Big Sunflower, The

DESCRIPTION: "There is a charm I can't explain About a girl I've seen... And I feel just as happy as a big sunflower That nods and bends in the breezes." The first time he asks her to marry, she says no, but he looks so sad that, when he asks again, she says yes
AUTHOR: Bobby Newcomb?
EARLIEST DATE: 1868 (JohnnyWilds-What-Am-I-Doing-Songster; copyright notice on a sheet music edition)
KEYWORDS: love courting flowers marriage
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (8 citations):
JohnnyWilds-What-Am-I-Doing-Songster, pp. 45-46, "The Big Sunflower" (1 text)
Mabel-Waltz-Songster, p. 38, "The Big Sun-Flower" (1 text)
Chapman-Sisters-Songster, p. 17, "The Big Sun-Flower" (1 text)
Lydia-Thompson-Songster, p. 36, "The Big Sun-Flower" (1 text)
Love-Among-the-Roses-Songster, p. 10, "The Big Sun-Flower" (1 text)
Walking-Down-Broadway-Songster, p. 31, "The Big Sun-Flower" (1 text)
Driven-From-Home-Songster, p. 32, "The Big Sun-Flower" (1 text)
Harrigan-Hart-MulcaheyTwinsSongster, p. 58, "The Big Sunflower" (1 text)
Roud #V241
SAME TUNE:
The Nice Young Radish Girl ("Now, white folks, listen while I sing Of a nice young radish girl") (Keen-Love-Among-Der-Sweitzer-Songster, p. 23)
NOTES [130 words]: In 1868, this seems to have burst upon the music scene, sung by Billy Emerson, W. Sheppard, and probably others. There are at least two sheet music editions from the 1860s. Clearly it was written in the late 1860s. But none of the sheet music editions list an author! I've seen an attribution to Bobby Newcomb in several modern sources, none of which I trust much, so I put a question mark by the attribution.
WallaceSistersSongster, p. 58, has a song "The Big Wall-Flower." It begins "There was a sort of kind of grace, About a girl I met" and has a chorus that begins "For I felt just as happy as a big wall flower." I think it safe to say that the latter is a low-quality knock-off. Odd that they couldn't just sing the original, given the apparent lack of a copyright claim. - RBW
Last updated in version 7.2
File: JSWS045

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