:56 AM

....but you dont want the words I know to it...

Oh yes we do Dave!

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: Ebbie
Date: 25 May 00 - 11:06 AM

Paper Roses?

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: Matticus
Date: 25 May 00 - 02:20 PM

Pete Peterson, I'm so jealous that you have that album. I borrowed a bad tape of it one time and have longed to find a good copy ever since. Curse they who have kept it out of circulation.

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: GUEST,Pete Peterson
Date: 25 May 00 - 04:44 PM

Matticus, send me a private message (at home) if you want it; I THINK I now have a working record player (of vinyl) after some years when I didn't; it depends on whether there is a stylus or a chisel at the end of the tone arm. (not quite a joke) if the former, I can make a copy for you on cassette & send the same.

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: Whistle Stop
Date: 26 May 00 - 08:21 AM

A White Sport Coat (And a Pink Carnation)

Subject: Lyr Add: THE POSIE (Robert Burns)^^
From: Alice
Date: 26 May 00 - 09:48 AM

The Posie by Robert Burns.

THE POSIE
(Robert Burns)

O, luve will venture in where it daur na weel be seen!
O, luve will venture in, where wisdom ance hath been!
But I will doun yon river rove amang the wood sae green,
And a' to pu a posie to my ain dear May!

The primrose I will pu, the firstling o the year,
And I will pu the pink, the emblem o my dear,
For she's the pink o womankind, and blooms without a peer-
And a' to be a posie to my ain dear May!

I'll pu the budding rose, when Phoebus peeps in view,
For it's like a baumy kiss o her sweet, bonie mou.
The hyacinth's for constancy wi its unchanging blue-
And a' to be a posie to my ain dear May!

The lily it is pure, and the lily it is fair,
And in her lovely bosom I'll place the lily there.
The daisy's for simplicity an unaffected air-
And a' to be a posie to my ain dear May!

The hawthorn I will pu, wi its locks o siller gray,
Where, like an aged man, it stands at break o day;
But the songster's nest within the bush I winna tak away-
And a' to be a posie to my ain dear May!

The woodbine I will pu, when the e'ening star is near,
And the diamond draps o dew shall be her een sae clear!
The violet's for modesty, which weel she fa's to wear-
And a' to be a posie to my ain dear May!

I'II tie the posie round wi' the silken band o luve,
And I'll place it in her breast, and I'll swear by a' above,
That to my latest breath o life the band shall ne'er remove
And this will be a posie to my ain dear May!

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: SINSULL
Date: 26 May 00 - 12:52 PM

A bit of useless information:

(PAN-zee)

A colorful flower with velvety blossoms

This flower's name derives from the French word "pensee" (with an accent over the first "e"), meaning "thought." It's so named for the way the blossoms of some varieties resemble a little face crinkled up in thought. (Thus "pansy" is a relative of such words as "pensive" and "ponder.")

(Interestingly, the German word for this flower is "Stiefmutterchen." While speakers of French see a thoughtful frown in this blossom, Germans see the unforgiving scowl of a "little stepmother.")

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: harpgirl
Date: 13 Feb 02 - 11:19 PM

lambent

Subject: Lyr Add: LA MARIANNA LA VA IN CAMPAGNA
From: CRANKY YANKEE
Date: 14 Feb 02 - 02:39 AM

My spelling is probably off.


LA MARIANNA LA VA IN CAMPAGNA


Oh Dio Di ciel qui fai crescere la rosa
Manda Marito a-tutti queste cosa.

(chorus)
E La Mariana la va in campagna quando il sole tremoneterra, tremonterra, tremonterra
qui sa quando, qui sa quando returnera

II
Oh bella e le rose, m'ancour le peu la viola
La sue Mogletina sara una campagnola
(repeat chorus)

III
Oh bei giovenotti qui fate al amore
Piglate la bionde, lesciate quel amore
(repeat chorus)

IV
Ma brune o bionde ? ? ? ? ? ?(forgot this line)
Una ragezzina ruberrano il cuore
(repeat chorus)

very accurate translation by me (whoopee)

Oh Lord up above, who makes the rose and daisy
Please find a husband for each of these young ladies.
(chorus)
And Mary ann goes to the country today when the swun goes down.
But who knows, who knows when she'll come back to town.

II
Oh pretty is the rose, but prettier the violet's hue
Be sure that when you marry it's a country girl for you

III
Come all you young fellows who love every girl you see
Take all the blondes, leave the dark haired ones for me.

Iv
But Brunette or blonde pay heed to what I say
Someday some young girl will steal your heart away

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: 53
Date: 14 Feb 02 - 11:42 PM

(If you're going to) San Francisco (be sure to wear some flowers in your hair), a song done during the 60's by Scott McKenzie

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 14 Feb 02 - 11:51 PM

Seeds Of Love

Jon

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: Pooby
Date: 15 Feb 02 - 02:18 PM

Flower Lady, by Phil Ochs. Loved this song from the first time I heard it. Pooby

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: Willa
Date: 15 Feb 02 - 03:49 PM

The Rose

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: Willa
Date: 15 Feb 02 - 04:13 PM

If I Should Plant a Tiny Seed of Love , When the Poppies Bloom Again, Rose of Allandale, The Last Rose of Summer, Cornflower Blue, Bright Blue Rose, The Thorn Upon the Rose, The Broom o' the Cowdenknowes, The Flowers of the Forest, The Bramble and the Rose, Lavender's Blue

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: Kenny B (inactive)
Date: 15 Feb 02 - 04:21 PM

Misalliance by Flanders and Swann
concerning the honeysuckle and the bindweed (Convulvus)
A song of true love, snobby parents, social unacceptance, suicide & finally political Freedom
What more could one want in a song ;>) Kenny B

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: Mr Red
Date: 15 Feb 02 - 04:23 PM

Essakibo River - oh wrong flower
bin doing too many crosswords..... I'll get my coat........

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: SharonA
Date: 15 Feb 02 - 04:32 PM

"Tiptoe Through the Tulips with Me"!

"Today" (Today, while the blossoms still cling to the vine...)

