Coming Up Roses Top Ten: Bed of Rose’s (#2)

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As we near the finish line for this particular run for the roses, as in songs with “rose” in the title, the traffic is getting heavier and heavier in town. Today is called “Thurby,” the day for locals at the track. That used to be tomorrow, for the Kentucky Oaks, but apparently that’s getting overrun by out-of-towners. Don’t know what they’ll do if “Thurby” catches on with the tourists. Anyway, here’s today’s song. #2: Bed of Rose’s - Statler Brothers How well I remember this. My mom was a little worried about the “controversial” nature of the song’s storyline. Heck, I was eleven years old when this came out. What did I know?! It wasn’t the first country song about hookers (there was “The Son of Hickory Holler’s Tramp,” which was a lot more blunt with the point). And, as I said, when I was a kid I thought it was a bed of roses, not a bed that belonged to Rose. (Some people still haven’t mastered apostrophes, but at least I had an excuse then. ) Written by bass singer Harold Reid and sung by his brother Don, this was a big hit in the Statlers’ career despite (or because of?) the “controversial” subject matter. NOW I understand what the song was about, and to me the most “controversial” point in the song is the reference to people “who would go to church but left me in the street.” Maybe that “stepping on the toes” of the good church folk was the bigger objection after all. Bed of Rose’s Written by Harold Reid Recorded by the Statler Brothers From Bed of Rose’s, 1971 She was a handsome woman: