"The Rose"

To listen to and order, 1) go to "The Rose" and 2) click on the product link for this song. That will take you to the online marketplace product page, where you can listen and order a digital download in different fidelity formats. (CAUTION - mp3 is the default download format. If you want Flac or Wav, you must change the download format.)

CREDITS - David Goettee, Lead; Karen Davis, Alto and Descant; Terry Hamilton, Lead; all guitar tracks by Terry Hamilton; synthesizer keyboardist unknown.

Story of Writing the Song

From Amanda McBroom's website, found at Amanda McBroom, The Rose.

People often ask me what inspired me to write The Rose. Here is the story:

I was driving down the freeway one afternoon, some time in 1970-something.

I was listening to the radio. A song came on the radio. It was “MAGDALENA” by Danny O’Keefe, sung by Leo Sayer. I liked it immediately. My favorite line was “Your love is like a razor. My heart is just a scar.”I thought,”Ooh, I love that lyric.”

As I continued to drive down the road the thought came, I don’t agree with the sentiment. I don’t think love is like a razor. (I was younger then.) What, then, do I think love is? Suddenly, it was as if someone had opened a window in the top of my head. Words came pouring in. I had to keep reciting them to myself as I drove faster and faster towards home, so I wouldn’t forget them. I screeched into my drive way, ran into the house, past various bewildered dogs and cats and husband, and sat down at the piano. Ten minutes later, THE ROSE was there.

I called my husband, George, into the room and played it for him, as I always did with my new songs. He listened, and quietly said to me, “You’ve just written a standard.” I protested that no one but my pals would ever hear it. (This is long before I had ever recorded anything.) He said,”Mark my words, something is going to happen with this song.”

A year or so later, a great young songwriter named Michele Brourman, who became my primary musical collaborator and best friend, said “Listen. There is this movie coming out called “The Rose”. They are looking for a title tune. Do you want me to submit this to them?” I had never really tried to submit this song to anyone. I didn’t consider myself a song writer at the time. So I said, “Sure.” Originally the film had been called THE PEARL, which was Janis Joplin’s nick name. But her family refused permission to use that name. Lucky for me. “Pearl” is MUCH harder to rhyme.

She submitted the tune to the producers, who HATED it. They thought it was dull and a hymn and NOT rock and roll and totally wrong. They put it in the reject box. But the divine Paul Rothchild, who was the music supervisor on the film, and had been Janis Joplin’s producer, hauled it out and asked them to reconsider. They again said no. So he mailed it to Bette. She liked it, and that’s how it got into the film and changed my life forever.

I have never written another song as quickly. I like to think I was the window that happened to be open when those thoughts needed to come through. I am eternally grateful… to Bette… to Paul Rothchild… to Bill Kerby, who wrote the screenplay…to my friend who first submitted it for me… and to the Universe for speaking to me in the first place and for showing me what I truly believe.

From Wikipedia, found at The Rose (song)--

McBroom believes the song struck a universal nerve because "It's a message of hope that's very easily understandable". 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.

"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 requirement that a nominated song be completely original with its parent film.

From Broadway World, found at Amanda McBroom Finally Meets Bette Midler!

Her songs have been recorded by Barbara Cook, Manhattan Transfer, Judy Collins, Barry Manilow, Reba McEntire, Curt Cobain, and many other artists. She has received a Golden Globe Award, a Grammy nomination, the Johnny Mercer Songwriter of the Year Award, and the Mabel Mercer Lifetime Achievement Award. With her writing partner, Michele Brourman, she has written lyrics for 19 Universal Animation features, including the Land Before Time series and Curious George. She was also a featured lyricist for the TV classic series Cop Rock. Amanda has written two musicals, Heartbeats, and A Woman of Will, and is lyricist for Dangerous Beauty, which had its world premiere at the Pasadena Playhouse. Her 9^th CD of original songs, Voices, was released on her label, Gecko Records, and went to #1 on Amazon during its first week.

Lyrics

Some say love, it is a river
That drowns the tender reed
Some say love, it is a razor
That leaves your soul to bleed
Some say love, it is a hunger
An endless aching need
I say love, it is a flower
And you, its only seed

It's the heart afraid of breaking
That never learns to dance
It's the dream afraid of waking
That never takes the chance
It's the one who won't be taken
Who cannot seem to give
And the soul afraid of dying
That never learns to live

When the night has been too lonely
And the road has been too long
And you think that love is only
For the lucky and the strong
Just remember in the winter
Far beneath the bitter snows
Lies the seed that with the sun's love
In the spring becomes the rose

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