As Welcome as the Flowers in May

DESCRIPTION: "Last night I dreamed a sweet, sweet dream, I thought I saw my home, sweet home." The singer dreams of seeing his parents and his sweetheart Bess, who tell him they've been waiting and that he's "as welcome as the flowers in May."
AUTHOR: Dan J. Sullivan (source: sheet music)
EARLIEST DATE: 1902 (sheet music published by The Broadway Msic Pub Co.)
KEYWORDS: home separation dream father mother family
FOUND IN: US(Ap,So)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Randolph 856, "As Welcome as the Flowers in May" (1 text)
Cambiaire-EastTennesseeWestVirginiaMountainBallads, p. 101, "You're As Welcome as the Flowers in May" (1 text)
Browne-AlabamaFolkLyric 113, "Welcome as the Flowers in May" (1 short text, 1 tune. N.B. The pagination in Browne is here confused; as it stands, it appears that the text on p. 288 goes with "Only a Rosebud" on p. 287, but in fact it is a continuation of "Welcome as the Flowers in May" on p. 289)
Rainey/Pinkston-SongsOfTheOzarkFolk, pp. 60-61, "You're As Welcome As The Flowers In May" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4347
RECORDINGS:
Bud & Joe Billings (pseuds. for Frank Luther & Carson Robison) "You're as Welcome as the Flowers in May" (Victor V-40039, 1929)
Mr. & Mrs. Hugh Cross, "You're as Welcome as the Flowers in May" (Columbia 15259-D, 1928)
Jimmie Davis, "You're as Welcome as the Flowers in May" (Decca 5867/Melotone [Canada] 45377, 1937; Minerva 14126, c.1940)
Lester McFarland & Robert Gardner, "You're as Welcome as the Flowers in May" (Brunswick 108/Vocalion 5128, 1927; Supertone S-2037, 1930)
John McGhee, "You're As Welcome As The Flowers In May" (Supertone 9674, 1930)
Connie Sides, "You're as Welcome as the Flowers in May" (Columbia 15008-D, rec. 1924)
Frank C. Stanley, "You're As Welcome as the Flowers in May" (Imperial [UK] 44923, c. 1906)
Frank Welling & John McGhee, "You Are As Welcome as Flowers in May" (Perfect 5-12-59, 1935)
NOTES [144 words]: Despite the similarity in titles (perhaps inspired by a common saying), this appears to have no relationship at all with the Sam Henry song "You're Welcome as the Flowers in May."
Dan J. Sullivan in 1902 published a song "You're As Welcome As the Flowers In May"; I don't know which of the two traditional songs of that title, if either, it represents. - RBW
Perhaps one of the recordings is responsible for the Randolph entry? It wouldn't be the first time. - PJS
Sullivan's song turns out to be this one. Edward Foote Gardner, Popular Songs of the Twentieth Century: Volume I -- Chart Detail & Encyclopedia 1900-1949, Paragon House, 2000, p. 265, estimates that this was the thirteenth most popular song in America in December 1903, and the twentieth most popular song of the year as a whole (#1 for the year being Charles K. Harris's "Always in the Way"). - RBW
Last updated in version 6.6
File: R856

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