Sweet Violets

About Sweet Violets

"Sweet Violets" is a classic example of a "censored rhyme", where the expected rhyme of each couplet is replaced with an unexpected word which segues into the next couplet or chorus. For example, the first couplets go: There once was a farmer who took a young miss In back of the barn where he gave her a... Lecture on horses and chickens and eggs And told her that she had such beautiful... Manners that suited a girl [etc.] The chorus is taken nearly verbatim from the song "Sweet Violets" by Joseph Emmet, from his 1882 play Fritz Among the Gypsies: Sweet violets, sweeter than the roses Covered all over from head to toe Covered all over with sweet violets. The song was recorded by Dinah Shore with Henri René's Orchestra & Chorus in Hollywood on May 20, 1951. The song was released by RCA Victor Records as catalog number 20-4174A (78 rpm record), 47-4174A (single) (in USA), by EMI on the His Master's Voice label as catalog number B 10115 in the UK, and EA 3997 in Australia, also on the His Master's Voice label. The Dinah Shore version was arranged by Cy Coben and Charles Grean. It reached # 3 on the Billboard magazine charts. It has also been recorded by Mitch Miller and the Gang, Jane Turzy, and Judy Lynn. The song (in all its versions, combined) reached #1 on the Cash Box magazine best-seller chart. more »

Year:

1958

2:42

15,964 Views

Playlists:

#29

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Sweet violets
Sweeter than all the roses
Covered all over from head to toe
Covered all over with Sweet violets

There once was a farmer who took a young miss
In back of the barn where he gave her a lecture
On horses and chickens and eggs
And told her that she had such beautiful manners

That suited a girl of her charms
A girl that he wanted to take in his
Washing and ironing and then if she did
They could get married and raise lots of

Sweet violets
Sweeter than all the roses
Covered all over from head to toe
Covered all over with sweet violets

The girl told the farmer that he'd better stop
And she called her father and he called a taxi
And got there before very long
'Cause someone was doin' his little girl

Right for a change and so that's why he said
"If you marry her son, you're better off single"
'Cause it's always been my belief
Marriage will bring a man nothing but

Sweet violets
Sweeter than the roses
Covered all over from head to toe
Covered all over with sweet violets

The farmer decided he'd wed anyway
And started in planning for his wedding suit
Which he purchased for only one buck
But then he found out he was just out of money

And so he got left in the lurch
Standin' and waitin' in front of the
End of the story which just goes to show
All a girl wants from a man is his

Sweet violets
Sweeter than all the roses
Covered all over from head to toe
Covered all over with sweet violets

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Mitch Miller

Mitchell William "Mitch" Miller (July 4, 1911 – July 31, 2010) was a prominent figure in the American music industry. Miller was involved in almost all aspects of the industry, working as a musician, singer, conductor, record producer, A&R man and record company executive. Miller was one of the most influential figures in American popular music during the 1950s and early 1960s, both as the head of Artists and Repertoire at Columbia Records and as a best-selling recording artist with an NBC television series, Sing Along with Mitch. A graduate of the Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester in the early 1930s, Miller began his musical career as an accomplished player of the oboe and English horn, and recorded several highly regarded classical … more »

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