"Delta Dawn" (...what's that flower you have on?...)

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: Kaleea
Date: 16 Feb 02 - 02:06 AM

I believe what someone was referring to earlier was perhaps: Paper Roses. Also popular of the time: Red Roses for a Blue lady. My Granny's fav was The Rose of Tralee, and another fav of hers was The Last Rose of Summer. Nothin' like those Irish songs! And how bout: A Bunch of Thyme . . .

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 16 Feb 02 - 03:12 AM

Did anyone mention the (Here's to the) Morning Glory? I remember it as a song done by the revamped Wurzels (1 for the morning glory, 2 for the early dew, 3 for the something standing round (?) and 4 for the love of you, me dear, 4 for the love of you; was the chorus), but think it was based on a much older song....

LTS

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: Genie
Date: 16 Feb 02 - 04:36 AM

Sweet Violets
Till the White Rose Blooms Again [The White Rose of Athens]
Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme [Scarborough Fair]
Wild Mountain Thyme
Lavender's Blue
Jeannine, I Dream Of Lilac Time
My Wild Irish Rose
Roses Of Picardy
Red Roses For A Blue Lady
When You Wore A Tulip (And I Wore A Big Red Rose)
Violets Of the Dawn
Honeysuckle Rose
Amapola (My Pretty Little Poppy)
She's Your Mum (DUCKING FOR COVER)
I'm A Lonely Little Petunia In An Onion Patch

Genie

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: Genie
Date: 16 Feb 02 - 04:50 AM

A Daisy a Day
The Flowers That Bloom In The Spring, Tra La
April Showers [...they bring the flowers that bloom in May...)
Erev Shel Shoshanim (Evening of Roses)
Carolina In The Morning (...where the morning glories twine around my door ...)
Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White
Sakura (Cherry Blooms)
A Blossom Fell

Is it "Fill Me Up, Buttercup" or "Build Me Up, Buttercup?"

Moonlight and Roses
You Don't Bring Me Flowers
Aloha Oe (not "about flowers" as such, but the first verse features the ahi hile hua, which, I understand, is a beautiful flower)

Song of the Islands has a line about Hawaii's "fragrant flowers"

Genie

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: Genie
Date: 16 Feb 02 - 05:05 AM

Flowers in the Snow
Gulf Coast Highway ("This is the only place on earth bluebonnets grow. / Once a year they come and go at this old house here by the road.")
The Trumpet Vine
Ye Banks and Braes o' Bonnie Doon

Songs with lines or verses about flowers:
My Darling Clementine
Barbara Allen
Loch Lomond
Stardust
In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree
California, Here I Come

Genie

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 16 Feb 02 - 02:18 PM

Here's a link to a great flower song by the Carter family that I think hasn't been mentioned. I won't say what it is, to prod peopple into pushing the clicky and hearing it (Real Audio streaming).

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: Susanne (skw)
Date: 16 Feb 02 - 05:23 PM

The Rose of York

Roses from the Wrong Man

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: GUEST,pixie
Date: 17 Feb 02 - 08:50 AM

How about 'Acony Bell" by Gillian Welch?

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: DMcG
Date: 17 Feb 02 - 09:05 AM

From the Copper Family "When Spring comes in" (in the DT as Spring Glee)

The primrose blooms and the cowslip, too.
The violets in their sweet retire,
The roses shining through the briar,
And the daffa-down dillys which we admire
Will die and fade away.

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: GUEST,jaze
Date: 17 Feb 02 - 04:47 PM

Sweet Forget-Me-Not

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: Mr Red
Date: 17 Feb 02 - 08:47 PM

There seem to be a lot of Roses and red ones too, so I was going to suggest the Shanty "Blood Red Roses" Oh! You Pinks and Posies
however Stan Hugill reckoned (I am told) that this was not about flowers.
BTW FWIW his son will be running shanty sessions at the Bishops castle Folk w/e. mrslemon.co.uk

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: SharonA
Date: 18 Feb 02 - 09:40 AM

THE MAID OF NEWFOUNDLAND

"...The wild rose on its native tarn spreads fragrance o'er the gale;
The modest lily sweetly shines in every silent vale.
The violet on its liquid bed do silently expand;
But I know a flow'r exceeds them all which dwells in Newfoundland.

The daisy decks the sleeping green; the primrose loves the shade;
The bluebell hangs its drooping head in many a silent vale.
A modest emblem of herself that sweet and fragrant band
I shall repine till thou art mine, Dear Maid of Newfoundland...."

------------------------------------------------------------------------

LONDONDERRY AIR

(mentions apple blossom, roses and a daisy)

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Harry Chapin's FLOWERS ARE RED

"...And she [the teacher] said
'Flowers are red young man
Green leaves are green
There's no need to see flowers any other way
Than they way they always have been seen'
But the little boy said...
'There are so many colors in the rainbow
So many colors in the morning sun
So many colors in the flower
And I see every one' "


Be sure to read this excerpt from an article about "Flowers are Red" (it mentions the change Harry made to the song on his live album): "Flowers are Red" commentary

------------------------------------------------------------------------

More songs:
Dan Fogelberg's RUN FOR THE ROSES
MEXICALI ROSE
SOURWOOD MOUNTAIN ("My true love's a blue-eyed daisy")
...and, to stretch a point, SALLY GOODIN ("Sally is my doozy an' Sally is my daisy")

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: Charley Noble
Date: 18 Feb 02 - 10:59 AM

There's always Garrison Keillor's theme song, the one about Powder Milk Biscuits...well, it's kind of a flour song. ;~)

Subject: Lyr Add: WILDWOOD WEED (Jim Stafford)
From: beadie
Date: 18 Feb 02 - 03:24 PM

I fondly remember "Daisy a Day," by Jud Strunk. The young man who, by way of "Laugh In" in the late sixties, gained some measure of well-deserved fame. He's still the only musician I ever saw play a bluegrass festival with a trombone in his band.

