Eddy Arnold’s big 1948 hit song, “Bouquet of Roses,” was written by New York songwriter’s Steve Nelson and Bob Hilliard. Nelson says that the melody had been running around in the back of his mind for some time before he tried to do anything with it.  Then during an afternoon recording session, he met Bob Hilliard and sang the melody for him.

According to Nelson, “Bob liked the melody but he thought that it was a ‘sweet sound’ so we tried to write the lyrics toward a romantic or ‘sweet’ love song. We finally agreed on ‘Bouquet Of Roses’ for a title and we finished the lyrics the following afternoon.”

The Eddy Arnold recording featured the steel guitar of Roy Wiggins and set to music the sad tale of saying goodbye to the girl who just can’t be true, by sending her a “big bouquet of roses--one for every time you broke my heart.”

“Bouquet Of Roses” was on the country charts for over a year and spent nineteen weeks at number one.  The record also scored a hit on the pop music charts, barely missing the pop top ten, peaking at # 3.  Eddy Arnold’s “Bouquet Of Roses” entered the country music charts May 15th, 1948.  It was his 13th chart single and was on the charts 54 weeks.

Doug Davis
Country Music Classics