"Sweet Violets" is an American song (

Roud The Roud Folk Song Index is a database of around 250,000 references to nearly 25,000 songs collected from oral tradition in the English language from all over the world. It is compiled by Steve Roud. Roud's Index is a combination of the Broadsid ...

10232) that contains classic example of a "censored rhyme", where the expected rhyme of each couplet or verse is replaced with a surprising word which segues into the next couplet or chorus. For example, the first couplets of the version recorded by Dinah Shore are:

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 ''
tc. TC, T.C., Tc, Tc, tc, tC, or .tc may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * Theodore "T.C." Calvin, a character on the TV series '' Magnum, P.I.'' and its reboot * Tom Caron, American television host for New England Sports Netw ...
'

The chorus is taken from the song "Sweet Violets" by

Joseph Emmet Joseph is a common male name, derived from the Hebrew (). "Joseph" is used, along with " Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the modern-day Nordic count ...

, from his 1882 play ''Fritz Among the Gypsies''. Only the melody and the phrase "Sweet violets, sweeter than all the roses" are retained from Emmet's original version; the chorus is usually sung one of two ways:

Sweet
violet Violet may refer to: Common meanings * Violet (color), a spectral color with wavelengths shorter than blue * One of a list of plants known as violet, particularly: ** ''Viola'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants Places United States * Vi ...
s, sweeter than the
rose A rose is either a woody perennial plant, perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred Rose species, species and Garden roses, tens of thousands of cultivar ...
s
Covered all over from head to toe
Covered all over with sweet violets

Or:

Sweet violets, sweeter than all the roses
Covered all over from head to foot
Covered all over with snow

One of the earliest recordings of the subverted rhyme versions of the song is a hot jazz arrangement released by

Benny Bell Benny Bell (born Benjamin Samberg, March 21, 1906 – July 6, 1999) was an American singer-songwriter who reached popularity in the 1940s, with a comeback in the 1970s. He is remembered for his risqué but cheerfully optimistic songs. Career B ...

in 1932, with a verse form similar to his song "

Shaving Cream Shaving cream or shave cream is a category of cream cosmetics used for shaving preparation. The purpose of shaving cream is to soften the hair by providing lubrication. Different types of shaving creams include aerosol shaving cream (also kn ...

" and featuring bawdy lyrics and the "covered all over with snow" chorus.

When I was a handsome young fellow
I sure had the time of my life
But one day a man broke my backbone
When I ran away with his...
Sweet violets, sweeter than all the roses...

A recording of a country waltz version by The Sons of the Pioneers was released in 1936 with different lyrics from Bell's recording, including a bawdier version of the barber verse which in Bell's version relies on a rhyme with "nose."

I went for a shave and a haircut
The barber showed me a trick
He took out a big brand new razor,
and cut off the end of my...
Sweet violets, sweeter than all the roses...

In 1950, a field recording of legendary folk musician

Harry McClintock Harry Kirby McClintock (October 8, 1884 – April 24, 1957), also known as "Haywire Mac", was an American railroad man, radio personality, actor, singer, songwriter, and poet, best known for his song " The Big Rock Candy Mountains". Life McCl ...

was released by

Folkways Records Folkways Records was a record label founded by Moses Asch that documented folk, world, and children's music. It was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution in 1987 and is now part of Smithsonian Folkways. History The Folkways Records & Service ...

, featuring the singer late in his life performing a version where each verse relies on rhyming with the word "shit."

My father works down in the sewer
And he carries a lamp to be lit
And he wishes the sewer were purer
For he don't like the smell of the...
Sweet violets, sweeter than all the roses...

Dinah Shore version

A popular version was recorded by

Dinah Shore Dinah Shore (born Frances Rose Shore; February 29, 1916 – February 24, 1994) was an American singer, actress, television personality, and the chart-topping female vocalist of the 1940s. She rose to prominence as a recording artist during the ...

with Henri René's Orchestra & Chorus in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

on May 20, 1951. The song was released by

RCA Victor Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic ...

as catalog number 20-4174A (78 rpm record), 47-4174A (single) (in USA), by

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

on the

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label as catalog number B 10115 in the UK, and EA 3997 in Australia, also on the

label. The Dinah Shore version was arranged by

Cy Coben Seymour "Cy" Coben (4 April 1919 – 26 May 2006) was an American songwriter whose hits were recorded by bandleaders, country singers, and other artists such as The Beatles, Tommy Cooper and Leonard Nimoy. Biography Early life Coben was born i ...

and Charles Grean. It reached number 3 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' chart. This version has also been recorded by Mitch Miller and the Gang, Jane Turzy, and Judy Lynn. The song (in all its versions, combined) reached number one on the ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' best-seller chart. A German Cover version exists by Rudi Carell (Goethe war gut).

References

{{Authority control American folk songs 1882 songs 1951 singles Songs about plants Number-one singles in the United States