As well, the old traditional "Wildwood Flower" remains a favorite, along with its somewhat addled derivative, "The Wildwood Weed" by Jim Stafford. Its not, strictly speaking, a reworking of the Carter Family classic, but rather a talking blues sort of thing with the original as the background theme.

WILDWOOD WEED
(Jim Stafford)

[C] The wildwood flower grew [Am] wild on the farm and we [G] never knowed what it was [G] called.
Some said it was flower. [Am] Some said it was a weed. [G] I didn't give it much [C] thought.
One day I was out there [C7] talking to my brother, and I reached down for a weed to chew on,
And things got fuzzy and things got blurry and then everything was gone.
(I didn't know what happened, but I knew it beat the hell out of sniffin' burlap.)

I came to and my brother was there and he said, "Boy, what's wrong with your eyes?"
I said, "I don't know. I was chewing on a weed." He said, "Let me give it a try."
We spent the rest of that day and most of that night trying to find my brother Bill.
Caught up with him about six o'clock the next morning, naked sitting on the windmill.
(Said he flew up there. I had to climb up and get him down. He was about half crazy.)

The very next day we picked a bunch of them weeds and put em in the sun to dry,
Then we mashed 'em up and cleaned 'em up, and put 'em in a corncob pipe.
Smoking them wildwood flowers got to be a habit and we never seen no harm.
We thought it was kind of handy: take a trip and never leave the farm.
(Take a big old puff of that wildwood weed, next thing you know, you're wanderin' around behind the little animals.)

All good things got to come to an end. It's the same with our wildwood weeds.
One day this feller from Washington came by and spied 'em, and turned white as a sheet.
Well, they dug and burned and they burned and dug and they killed all of our cute little weeds.
Then they drove away. We just smiled and waved, sittin' there on that sack of seeds.

Y'all come back now, ya hear!

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: open mike
Date: 18 Feb 02 - 04:39 PM

Rosalie Sorrels has a great one about her grandmother's gardens. though they both had different styles of gardening, one more random, the other quite orderly, they both grew Bells of Ireland. The chorus goes:

These are the Bells Of Ireland hat in my garden grow
My great grandmother brought those seeds From Ireland long ago
Their music it is sweet and sad Like orphan angels sing
If you listen in your heart you'll hear Those Bells of Ireland ring.....

I always like to sing it with White Coral Bells....

oh, don't you wish that you could hear them ring?
that will only happen when the fairies sing.

also Kate Wolf has a beautiful tune she did Acapella about The Lilac Bush and the Apple tree...

Greg Brown also does a tune for Ani DeFranco called "Vivid" in which she brings him flowers

and what about Malvina Reynolds one (seems to be based on a Ferlenghetti poem?) about the sunflower growing thru the cracks in the sidewalk ["God Bless the Grass"?]---

and then there is Rosalie Sorrels who does a tune directly from Ferlinghetti--"La Bruja, Flower of Revolution"...she has both that one and another on her borderline heart album: Ken Kesey's "Ragweed Ruth"...

and someone MUST have written a line or two featuring that famous photo form (was it?) Kent State where the anti-war protester slid daisies down the barrel of the national guard soldier....

laurie Lewis also has one: "When the Cactus is in Bloom".

and has no one yet mentioned Dolly Parton's Wildflowers.

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: CapriUni
Date: 18 Feb 02 - 05:57 PM

Great song, Croney! And a great story about it's creation.

Dandelions are my all time favorite flowers -- I think of them as my role models. Several years ago, I came up with this:

Dandilions' Guide to Happiness

1) Grow wherever your seeds may land.
2) Send your roots deep, and don't let anyone pull you up or mow you down.
3) Never block anyone else's sunshine, but don't let anyone else block your sunshine, either.
4) Be of service to others, but keep something for yourself.
5) Give people the oportunity to dream, and let their wishes carry your seeds to wherever they may land.

Notes:
1) When dandelion seed gets into the straw used to make bricks, dandelions have been known to grow out of the sides of buildings!
2)Dandelion roots can grow two feet deep. 3) Dandelions will always grow to the height of the plants around it, then bloom. 4) Every part of the dandelion is edible -- except the stem.

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: Lyrical Lady
Date: 18 Feb 02 - 06:07 PM

How about .."She was a Wallflower at the Dance but a Dandy-lyin' in the Grass!" .....

LL (heeeeheeeehee)

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: CapriUni
Date: 18 Feb 02 - 06:11 PM

LL:

Groan!

Subject: Lyr Add: GIVE ME THE ROSES WHILE I LIVE (Carter)
From: open mike
Date: 18 Feb 02 - 07:03 PM

Oh-oh! I almost forgot my all-time favorite flower song. The one referred to in the above blue clicky--Carter family was credited with this, but I believe they stole it from a Cornish or Welsh miner.

GIVE ME THE ROSES WHILE I LIVE
------------------------------
Heard on A Prairie Home Companion
Performed by Greg Brown and Kate Mackenzie
Done by the Carter Family
Written by a Welsh Miner

   D                                    A
  Wonderful things of folks are said, when they have passed away.
    D                               A
  Flowers adorn the narrow bed, and over the sleeping lay.
  
  CHORUS:
   G                  D             E                A  A7
  Give me the roses while I live, trying to cheer me on,
  D                                  A                  D
  Useless the flowers that you give, after the soul is gone.
  
  D                                   A
  Folks are forgiven when folks lie, cold in the narrow bed.
   D                                 A
  Let us forgive them ere they die, now should the words be said.
  
  CHORUS
  
    D                                 A
  Praises are heard not by the dead, roses they cannot see.
   D                                     A
  Let us not wait till souls have fled, tenderest friends to be.  

CHORUS, REPEAT CHORUS

ADDITIONAL VERSE:

Let us not wait to do good deeds, till they have passed away.
Now is the time to sow good seeds, while here on earth we stay.

OTHER ADD'L VERSE:

Give me the roses while I live. Don't wait until I die
To spread the roses o'er my grave, to see as you pass it by.

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: open mike
Date: 19 Feb 02 - 09:05 PM

Roses are red, dilly , dilly, Violets are blue, When I am king dilly, dilly , you shall be queen....

or is it something that rhynmes with green?? somethng like this-- does any one remember this little ditty?

