Roses Are Red (My Love)

July–August 1962

 As I did with Connie Francis, I am going to further expose my naiveté with this post. When I saw the name Bobby Vinton come up on the list, I thought, well, this sounds like another one of those one-hit wonders, like Joey Dee or something. Turns out I was wrong; this guy was very successful throughout the 60s, and this song is the first of four times he was able to top the charts. Shows what I know. This was not only his first #1, but his first hit—he was unknown before this song came out.



This reminds me a bit of a previous song I've covered, "Little Star;" both rely on a trite, familiar rhyme for the chorus, and the song depends on the irony of hearing those lyrics in a pop song context. However, "Roses Are Red" is clearly the better song of the two.

It was not uncommon in these days to tell a narrative story of two star-crossed lovers in a pop song like this. Remember the one where the girl got hit by a train at the end? This one's less violent, but it's the same idea. In this one, the high school sweethearts grow apart, and eventually live their separate lives, but they still retain some sort of wistful sentiment towards each other.

Ho-hum. I can't say I'm looking forward to the rest of this guy's #1s (although one of them is a much more well-known song). I think it's a little funny the way he says "gawd" like a televangelist.

C