The Rose (song)

"The Rose" is a classic pop song written by Amanda McBroom. Bette Midler made the song famous when she recorded it for her 1979 film The Rose, in which it plays during the closing credits. It has been recorded multiple times including by Conway Twitty and Westlife who had US Country & Western and UK Number one hits with the song respectively.

"The Rose"
Single by Amanda McBroom
from the album Growing Up In Hollywood Town
Released1979
GenrePop
Length3:40
LabelAtlantic
Songwriter(s)Amanda McBroom
Producer(s)Paul A. Rothchild
"The Rose"
Single by Bette Midler
from the album The Rose
B-side"Stay with Me"
ReleasedMarch 1980
Recorded1979
GenrePop
Length3:40
LabelAtlantic
Songwriter(s)Amanda McBroom
Producer(s)Paul A. Rothchild
Bette Midler singles chronology
"When a Man Loves a Woman"
(1980)		 "The Rose"
(1980)		 "My Mother's Eyes"
(1980)

Background and Bette Midler version

"The Rose" was first recorded by Bette Midler for the soundtrack of the 1979 film The Rose in which it plays under the closing credits. However the song was not written for the movie: Amanda McBroom recalls, "I wrote it in 1977 [or] 1978, and I sang it occasionally in clubs. ... Jim Nabors had a local talk show, and I sang ["The Rose"] on his show once."[1] According to McBroom she wrote "The Rose" in response to her manager's suggestion that she write "some Bob Seger-type tunes" to expedite a record deal: McBroom obliged by writing "The Rose" in forty-five minutes. Said McBroom: "'The Rose' is ... just one verse [musically] repeated three times. When I finished it, I realized it doesn't have a bridge or a hook, but I couldn't think of anything to [add]."

McBroom's composition was one of seven songs selected by Midler from thirty song possibilities proffered by Paul A. Rothchild, the producer of The Rose soundtrack album. Reportedly Rothchild had listened to over 3,000 songs in order to assemble those thirty possibilities.[2]

Released as the second single from The Rose soundtrack album, "The Rose" hit number 1 on the Cashbox Top 100 and peaked at number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Additionally, it was number 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart for five weeks running. The single was certified Gold by the RIAA for over a half million copies sold in the United States.[3][4]

Midler won the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "The Rose", beating out formidable competition from Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer among others.[5]

There are two mixes of the song. The single mix features orchestration, while the version in the film (and on its soundtrack) includes an extended introduction while doing away with the orchestration in favor of piano-and-vocals only.

"The Rose" did not receive a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Despite not having been recorded prior to the soundtrack of the film The Rose, the song had not been written for the film. According to McBroom, AMPAS inquired of her if the song had been written for the movie, and McBroom answered honestly (that it had not). McBroom did however win the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song for "The Rose", as that award's governing body, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), does not share AMPAS' official meticulousness over a nominated song's being completely original with its parent film.[6]

In 2004 "The Rose" finished #83 in AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs survey of the top tunes in American cinema.

Personnel

Charts

Conway Twitty version
"The Rose"
Single by Conway Twitty
from the album Dream Maker
B-side"It's Only Make Believe"
ReleasedJanuary 17, 1983
GenreCountry
Length3:35
LabelElektra
Songwriter(s)Amanda McBroom
Producer(s)Conway Twitty, Jimmy Bowen
Conway Twitty singles chronology
"We Did But Now You Don't"
(1982)		 "The Rose"
(1983)		 "We Had It All"
(1983)

Country singer Conway Twitty recorded a cover version in January 1983. His version, off his album Dream Maker, was a number one country hit in US and Canada. Conway Twitty's version was his 30th number one single on the US country chart.[12]

Track listing

7-inch single

  1. The Rose - 3:32
  2. It's Only Make Believe - 2:18

Charts
Chart (1983) Peak
position
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[13] 1
Canadian RPM Country Tracks 1

The Dubliners version
"The Rose"
Single by The Hothouse Flowers and The Dubliners
from the album 30 Years A-Greying
Released1991
GenreCeltic rock
LabelLondon Records
Songwriter(s)Amanda McBroom
The Hothouse Flowers and The Dubliners singles chronology
"Jack's Heroes"
(1990)		 "The Rose"
(1991)		 "Red Roses for Me"
(1994)

The Dubliners recorded a duet with The Hothouse Flowers for Rose Week and released "The Rose" as a single in 1991, reaching no. 2 in the Irish Singles Chart.