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: JennieG
Date: 20 Feb 02 - 09:09 PM

Try "Lavender's blue, dilly dilly, lavender's green,
When I am king, dilly dilly, you shall be queen"
well that's the one I learnt when Adam was a pup....
Cheers
JennieG

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: GUEST,Young Neil
Date: 20 Feb 02 - 09:14 PM

"Love is a Rose" by the mighty Neil Young. Super.

Also, "Dead Flowers", and essential ditty by The Greatest Rock & Roll Band In The World, ladies and gentlemen....THE ROLLING STONES!

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: rich-joy
Date: 21 Feb 02 - 05:56 AM

I was interested to see Allan C.s mention (early in this thread)of "Seven Daffodils" and that it was in the DT.

This was one of my faves back in the early 60's when it was put out by a group called The Cherokees (who were???) on Columbia - the record (I still have my 45!!!) attributes it to Mosely-Hayes, but I guess that could just be the group's arrangement.

What is the origin/history of this song - is it old/traddy??? How much does the tune of the DT version differ from the pop charts one, I wonder?? Can anyone help?

Cheers! Rich-Joy

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: Gareth
Date: 21 Feb 02 - 09:02 AM

LtS - on my Wurzel tape The "Morning Glory" was a ship !
If yer want I'll try and transcribe it over the next week.

Gareth

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: Willa
Date: 23 Feb 02 - 08:55 AM

Strawberry Fair (Singing, singing, buttercups and daisies)

Subject: when you wore a tulip and i wore a big red rose
From: GUEST
Date: 13 Nov 03 - 07:02 PM

when you wore a tulip and i wore a big red rose

Subject: Lyr Add: THE FLOWERS AND THE GUNS (G Papavgeris)
From: George Papavgeris
Date: 13 Nov 03 - 07:15 PM

Not what you had in mind, I bet, but...

Where are the flowers that we put into the muzzles of the guns?
Dried up and pressed inside a frame, they never get a second glance.
The love that we would banish war with, on bombed out streets now naked stands.
Where are the flowers that we put into the muzzles of the guns?

Where is the innocence of youth, the stars that once were in our eyes
When did we learn to cover truth with our excuses and our lies?
When did our ideals falter? Tell me, when did we change our plans?
Where are the flowers that we put into the muzzles of the guns?

Our lives from others we have learned to separate
From evil we avert our eyes.
More often war it is, and not love that we make
And all the time we compromise.

We used to turn the other cheek, but now we turn our face away.
We were the blessed and the meek; our future brighter than the day.
But we've forgotten Luther's message; we never ask ourselves, not once:
Where are the flowers that we put into the muzzles of the guns?

But we've arrived, and as we pat each other's backs
Our principles we now betray
And year on year as we progress and we advance,
It's not just hair that's turning grey...

Where are the flowers that we put into the muzzles of the guns?
Where are the lessons we would pass on to our daughters and our sons?
And did we ever make a difference? and did we ever stand a chance?
Where are the flowers that we put into the muzzles of the guns?

(c) copyright 2002 George Papavgeris

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 13 Nov 03 - 09:53 PM

Sally Gardens

Subject: Lyr Add: LA MARIANNA LA VA IN CAMPAGNA (Italian)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 25 May 04 - 05:40 AM

See Cranky Yankee's copy above for a singable English translation.

These Italian lyrics copied from http://digilander.libero.it/primuleverdi/cultura/canzonipussee/lamarianna.html

LA MARIANNA LA VA IN CAMPAGNA

O Dio del ciel che fai fiorir le rose
Manda un marito a tutte queste tose.

CHORUS: La Marianna la va in campagna
Quando il sol tramonterà, tramonterà, tramonterà
Chissà quando, chissà quando ritornerà.

Bella è la rosa ma ancor di piú la viola
La mia mogliettina sarà una campagnola.

O giovanotto se vuoi fare all'amore
Lascia le bionde e piglia quelle more.

Ma brune o bionde facendo all'amore
Le ragazzine ti ruberanno il cuore.

L'amor si fa con tutte le ragazze
Ma state attenti a quelle che son pazze.

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: GUEST,padgett
Date: 25 May 04 - 09:32 AM

there is a nice one called The Sweet Forget Me Not, words in the data base

Subject: Lyr Add: I'M A LONELY LITTLE PETUNIA IN AN ONION..
From: GUEST,Bud
Date: 25 May 04 - 05:04 PM

And who could forget:

I'M A LONELY LITTLE PETUNIA (IN AN ONION PATCH)
Words and music by Johnny Kamano, Billy Faber and Maurie Hartmann, ©1946.
As recorded by by Dick "Two Ton" Baker and His Music Makers, 1947.

1. Of all the saddest words
That I have ever heard,
The saddest is the story told me by a bird.
He had spent about and hour
A-chatting with a flower,
And here ís the tale the flower told:

CHORUS: Oh, I'm a lonely little petunia in an onion patch,
An onion patch, an onion patch.
I'm a lonely little petunia in an onion patch,
And all I do is cry all day.
Boo-hoo! boo-hoo!
The air’s so strong it takes my breath away. (Quite away!)
I'm a lonely little petunia in an onion patch.
Oh, won't you come and play with me?

2. Who put me in this bed?
I'll bet his face is red.
I call him down with every teardrop that I shed.
If I only had him here,
I'd take him by the ear
And make him share my misery.

3. My nerves begin to crack
Each time I see a track
Made by a kitty with a stripe upon his back.
If he’d ever stop by me,
I think I’d rather be
A dead petunia, wouldn’t you?

CHORUS, ENDING WITH:
Oh, won't you come and play with me?
I am so gruesome!
Oh, won't you come and play with me?
My best friends tell me.
Oh, won't you come and play with me?

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: Julia
Date: 25 May 04 - 09:43 PM

Regarding the message from rich-joy about "Seven Golden Daffodils" by the Cherokees.. I think the "Seven daffodils" referred to earlier in the thread was written by the Shaw Brothers in the 70's. Interesting- wonder if they ever heard the other one?

