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 both had Number one hits with the song.

"The Rose"
Single by Amanda McBroom
from the album Dreaming
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]

Chart performance

7" Single

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

Chart performance
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
FormatCassette, CD
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.

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

Westlife version
"The Rose"
Single by Westlife
from the album The Love Album
ReleasedNovember 6, 2006
FormatCD Single, digital download
Recorded2006, Studio 301, Stockholm, Sweden & Metropolis Studio, London
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 debuted at number 143 on its first week before reaching #1 on its second week making it as one of their highest leapers in their UK Singles Chart recorded history with "Unbreakable", "Mandy" and "Us Against the World".[15] This became the group's 14th number-one single, making them one of the top three acts in the history of the UK charts in terms of number one hits. The single has sold over 200,000 copies in Britain so far. The band gave their first live performance of the song on Miss World 2006 and later performed it on their The Love Tour. On 12 May 2018, the song was performed on South Korean music programme 'Immortal Songs 2' by Eric Nam. Band member Shane Filan was the featured 'Legend' and judged the participants.

Track listing
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

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.

Charts

Weekly charts
Chart (2006, 2013) Peak
position[16]
Austrian Singles Chart 67
Danish Airplay Chart 49
European Hot 100 Singles[17] 4
Ireland Download (GfK Chart-Track)[18] 5
Irish Singles Chart 1
Russia Airplay (Tophit)[19] 203
Scottish Singles Chart[20] 1
South Korea (Gaon Weekly BGM Chart)[21] 58
Sweden Singles Chart 4
Swiss Singles Chart 85
UK Singles Chart 1
UK Download (Official Charts Company)[22] 5

Year-end charts
Chart (2006) Position
Ireland (IRMA)[23] 18
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[24] 29
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[25] 62

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 sings the song as a family road trip song.

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. "HART: CLUK Update 11.11.2006 (wk44) CHART LOG UK: NEW ENTRIES UPDATE". zobbel.de. 2018-04-29. Retrieved 2018-10-16.
  16. Steffen Hung. "Westlife - The Rose". Swisscharts.com. Retrieved 2016-10-16.
  17. https://www.billboard.com/music/westlife/chart-history/european-hot-100
  18. "TOP 20 DOWNLOADS, WEEK ENDING 23 November 2006". GfK. Archived from the original on 4 February 2019. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  19. "Russia Airplay Chart for 2006-11-13." Tophit.
  20. "Official Scottish Singles Chart Top 100 | Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved 2016-10-16.
  21. "Gaon Weekly BGM Chart". Gaon Chart (in Korean). Korea Music Content Industry Association. Archived from the original on January 12, 2015. Retrieved July 5, 2019.
  22. "Official Singles Downloads Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  23. "Best of Singles 2006". IRMA. Retrieved May 30, 2019.
  24. "Årslista Singlar – År 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 May 30, 2019. Select singles in the Format field. Select Silver in the Certification field. Type The Rose in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  27. Morehead, Jason (February 20, 2016). "The Final Scene in Studio Ghibli's Only Yesterday Is Perfect". Opus.
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