Charts
Chart (1991) Peak
position
Ireland (IRMA)[14] 2

Westlife version
"The Rose"
Single by Westlife
from the album The Love Album
ReleasedNovember 6, 2006
Recorded2006
Studio
GenrePop
Length3:39
LabelSonyBMG
Songwriter(s)Amanda McBroom
Producer(s)Quiz & Larossi
Westlife singles chronology
"Amazing"
(2006)		 "The Rose"
(2006)		 "Home"
(2007)
Music video
The Rose on YouTube

"The Rose" was covered by Irish boy band Westlife and was released as the first and only single from their seventh studio album The Love Album (2006). It reached number one on the UK Singles Chart, becoming the group's 14th and most recent number-one single in the United Kingdom. The single has sold over 200,000 copies in the UK to earn a Silver certification from the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).

Music video

The video for this single was presented in two versions; one in black and white and the other in color. It shows the emotions and events leading up to a couple's wedding procession. The band members are clad in suits and are shown in a checkered-floor room. During the initial period of the video's release, fans were given the opportunity to customise the music video by digitally adding their names to various elements such as the wedding invitation card.

Track listings

UK CD1

  1. "The Rose" – 3:40
  2. "Solitaire" – 5:07

UK CD2

  1. "The Rose" – 3:40
  2. "Nothing's Gonna Change My Love for You" – 3:47
  3. "If" – 2:42
  4. "The Rose" (video) – 3:55

Charts

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[26] Silver 200,000

Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

The song was featured in the ending scene of the 1991 Studio Ghibli film Only Yesterday directed by Isao Takahata. The ending theme song sung by Miyako Harumi is titled "Ai wa Hana, Kimi wa sono Tane" (愛は花、君はその種子, "Love is a flower, you are the seed"), a Japanese translation of Amanda McBroom's composition "The Rose".[27]

A cover of the song was featured in the 2008 Family Guy episode "Baby Not on Board". During the episode, the Griffin family (except Stewie) sings the song as a family road trip song.

The song was also covered in the episode "Maybe Tomorrow" of True Detective (season 2),[28][29] and in the first episode of the third season of Goliath (TV series).[30]

References
  1. "Talkin' Broadway - Cabaret Interview with Amanda McBroom". Talkinbroadway.com. Retrieved 2016-10-16.
  2. Bego, Mark (8 November 2002). Bette Midler: Still Divine (1st ed.). New York: Cooper Square Press. p. 140. ISBN 978-1-4616-3527-7.
  3. US chart positions on allmusic.com (Bette Midler version)
  4. "Gold & Platinum". RIAA. Archived from the original on 2007-06-26. Retrieved 2016-10-16.
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-04-13. Retrieved 2007-08-18.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-12-15. Retrieved 2009-11-03.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
  8. "Cash Box Top 100 Singles, July 5, 1980". Archived from the original on August 12, 2018. Retrieved May 18, 2017.
  9. "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Archived from the original on 2016-04-25. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
  10. Musicoutfitters.com
  11. "Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 27, 1980". Archived from the original on September 28, 2018. Retrieved May 18, 2017.
  12. Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 362.
  13. "Conway Twitty Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
  14. "Chart Track: Week 00, 1991". Irish Singles Chart.
  15. "Austriancharts.at – Westlife – The Rose" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  16. Westlife — The Rose. Tophit. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
  17. "Hits of the World – Eurocharts" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 118 no. 47. November 25, 2006. p. 67. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  18. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – The Rose". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  19. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  20. "Swedishcharts.com – Westlife – The Rose". Singles Top 100. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  21. "Swisscharts.com – Westlife – The Rose". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  22. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  23. "Best of Singles 2006". IRMA. Retrieved May 30, 2019.
  24. "Årslista Singlar, 2006" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
  25. "End of Year Singles Chart Top 100 – 2006". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 30, 2019.
  26. "British single certifications – Westlife – The Rose". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  27. Morehead, Jason (February 20, 2016). "The Final Scene in Studio Ghibli's Only Yesterday Is Perfect". Opus.
  28. "The Story Behind True Detective's Cover of 'The Rose'". Vulture. Retrieved 2020-12-17.
  29. "True Detective - Some Say Love - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2020-12-17.
  30. "The Rose - Bette Midler cover (Goliath) - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2020-12-17.
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