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: GUEST,red821uk
Date: 12 Jan 05 - 05:18 PM

I'm called little buttercup sweet little buttercup, tho I could never tell why
but still I'm called buttercup, sweet little buttercup,
poor little buttercup I.

Gilbert and Sullivan

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: Bert
Date: 12 Jan 05 - 05:30 PM

Don't jump off the roof Dad (Mother has planted petunias)

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From:
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 05:49 PM

hello... umm... I just stumbled across here and was hoping for some help... in middle-school choir we sang a song and I fell in love with it and I'm desperately searching for the lyrics... the part of the song I can recall is something like: "There by the river, sits a pretty maiden, watching the water move along". Also, some of it is in japanese/chinese. please help me!

From,
Kairimun1988 from:

http://kairimun1988.deviantart.com

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: rich-joy
Date: 30 Jul 05 - 09:44 PM

Julia (25/05/04) - the queries about "Seven Golden Daffodils" (or just "Seven Daffodils") were answered in a couple of other threads on the subject : but written by Lee Hayes and Fran Mosely in the early 60s - by my memory, that is - and recorded by about a squillion people to date!!!


Cheers! R-J

Subject: RE: Paper Roses
From:
Date: 19 Aug 05 - 02:16 PM

Who originally sang "Paper Roses"?

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: cushty
Date: 19 Aug 05 - 02:45 PM

Roses are red, my love,
Violets are blue,
sugar is sweet, my love
but not as sweet as you

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: Mark Clark
Date: 19 Aug 05 - 03:00 PM

You Are My Flower

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: Artful Codger
Date: 04 Sep 05 - 01:55 PM

"Ah, May the Red Rose Live Alway" by Stephen Foster. Also refers to daisies and primroses.

Flowers in songs remind me of these lines in "Charming Molly":
"In her eyes, these things are seen:
Violets, roses, lilies, and daffadowndillies..."

I always cringe when singing that last part--what self-respecting guy would ever dream of saying "daffadowndillies", even if hopelessly besotted or drunk on his patootie? But the rest of the song is too good to pass up. Some day I'll sit down with some gardening books and find a more reasonable substitute. (Side note: A girl with such unusually kaleidoscopic eyes and black lips probably needs the ministrations of a doctor.)

Stretching the topic to the most tenuous flower associations, there's "Lavender Cowboy". :-}

Codgerly yours...

Subject: Lyr Add: BLODAU'R FLWYDDYN / FLOWERS OF THE YEAR
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 04 Sep 05 - 02:33 PM

Blodau'r flwyddyn (Flowers of the year)

Blodau'r flwyddyn yw f'anwylyd,
Ebrill, Mai, Mehefin hefyd,
Llewyrch haul yn t'wynnu ar gysgod,
A gwenithen y genethod.

Hardd yw gwên yr haul yn codi
Gyda choflaid o olueni,
Hardd yw golau gwenau'r lleuad,
Harddach ydyw grudd fy nghariad.

Main a chymwys fel y fedwen;
Berth ei llun fel hardd feillionen;
Teg ei gwawr fel bore hafddydd;
Hon yw nod holl glod y gwledydd.

But I am loth to provide a translation when Siân could probably do so more effectively.

Nigel

Subject: Lyr Add: BLODAU'R FLWYDDYN / FLOWERS OF THE YEAR
From: sian, west wales
Date: 05 Sep 05 - 04:56 AM

Blodau'r flwyddyn (Flowers of the year)

My love is like the flowers of the whole year,
April, May, June also,
The sun's radiance shining upon shadow
And, of all girls, the fairest wheat.

Beautiful is the smile of the rising sun
With its embrace of light,
Beautiful are the smiles of the moonlight
More beautiful is the cheek of my love.

Slender and stately as the birch tree
Her face is as pretty as the beautiful clover
Her dawning is like a summer's morning,
It is she who is the subject of praise throughout the nations.

This has a drop-dead-gorgeous tune too.

Couple of notes: the tune was first published in 1845 with different words. This is an example of 'canu penillion, dull y De' or 'versifying in the southern manner', i.e. taking a tune and thinking of a variety of 'floating' folk verses that you can link together. Someone else might sing a whole different set to this tune (a member of the 'Y Dôn Fechan' family) but these days the above are generally associated with it.

I don't know if these references to wildflowers are part of the bardic tradition of referring to an out-of-wedlock child as a 'Flower of May' or not. I'm currently doing a trawl of these folk verses and it seems that there are very few references to garden flowers (I've gone through about 400 of a collection of 700 verses); instead the Welsh go for wildflowers or crops - like wheat.

siân

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: GUEST,i love cows
Date: 18 Jan 06 - 12:04 AM

umm... wut?

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: Artful Codger
Date: 18 Jan 06 - 05:05 AM

A few more, with an international touch:

Edelweiss
Ej, ruzha, ruzha; (Hey, Rose, Rose; a Czech mountain hollar)
Ljon, ljon, ljon (Flax, flax, flax. Obviously much prettier in Russian)
Stanu ja cherjomuxoj (I'll become a chokecherry; Russian)
Cupid's Garden (The first verse, at least)
The Sprig of Thyme (not to be confused with Sprigs of the Thyme)
As I Walked Through the Meadows [=Queen of May?]
It's a Rosebud in June

And of course
Botany Bay
;-}

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: GUEST,Jack Campin
Date: 18 Jan 06 - 06:57 PM

Another Welsh one: Blodam Drain (The Flower of the Thorn) - no idea what the words are, though.

The cornkister "The Buchan Gairdner" (or Gardener) has the most improbable flower names you will ever find in a song. Like pelargoniums.

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: GUEST
Date: 18 Jan 06 - 07:08 PM

Scots song The Gairdner Child has as many flowers as you could want
JC

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: Big Jim from Jackson
Date: 19 Jan 06 - 10:41 AM

Mudcat's own Seamus Kennedy has a very good album on which every song is about roses. It appears to be out of print, but I'm sure he would work with any interested party to get a copy.

