{{Infobox song | name = Sweet Violets | cover = <!--just the file name--> | type = | artist = | album = | B-side = | released = <!--{{Start date|YYYY|MM|DD}}--> | format = | recorded = | studio = | genre = | length = <!--{{Duration|m=|s=}}--> | label = | writer = <!--for both music and lyrics--> | producer = | prev_title = <!--for a singles chronology--> | prev_year = | next_title = | next_year = }} "'''Sweet Violets'''" is an American song (Roud 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: <blockquote> There once was a farmer who took a young miss<br /> In back of the barn where he gave her a...<br /> Lecture on horses and chickens and eggs<br /> And told her that she had such beautiful...<br /> Manners that suited a girl ''[etc.]''<br /> </blockquote>

Although many versions use the melody from "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean", the chorus is taken from the song "Sweet Violets" by Joseph Emmet, from his 1882 play ''Fritz Among the Gypsies''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Sweet violets [from] Fritz among the gypsies |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/2023845553/ |website=Library of Congress |access-date=10 April 2025}}</ref> 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: <blockquote> Sweet violets, sweeter than the roses<br /> Covered all over from head to toe<br /> Covered all over with sweet violets<br /> </blockquote>

Or: <blockquote> Sweet violets, sweeter than all the roses<br /> Covered all over from head to foot<br /> Covered all over with snow<br /> </blockquote>

One of the earliest recordings of the subverted rhyme versions of the song is a hot jazz arrangement released by Benny Bell in 1932,<ref>{{cite web |title=Sweet violets : covered all over with snow |url=https://ucdavis.on.worldcat.org/oclc/26003753 |website=WorldCat.org |access-date=10 April 2025}}</ref> with a verse form similar to his song "Shaving Cream" and featuring bawdy lyrics and the "covered all over with snow" chorus. <blockquote> When I was a handsome young fellow<br /> I sure had the time of my life<br /> But one day a man broke my backbone<br /> When I ran away with his...<br /> Sweet violets, sweeter than all the roses...<br /> </blockquote>

A recording of a country waltz version by The Sons of the Pioneers was released in 1936<ref>{{cite web |title=Pure & Simple* / The Sons Of The Pioneers – The Guy That Put The Dix In Dixie / Sweet Violets (Second Edition) |url=https://www.discogs.com/release/21136252-Pure-Simple-The-Sons-Of-The-Pioneers-The-Guy-That-Put-The-Dix-In-Dixie-Sweet-Violets-Second-Edition |website=Discogs.com |date=23 February 2025 |access-date=10 April 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Sweet Violets|url=https://folksongandmusichall.com/index.php/sweet-violets/ |website=folksongandmusichall.com |access-date=10 April 2025}}</ref> 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." <blockquote> I went for a shave and a haircut<br /> The barber showed me a trick<br /> He took out a big brand new razor,<br /> and cut off the end of my...<br /> Sweet violets, sweeter than all the roses...<br /> </blockquote>

In 1950, a field recording of legendary folk musician Harry McClintock was released by Folkways Records,<ref>{{cite web |title=Haywire Mac McClintock |url=https://folkways.si.edu/harry-haywire-mac-mcclintock/american-folk-spoken-word/album/smithsonian |website=Smithsonian Folkways Recordings |access-date=10 April 2025}}</ref> featuring the singer late in his life performing a version where each verse relies on rhyming with the word "shit." <blockquote> My father works down in the sewer<br /> And he carries a lamp to be lit<br /> And he wishes the sewer were purer<br /> For he don't like the smell of the...<br /> Sweet violets, sweeter than all the roses...<br /> </blockquote>

==Dinah Shore version== A popular version was recorded by Dinah Shore with Henri René's Orchestra & Chorus in Hollywood on May 20, 1951. The song was released by RCA Victor Records as catalog number 20-4174A (78&nbsp;rpm record), 47-4174A (single) (in USA),<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.78discography.com/RCA204000.htm|title=RCA Victor 20-4000 - 4500 78rpm numerical listing discography|website=78discography.com|access-date=3 January 2022}}</ref> by EMI on the His Master's Voice label as catalog number B&nbsp;10115 in the UK, and EA 3997 in Australia, also on the His Master's Voice label.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/master/1201792-Dinah-Shore-Sweet-Violets-Down-In-Nashville-Tennessee|title=Dinah Shore - Sweet Violets / Down In Nashville, Tennessee|website=Discogs.com|access-date=3 January 2022}}</ref> The Dinah Shore version was arranged by Cy Coben and Charles Grean. It reached number 3 on the ''Billboard'' chart.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Whitburn|first1=Joel|title=Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954|date=1986|publisher=Record Research Inc|location=Wisconsin, USA|isbn=0-89820-083-0|page=[https://archive.org/details/joelwpopmemories00whit/page/390 390]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/joelwpopmemories00whit/page/390}}</ref>

This version has also been recorded by Mitch Miller and the Gang, Jane Turzy, and Judy Lynn.{{citationneeded|date=September 2022}}

The song (in all its versions, combined) reached number one on the ''Cash Box'' best-seller chart.{{citationneeded|date=September 2022}}

A German Cover version exists by Rudi Carell (Goethe war gut).

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{Dinah Shore}} {{Authority control}}

Category:American folk songs Category:1882 songs Category:1951 singles Category:Songs about plants Category:Number-one singles in the United States