Song of the Day 8/10: Lynn Anderson, “(I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden”

Guest post by Nathan Arizona

No, Trump never promised us a rose garden. But maybe there was a shred of hope his tiny mind wouldn’t land on something like paving it over with concrete.

It’s even worse than that. It always is. He plans to use the space as a path to a new White House ballroom that’s guaranteed to be hideous, out of place and just plain stupid. He wants the White House in Washington look like Mar-A-Lago, a place he hasn’t threatened to take over because everybody’s nice to him and he already owns it.

I guess we could go with a Joni Mitchell song here, but one at a time.

The actual title of today’s song is simply “Rose Garden,” but that leaves out the sarcastic “I Never Promised You” addressed to a finicky lover. Besides, it rolls nicely off the tongue.

Southern soul man Joe South wrote the song in 1967, but Lynn Anderson’s pop-country version three years later made it a huge hit. In between, it was recorded by Billy Joe Royal, Dobie Gray and South himself, but it seemed to require a country spin.

That almost didn’t happen. Anderson’s producer thought the tune should be sung by a man. But she wanted it and held her ground. It hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Country chart and stayed there for five weeks. It reached No. 3 on the Hot 100 and topped the charts in Australia, Ireland, Belgium, Norway and several other countries.

After Anderson, it was covered by singers from Martina McBride and k.d. lang to Andy Williams and Johnny Mathis. Even Morrissey had a crack at it. It might surprise you.

Joe South won a Song of the Year Grammy in 1970 for “Games People Play.” He also wrote “Down in the Boondocks, “Don’t It Make You Want to Go Home” and “Walk a Mile in My Shoes.” He played bass on Dylan’s “Blonde on Blonde” album.

Here’s South’s version.