Australia's John Williamson has a nice song called "Purple Roses."

Gareth and Liz the Squeak, I glad to discover two more apparent Wurzel fans! It is so hard for us here in the middle of America (Missouri) to "discover" and get our hands on some of the less well known treasures of English/Irish/Scottish/Welsh music---like Shag Conners and the Carrot Crunchers!

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: GUEST,MY SWEET AMARLLIS
Date: 18 May 06 - 03:39 PM

MY SWEET AMARYLLIS FLOWER SONG ROMANTIC THOUGHTS PUT TO MUSIC COMPARE A LOVELY WOMAN TO THE REGAL AMARYLLIS FLOWER ENJOY THANKS GEORGE http://cdbaby.com/cd/gjohnson3 SONG NUMBER 8.

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: GUEST,Bob
Date: 06 Jun 06 - 09:00 AM

In the flower song .

Lavender blue dilly dilly
Lavender green
When you are King dilly dilly
I shall be Queen

Who told you so dilly dilly
Who told you so
Twas my own heart dilly dilly
That told me so

Call up your friends dilly dilly
Set them to work
Some to the plough dilly dilly
Some to the fork

Some to the hay dilly dilly
Some to thresh corn
Whilst you and I dilly dilly
Keep ourselves warm

Lavender's blue dilly dilly
Lavender's green
When you are King dilly dilly
I shall be Queen

Who told you so dilly dilly
Who told you so
Twas my own heart, dilly dilly
That told me so

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: Charmain
Date: 06 Jun 06 - 06:57 PM

Fairest of all Yarrow

Kate Rusby sings it though she might not be singing about the flower I guess - does yarrow have some lewd meaning I'm unaware of?

Red Roses for Me
Lavenders Blue
Bunch of Thyme
A Rose in April (Rusby again)
Green Grow the Rushes Oh

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: GUEST,Low Tide
Date: 06 Jun 06 - 07:10 PM

I love Lily of the West! And if that one counts, so does this one ... I don't know the title. It was just a round we sang at drama camp. The lyrics are:

"Rose, Rose, Rose, Rose
When will I see thee wed?

I will marry at thy will, sire,
at thy will."



And since other people were bringing up rock and roll, I'll include "Where The Wild Roses Grow" by Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, featuring Kylie Minogue. Spooky. :)

~ Low Tide

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: GUEST,lavender cowboy
Date: 19 Jun 06 - 12:52 AM

Lavender Cowboy

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: old salty
Date: 19 Jun 06 - 05:24 AM

the Dransfields recorded "Fair Maids of February", a lovely song about snowdrops

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: GUEST,Guest : Miko Yuki Sama
Date: 24 Jun 06 - 03:22 PM

Does anyone know of a song that in its native language is called "hitori"? It's of Japanese descent but I can't find it. I tried to google some of the translated phrases I remember but only this came up. Here are some of the phrases:

"there by the river sits a pretty maiden
watching the water move along
each gentle breeze that sighs through the cherry trees
echos a song that fills her heart.

Someday I will go to my home that I love so,
once more I will be 'neath the cherry tree,
(this isn't the exact spell but I will do my best:)
hitori de sabi-she furotori de ma-ei rema-sho,
Now as the moonlight dances on the river
sadly the maiden must depart.

That's all I remember but I really want to find it. Can anyone help me?

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: SINSULL
Date: 24 Jun 06 - 07:17 PM

Mammy's Little Coal Black Rose
Mighty Lak A Rose

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: Leadfingers
Date: 24 Jun 06 - 08:17 PM

Dandelion Blues by the Incredible String Band

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: GUEST,Bronwyn
Date: 12 Aug 06 - 07:04 PM

I know this song, I sang it before. I do remember all of the lyrics. Though my spelling might be wrong. japanese fanatic i am, i loved this song in Middle SChool.

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: GUEST,Book Angel
Date: 02 Feb 07 - 10:22 PM

this is to GUEST,[e-mail]. the lyrics are as follows...

Hitori de sa bi shii, fo ta ri de mairimasho.
Hitori de sa bi shii, fo ta ri de mairimasho.

There by the river sits a pretty maiden,
watching the water move along.
She sees a lovely blossoming cherry tree,
And her heart is filled with song.

Some day, ????

This is what I remember for the song. I am doing this song for chorus and I love it!

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: Jim Lad
Date: 02 Feb 07 - 10:30 PM

And what was the first song played on "Radio One"?

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: Alba
Date: 02 Feb 07 - 11:22 PM

Ah now Jim Lad...
Was it, by any chance, a song by 'The Move'?

Jude

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: Jim Lad
Date: 03 Feb 07 - 02:53 AM

Ah! You're a sharp one. You know, for years I thought it was "Bus Stop". (The Umbrella Song) Funny how the mind works.

Subject: Lyr Add: ROSES FROM THE WRONG MAN (Christine Lavin
From: eddie1
Date: 03 Feb 07 - 03:53 AM

One of my favourite songs had a one-line mention waaaay back. For what it's worth, here's a bit more info.

ROSES FROM THE WRONG MAN
Words and music by Christine Lavin
As recorded by Iain MacKintosh on "Live & Kicking" (2000)

She opens the door, surprised to see the delivery man
Standing there with flowers in his hand.
"For me?" she said. He nods his head.
She takes the flowers in and she's read the note.

Roses from the wrong man,
Poetry written in the wrong hand.
She waits for one, hears from another
Who tells her how much he loves her
With roses from the wrong man.

She puts the flowers in the middle of the living-room
And the air is filled with a delicate sweet perfume
She takes a deep breath, closes her eyes
She slowly shakes her head and sighs
Roses from the wrong man.

Roses from the wrong man,
Poetry written in the wrong hand.
She waits for one, hears from another
Who tells her how much he loves her
With roses from the wrong man.

How long can she hold on for someone who might never come around?
How many times will the other man try if she keeps turning him down?
She's not getting any younger but she doesn't want to settle for less.
And how can such pretty flowers mean so much unhappiness?

