Sweet Violets by Benny Bell--alternate lyrics ?
Mark C. Rouleau
As a child, i often listened to my father sing--off key--a song called
"Sweet Violets." I later learned that Benny Bell had a song of that
name, so assumed that was what my father had been singing. Upon
checking the lyrics out at the Demento website, I discovered, to my
dismay, that Benny Bell's lyrics don't entirely match my memory
(although the chorus is almost perfect.)
The version I learned:
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 she had the most beautiful-- MANNERS
which suited a girl of her charms,
Someone he wanted to take in his--WASHING
and ironing, then if she did,
They would get married and raise lots of
Sweet Vi-iolets!
Sweeter than all the roses,
Covered all over from head to toe (BB's version is "foot")
Covered all over with Sweet Vi-iolets (BB's version: "snow")
As you can see, the lyrics are not at all the same as the "Sweet
Violets" transcript on the Demento web page. Are these alternate
lyrics? If so, can anybody help me with the rest of the song? (The next
line is "The girl told the farmer that he'd better stop,
Or he'd call her father and he'd call a--TAXI
and something and hmmm-hmmm-nnn-hmmm,
da-da-da-da-da-da something something"
(or at least, that's how my father sings it!)
--
Mark Rouleau
_________________________________________________
"No matter how hard you hit them, horses don't
_usually_ explode."
--Hellboy, Wake the Devil #5
Cecil Rose
"Mark C. Rouleau" <mrou...@frontiernet.net> wrote:
>As a child, i often listened to my father sing--off key--a song called
>"Sweet Violets." I later learned that Benny Bell had a song of that
>name, so assumed that was what my father had been singing. Upon
>checking the lyrics out at the Demento website, I discovered, to my
>dismay, that Benny Bell's lyrics don't entirely match my memory
>(although the chorus is almost perfect.)
My memory (from a sheet music version found in the family piano bench
a long time ago /i/n/ /a/ /g/a/l/a/x/y/ /f/a/r/,/ /f/a/r/ /a/w/a/y/):
>The version I learned:
>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 she had the most beautiful-- MANNERS
-such---
> which suited a girl of her charms,
>Someone he wanted to take in his--WASHING
A girl that
> and ironing, then if she did,
>They would get married and raise lots of
could
>Sweet Vi-iolets!
>Sweeter than all the roses,
(omit all)
>Covered all over from head to toe (BB's version is "foot")
>Covered all over with Sweet Vi-iolets (BB's version: "snow")
>As you can see, the lyrics are not at all the same as the "Sweet
>Violets" transcript on the Demento web page. Are these alternate
>lyrics? If so, can anybody help me with the rest of the song? (The next
>line is "The girl told the farmer that he'd better stop,
> Or he'd call her father and he'd call a--TAXI
> and something and hmmm-hmmm-nnn-hmmm,
> da-da-da-da-da-da something something"
>(or at least, that's how my father sings it!)
The girl told the farmer that he's better stop,
And she called her father and he called a TAXI
And got there beore very long
Cause someone was doing his little girl RIGHT
Far 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
Marraige will bring a man nothing but
Sweet Vi-o-lets!
Sweeter than the roses,
Covered all over from head to toe
Covered all over with Sweet Vi-i-o-lets
The farmer decided to wed anyway
And started preparing for his wedding SUIT
Which he purchased for only a buck (hey, it's an OLD song)
But then he found out he was just out of MONEY
And so he was left in the lurch
Standing and waiting in front of the END
Of this story which just goes to show
All a girl wants from a man is his
Sweet Vi-o-lets!
Sweeter than the roses,
Covered all over from head to toe
Covered all over with Sweet Vi-i-o-lets.
______________________________________________________________
Cecil Rose
ala...@earthlink.net
Carson, California
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