Country Gardens song

[igenlode]

I came across an unexpected novelty songsheet from 1949; someone had put words to the "Country Gardens" morris (of Percy Grainger fame), and unlike most attempts at making a popular song out of a well-known tune by fitting a few trite rhymes to it (themes from famous sonatas being prime candidates for this treatment), it's actually quite an effective little lyric for the music.
I like the phrase about 'give a coin and lose a frown', which is both an unexpected rhyme and a neat poetic turn. And writing "dance till the sun is going down" instead of the more predictable "dance until the sun goes down" shows sensitivity to the stress and mood of the melody at that point.

Rosebud and Lily,
Pinks and sweet Willy,
The Country Gardens come to Town.
Sing them a ditty,
Fresh and so pretty,
And take some for your Lady's gown.

Buy a bunch of Roses,
Buy the lazy Daisies,
Give a humble coin and lose a frown,
For today very early,
Wakened from their dreaming,
The Country Gardens come to Town.

We'll go dancing, merry merry dancing,
We'll go dancing, dancing down the street,
(Ah_____!)
We'll go dancing down the street.

Rosebud and Lily,
Pinks and sweet Willy,
The Country Gardens come to Town.
Take the crimson Roses,
make them into posies,
Dance till the sun is going down.

People may stare,
But what do we care?
Country Gardens
Come
To
Town!

Comments

[watervole]

There are a staggering number of parodies for this song.

I've just been hunting, without success, for one I remember which lists all the slugs, snails and other things that eat your plants!

[watervole]

I presume you know the best known version? The non-parody one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUyxCP5Rvco

[igenlode]

Oh yes, I have come across (and even sung) that one, now that you mention it. I think that was probably why I was so impressed by the earlier one, actually; because it's not taking the list approach, and it shifted the 'Country Garden' refrain to a place that didn't strike me as hackneyed through subconscious expectation.