Since she was a child of eleven or twelve she'd had a dream
To receive the kind of flowers carried by a beauty queen.
Sometimes dreams can come true
In ways you don't want them to
Like roses from the wrong man.

Roses from the wrong man,
Poetry written in the wrong hand.
She waits for one, hears from another
Who tells her how much he loves her
With roses from the wrong man.


[2000:] There isn't a woman in the audience who can't relate to the bittersweet eternal triangle which Iain's voice sets out with such stark emotion. 'Roses' is an object lesson in songwriting; a story pared down to one event and a few thoughts and dreams, a lifetime offered up by implication. (Notes Iain MacKintosh & Brian McNeill, 'Live and Kicking')

Eddie

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: GUEST,Virginia
Date: 04 Feb 07 - 04:56 PM

A song from the mid-30s in school. Think the name was Bendemeer's Stream. Some of the words were

"Will you come to the bower I have shaded for you?
I have decked it with roses, all sparkled with dew.
Will you, will you, will you, will you come to my bower?"

and "There's a bower of roses on Bendemeer's stream and I go there to be with my dear Bendemeer"

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: GUEST
Date: 10 Apr 07 - 08:50 PM

there by the river sits a pretty maiden watching the water move along each gentle brezze that sighs through the cherry tree ecos the song that fills her heart
hitori de sab i shi futari de ma i ri ma sho
""

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: GUEST
Date: 27 Apr 07 - 10:41 PM

someday i will go to my home that i love so
one day i will be neath that lovely cherry tree.

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: GUEST,Fleggy
Date: 28 Apr 07 - 05:05 PM

I have a flower song about The Flowers of England, lyrics and mp3 at
my site

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: GUEST,angelgirl
Date: 10 Apr 08 - 09:24 AM

thank you - thank you - thank you

   you've all been a big help

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: topical tom
Date: 11 Apr 08 - 10:54 AM

"The Faded Roses of December", a most beautiful song recorded by Ottawa's great harmony trio, "Finest Kind".

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: GUEST,Compiler
Date: 11 Apr 08 - 11:11 AM

"Old Father Thames"    Geddit!!

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: GUEST,ASE
Date: 05 May 08 - 09:34 PM

This is the lyric to "Hitori" I'm guessing on the spelling of the Jap.

Hitori de sabishii, futari de ma ii ri mashou
Hitori de sabishii, futari de ma ii ri mashou

Down by the river, sits a pretty maiden
Watching the water move along
She sees a lovely blossoming cherry tree
And her heart is filled with song.

Someday I will go, to my home that I love so.
Once more, I will be. 'neith the lovely cherry tree.

Hitori de sabishii, futari, de ma ii ri mashou

Now as the moonlight dances on the river,
Sadly the maiden must depart
Each gentle breeze that sighs through the cherry trees
Echos the song that fills her heart

Someday I will go, to my home that I love so.
Once more, I will be. 'neith the lovely cherry tree.

Hitori de sabishii, futari, de ma ii ri mashou
Hitori de sabishii, futari, de ma ii ri mashou

(^ this line translates into "Here am I, so all alone, dreaming of the cherry trees of home" and can be put into the song in place of the Jap. The translation comes from my sheetmusic from 5 yrs ago.)

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: GUEST,marisa nava
Date: 02 Sep 08 - 07:19 PM

the song hitori goes like this...
hitori de sa bi shii fo ta ri de mairimasho
hitori de sa bi shii fo ta ri de ma i rimasho
there by the river sits a pretty maiden watching the water move along
she see a lovely blossoming cherry tree and her heart is filled with song
some day i will go to my home that i love so some day i will be neath the lovely cherry tree

its actually a really pretty tune and very japanese sounding song...i like it...
lol btw im singin it in chorus too =D

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: GUEST,Reba
Date: 02 Mar 09 - 12:07 AM

I sang Hitori in middle school, and I remember the translation under the Japanese lyrics... it's an artistic liberty, certainly, because the Japanese text speaks nothing of cherry blossoms. It roughly says "By myself, I'm so lonely; let's come together, the two of us."

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: GUEST
Date: 23 May 09 - 01:03 PM

Here is the Japanese song about which you speak (and, no cherry blossoms specifically mentioned). Maybe there are two different songs? Although the first couplet is exactly the same as in the one with English inserted...

This hauntingly beautiful melody comes from the Sendai area in Tohoko district and can be classified as a tedama (ball juggling) and counting song.

Hitori de sabishii (Alone and Sad)

"Hitori de sabishii,
futari de mairi ma sho.

Miwatasu kagiri,
yomena ni tanpo.

Imôto no sukina
murasaki sumire.

Nanohana saita
yasashii chôchô.

Kokonotsu komeya
tô made maneku."

Literal translation:
"I feel lonely all by myself.
Shall we two go together?
As far as the eye can see there is grass and dandelion.
We can also see the violets my younger sister loves.
The flowers bloom and beautiful butterflies flutter about.
The rice shop welcomes us."

From "Folk Songs of Japanese Children", compiled and annotated by Donald Paul Berger, Charles E. Tuttle Company, Rutland, Vermont & Tokyo, Japan, 1969.

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: Neil D
Date: 24 May 09 - 01:03 PM

I would say "La Vie En Rose" except that is actually referring to the color pink, "The Life in Pink", instead of the flower. So how about "Dead Flowers" by the Rolling Stones. And why am I suddenly having a deja vu moment? Did we have another thread about flower songs? [Yes.]

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: Crowhugger
Date: 24 May 09 - 02:50 PM

"It Must Have Been the Roses" -- was that on a Grateful Dead album 'way back, or a Jerry Garcia solo recording?

Goes something like:
Annie laid her head down in the roses.
She had ribbons, ribbons, ribbons in her long brown hair.
I don't know, maybe it was the roses.
All I know is I could not leave her there.

