Roses of Picardy

For the British film, see Roses of Picardy (film).

For the British musical, see Roses of Picardy (musical).

Sheet music from c. 1920

"Roses of Picardy" was a British popular song written by the lyricist Frederick Weatherly (1848–1929) and the composer Haydn Wood (1882–1959). Published in London in 1916 by Chappell & Co, it was one of the most famous songs of the First World War, and has been recorded in hundreds of different versions up to the present day.

Background

The lyricist Fred Weatherly had become impressed with beauty of the voice of the coloratura soprano Elsie Griffin, and had been bringing her his new compositions; her singing of these resulted in his writing two of the most popular hits of the 20th-century "Danny Boy" and "Roses of Picardy". The composer Haydn Wood wrote the music for over 200 ballads of which "Roses of Picardy" became his most popular. Wood related how he came to write the music: he was going home one night on the top of a London bus and in Finchley Road the melody came to him. He jumped off the bus and wrote down the refrain on an old envelope while standing under a street lamp. During the First World War (1914–1918) it was said to have sold at a rate of 50,000 copies of the sheet music per month, earning him approximately £10,000 in total (£615,312 in 2024 adjusted for inflation).

The exact story that lies behind the words of the song is unclear, but in his memoirs published in 1926, Weatherly suggested that it concerned a love affair of one of his close friends. Weatherly is known to have travelled in France visiting the Rhone valley and Chamonix. Picardy was a historical province of France which stretched from north of Noyon to Calais via the whole of the Somme department and the north of the Aisne department. This area contained the Somme battlefields – the scene of some of the fiercest fighting during the First World War.

The song quickly became popular throughout the country with British soldiers singing it when they enlisted for the Front in France and Flanders. Following the War, the singing of the song was found to be an effective therapeutic treatment for soldiers who were suffering from Shell shock; it helped them to regain their powers of speech.

Lyrics

Postcard with the words from verse 1. c. 1916

The following lyrics are taken from the sheet music published in 1916:

Verse 1:

She is watching by the poplars, Colinette with the sea-blue eyes,

She is watching and longing and waiting Where the long white roadway lies.

And a song stirs in the silence, As the wind in the boughs above,

She listens and starts and trembles, 'Tis the first little song of love:-

Refrain

Roses are shining in Picardy, in the hush of the silver dew,

Roses are flowering in Picardy, but there's never a rose like you!

And the roses will die with the the summertime, and our roads may be far apart,

But there's one rose that dies not in Picardy!

'tis the rose that I keep in my heart!

Verse 2:

And the years fly on for ever, Till the shadows veil their skies,

But he loves to hold her little hands, And look in her sea-blue eyes.

And she sees the road by the poplars, Where they met in the bygone years,

For the first little song of the roses Is the last little song she hears:-

There is a French version of the song under the title of "Dansons de Rose". The following words for its refrain have been taken from Yves Montand's recording:

Dire que cet air nous semblait vieillot,

Aujourd'hui il me semble nouveau,

Et puis surtout c'était toi et moi,

Ces deux mots ne vieillisent pas.

Souviens-toi ça parlait de la Picardie,

Et des roses qu'on trouve là-bas,

Tous les deux amoureux nous avons dansé

Sur les roses de ce temps-là.

Recordings

Among the earliest commercial recordings were those by the tenors Lambert Murphy in 1917, Ernest Pike in 1918 and John McCormack in 1919. There are well over 150 recordings of the song sung in English; there are also versions in Finnish, French, Spanish and German. There are many instrumental versions, for example for piano, violin, string ensemble, Jazz band and numerous different types of orchestra. After the Second World War, the American Jazz artist Sidney Bechet, a long-time resident in France, popularised a Swing version, and it was also recorded by the French popular singer Yves Montand. In 1967 Vince Hill had a Top 20 hit with the song, and in 2011 the tenor Alfie Boe recorded it for the soundtrack of the British period drama television series Downton Abbey. In 2011 the Canadian tenor Ben Heppner recorded the song for EMI.

Listen to the song

You can use the following links to listen to the song being performed:

• As sung by Lambert Murphy (tenor) in 1917: Play Video
• As played by Red Nichols and his Five Pennies (Jazz) in 1929: Play Video
• As sung by Peter Dawson (bass-baritone) in 1939: Play Video
• As played by Wayne King and his orchestra (orchestral waltz) in 1941: Play Video
• As sung by Mario Lanza (tenor) in 1952: Play Video
• As played by Sidney Bechet (Swing) in the 1950s: Play Video
• As sung by Frank Sinatra in 1962: Play Video
• As sung by Thomas Allen (baritone) in 2003: Play Video
• As played by a Pianola: Play Video

Notes and references

Notes

References

External links

• Website about Haydn Wood with full discography