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"Sweet Violets" is a novelty song with surprising humorous lyrics. The song consists mainly of couplets, except that the last word of each couplet, which can generally be inferred from a combination of context and the ostensible rhyming scheme, is instead cut off by the start of the next couplet or by the chorus. The following excerpt from the song is an example of the style:
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 would 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.
- O. Williams, Amherst Point, Nova Scotia, collected by Claybe
O. W. says there are more verses: "the father was going to call the..." - expected word was "cops" but the next line started with "Minister"; "doing her..." - expected word was "wrong" but the next line started with "Right".
A classic example of a "censored rhyme" lyric, the anticipated words "kiss" are replaced by "lecture" and "legs" by "manners"...and so on.
The chorus is from the song "Sweet Violets" by Joseph Emmet, from his 1882 play Fritz Among the Gypsies - "Sweet violets, sweeter than all the roses...covered all over from head to toe, covered all over with sweet violets."
It was recorded by Dinah Shore (1951), and also by Jane Turzy and Judy Lynn. The Dinah Shore version was arranged by Cy Coben and Charles Grean. It was recorded in the early part of 1951, and released by RCA Victor Records as catalog number 20-4174 (78rpm) and 47-4174 (45rpm). It reached #3 on the Billboard magazine charts. The song (in all its versions, combined) reached #1 on the Cash Box magazine best-seller chart.
Numerous versions exist in which the implied lyrics are more risque.
| Preceded by Because of You |
Cash Box magazine best selling record chart #1 record September 1, 1951 |
Succeeded by Come on-a My House |
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