Chorus:
I don't know, it must have been the roses.
The the roses or the ribbons in her long brown hair.
I don't know, it must have been the roses.
All I know is I could not leave her there.

followed by a verse about 10 years of ships rolling something back from somewhere and other typical Garcia/Dead cryptic or poetic stuff, I guess it depends on one's point of view)

------------

I was delighted to see "When You Wore a Tulip (and I Wore a Big Red Rose)" mentioned earlier in this thread. I sang it with a barbershop chorus and it was great fun with a tempo acceleration to emphasize its basic plot of going from just seeing one another to the excitement of new love.

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: Barry Finn
Date: 25 May 09 - 03:43 AM

"Come Down You Bunch Of Roses"
"The Yellow Rose Of Texas"
"Coal Black Rose"
"Blood Red Roses"
"Sweet Rosie O'Grady"
"Spanish Harlem"
"Haul Away For Rosie-O"
"Rose Of York"
"Sweet Roseanna"
"Rosie"
"My Rose Of Old Kentucky"
"Banks Of Red Roses"
"Mexicali Rose"
"Rosemary Lane"


Don't get me started on "Lily" or "Flora" or "Heather" or "Sweet Forget Me Not's" or

Barry

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: GUEST
Date: 04 Jun 09 - 08:33 PM

In reply to:

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: GUEST,ASE
Date: 05 May 08 - 09:34 PM

I did this song from my choir class and still have sheet music also. I just can't find anyone singing this on youtube or any video for that matter. Do you know if anyone has a video of someone singing this?

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: GUEST,june
Date: 05 Nov 09 - 08:54 PM

I'm looking for the lyrics to a song called, "When the Roses Bloom in Dixieland." Some friends in Austin used to play and sing a string-band version.

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: GUEST,Mikaela
Date: 07 Apr 10 - 07:14 PM

I am looking for the song " Hitori " I am singing it in my choir.

Subject: Lyr/Chords Add: WHEN THE ROSES BLOOM IN DIXIELAND
From: GUEST,hg
Date: 07 Apr 10 - 11:39 PM

WHEN THE ROSES BLOOM IN DIXIELAND
As recorded by The Carter Family, 1929.

Chorus:

(A) when the roses bloom in dixieland, i am (E) coming back to (A) you

when the birds are singing music grand to the (E) sweetest girl I ever (E7) knew

(E) i am saving up my (A) money to (D) buy a little cabin home for (A) two

when the roses bloom in dixieland, i am (E) coming back to you (A)

Verse1:

(A) i just got a letter from the sunnny south, from my (E) girl in Tennes(A)see

she said she loved me like she used to do, and was (E) waiting there for (E7) me

(E) i answered back her (A) letter though i (D) am far a(A)way

when the roses bloom in dixieland i am (E) coming back to (A) stay

Verse 2

(A) when I left my honey at the railroad train i said (E) honey wait for (A) me

i'm going to make a lot of money up north then it's (E) me for old tennes(A)see

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: GUEST,mnrgirl
Date: 10 Apr 10 - 03:54 PM

im looking for the song Hitori im singing it in my choir.

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: PHJim
Date: 10 Apr 10 - 10:49 PM

Where The Wild Wild Flowers Grow - Ola Belle Reed

Dandelion Blues - Incredible String Band (although they admit it's not a blues and it's not about flowers)

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: GUEST
Date: 18 Nov 10 - 02:16 PM

omg thats the japanese song i have been trying to find. it starts in japanese and then turns to english. do you know where i can find it?

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: GUEST,SKT
Date: 17 Mar 11 - 03:46 PM

Hey im trying to find the song Hitori but i can't seem to find it anywhere! Do you have it? Im trying to learn it on the piano!

Subject: Lyr Add: A BEAUTIFUL BOUQUET (Rose Maddox)
From: topical tom
Date: 18 Mar 11 - 10:46 AM

A BEAUTIFUL BOUQUET
As recorded by Rose Maddox

1. For pleasure, I went walking out through the fields one day
I started gathering flowers to make a sweet bouquet
The flowers that I gathered, each one played a part
Each flower stood for someone held dear to my heart

CHORUS: Beautiful bouquet I'm gathering today
Picking the colors that will never fade away
Each flower has a meaning so dear to me
Each flower is a treasure chest of sweet memories

2. Violets for my sweetheart, a white rose for my dad
A red rose stood for mother, the best friend that I had
Forget-me-nots stood faithfully for tried true friends of mine
Daisies for the puppy loves that I left far behind

3. Lilies are for grandma, who watches from afar
Poppies are for brother, who lost his life at war
I put them all together, to make a sweet bouquet
A rainbow full of colors that will never fade away

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: breezy
Date: 18 Mar 11 - 11:27 AM

here are the words to the chorus of a much-requested song [The Flowers of England] by Chris Flegg

do visit his website I think you can hear it there

Of all the flowers of England, my favourites I will tell.
The Primrose and the daffodil, the poppy and bluebell
In Countryside and city park, wherever you may dwell
The primrose and the daffodil, the poppy and bluebell

each of the 4 verses go on to describe each flower in greater detail with a poignancy in the last verse

lovely song , well written, easy tune.





I thought the Japanese song was listed slightly earlier 5th may 2008 in this thread

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: GUEST
Date: 30 Sep 11 - 07:29 PM

There by a river sits a pretty maiden watching the water move along
she sees a lovely blossoming cherry tree and her heart is filled with song

Some day i will go to my home that i love so once more i will be neath that lovely cherry tree

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: GUEST,Miranda
Date: 26 Feb 19 - 03:59 AM

The Roses of Prince Charlie (sort of)
Red is the Rose
Flower of Scotland
Lavender's Blue
Wild Mountain Thyme
Edelweiss (Sound of Music)

Subject: RE: Flower songs
From: GUEST,henryp
Date: 27 Feb 19 - 06:02 PM

It was just a moment, a moment of passion
Like a mountain stream, crystalline and clean
Tumbling and crashing
It was something special, few will ever know
Something out of line, standing out of time
A flower in the snow

Flower In The Snow - Allan Taylor (Lines 1988). "The song came so quickly I almost put it aside as it had seemed too easy to write." It was his wife who recognised that it was indeed "something special".