Thursday, March 06, 2008

More rose songs... (Updated!)

Yesterday's post on For The Sake Of The Song told the unfortunate story of a man under a court order to buy 124,000 roses for his wife. After reading the post I was surprised to find 47 different rose songs on my i-pod. No other flower comes close, not even "flower" itself.

Flower = 24
Daisy = 5
Lily = 4
Blossom = 4
Orchid = 3
Tulip = 1
Dandelion = 1
Violet = 1

Obviously the rose is a popular symbol--especially in country songs. Maybe it has something to do with the thorn? Anyway, here are eight more "rose" songs with a country flavor:

Waylon Jennings - Black Rose (buy album).
Here's one from my all time favorite country LP. Waylon sings Shaver.

George Jones - Wine Colored Roses (buy album).
A classic George Jones weeper. "When she sees the wine-colored roses, they'll tell her I'm still on the wine." Do ya think?

Merle Haggard - I Threw Away The Rose (buy album).
Hag's cautionary tale about the perils of social drinking.

Bob Wills - San Antonio Rose (buy album).
This version comes from Bob Wills last album, a feel-good reunion with the old Playboys in the early 1970s.

Bill Monroe - My Little Georgia Rose (buy album).
Here's a good one from the father of bluegrass.

Patsy Cline - A Poor Man's Roses (Or A Rich Man's Gold) (buy album).
Patsy faces a tough choice: Love or money.

Emmylou Harris - Roses In The Snow (buy album).
I just love Emmylou.

Lucinda Williams - Like A Rose (out of print).
Here's one from Lucinda's superb (and out-of-print) self-titled album. If you are a fan of songwriting, this one's a must have.

UPDATE! – Thanks to suggestions from Brendan, Cato, and Robert, here are three more great rose songs:

The Kinks – Rosemary Rose (buy album).
This one comes from the deluxe three-disc version of The Village Green Preservation Society, which is probably one of my top five albums of all time. GET IT!

Neil Young – Love Is A Rose (buy album).
Linda Ronstadt had a hit with a cover version of this tune.

Nick Lowe – The Rose Of England (buy album).
I just love this song. Nick Lowe knows how to write a catchy pop tune.

[Check sidebar for more mp3s.]

6 comments:

Yellow Dog said...

I'm thankful not to see "Every Rose Has It's Thorn" or Bette Midler's "The Rose" (Mudhoney's would have been ok).

Anonymous said...

dam yes its a popular song flower. here's a few from my list:

Rose Coloured Glasses - The Baroques
Misty Roses - Colin Blunstone (Tim Hardin)
Rose From The Mountain - Flatlanders
Cactus and a Rose - Gary Stewart
Rose Colored Eyes - Moby Grape
One Rose - Michael Nesmith
Song About A Rose - Pearls Before Swine
Roses And Gold - Robbie Basho
Roses Are Red My Love - The Savages
Only The Black Rose - Yardbirds
Rosemary Rose - The Kinks

Anonymous said...

Love Is Rose - Neil Young

Anonymous said...

Not far from your result

I have 49 rose songs in my comuter library
highlights include :
Alvin Youngblood Hart : "Ice Rose" (a freewheeling Southern rock instrumental)
Asleep At The Wheel's version of "San Antonio Rose"
Edith Piaf : "La Vie en Rose"
Tom Waits : "The Briar and The Rose"
Bruce Springsteen : a solo acoustic version of Cash's "Give My Love To Rose"
Johnny Cash : "The One Rose" (That's Left in My Heart")
Loretta Lynn & Jack White : "Van Lear Rose"
Mike Auldridge : "Mexican Rose" (dobro instrumental)
Thierry Robin : "La Rose de Jaipur" (Aduet between an Indian singer and a flamengo singer)
Eddy Arnold : Bouquet od roses
Silvatones : Roses are blooming (on a Chess rockabilly compilation)
The Zombies : "A Rose for Emily"
... and many more in my "physocal" cd collection..

Paul said...

Thanks for the list Nicolas. Lot's of good ones!

Alexandra said...

Wonderful selection--thank you for posting!

Another good Emmylou Harris track would have been "I'll Be Your San Antone Rose."