Rose Of Washington Square
Ed Ames
Written in 1920 by Ballard MacDonald and James F. Hanley
This version did not chart but
It was a hit as long ago as 1920 for the Kentucky Serenaders (#3) and
(#5) Henry Burr
Benny Goodman's remake in 1939 peaked at # 10.
Featured in the Broadway musical "Ziegfield Midnight Frolic"
Also sung in the 1939 film "Rose Of Washington Square" by Alice Fay.
The film is described by Leonard Maltin as "So-so musical with Faye as a
thinly disguised Fanny Brice, who falls head over heels for cocky punk
Tyrone Power (a paraphrase of Nicky Arnstein). Faye gets to sing Brice's
signature song, "My Man," but Al Jolson, essentially playing himself,
steals the show performing "Mammy," "California, Here I Come," and other
classics."
They call her Rose of Washington Square
A flower so fair should blossom where the sun shines
Rose, for Nature did not mean that you should blossom unseen
But be the queen of some fair garden
Rose, I'll never depart but dwell in your heart
Your love to care
I'll bring the sunbeams from the heavens to you
And give you kisses that sparkle with dew
My Rose of Washington Square
They call her Rose, Rose of Washington Square
She's withering there, in basement air she's fading
Clothed in plain or fancy clothes
They say her Roman nose
It seems to please ar-tistic people
Beaus? Why, she's plenty of those
With second-hand clothes and her nice long hair
She's got those Broadway vampires lashed to their mast
She's got no future but, oh, what a past
She's my Rose of Washington Square
She's the Rose, Rose, Rose, of Washington Square
source: Robin Hood
(
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