Flowers on the Wall
"Flowers on the Wall" | ||||
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Single by The Statler Brothers | ||||
from the album Flowers on the Wall | ||||
B-side | "Billy Christian" | |||
Released | June 14, 1965 | |||
Recorded | March 13, 1965 | |||
Studio | Columbia, Nashville | |||
Genre | Country | |||
Length | 2:19 | |||
Label | Columbia 43315 | |||
Songwriter(s) | Lew DeWitt | |||
Producer(s) | Don Law and Frank Jones | |||
The Statler Brothers singles chronology | ||||
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"Flowers on the Wall" is a song originally recorded by American country music group The Statler Brothers. Written and composed by Lew DeWitt, the group's original tenor vocalist, the song peaked in popularity in January 1966, spending four weeks at number two on the Billboard magazine Hot Country Singles chart, and reaching number four on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
The song won the 1966 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary (R&R) Performance - Group (Vocal or Instrumental).[1]
The Statler Brothers re-recorded the song in 1975 for their first greatest-hits album for Mercury Records, The Best of The Statler Brothers.
Critical reception
In 2024, Rolling Stone ranked the song at #116 on its 200 Greatest Country Songs of All Time ranking.[2]
Charts
Chart (1965–66) | Peak position |
---|---|
Canada RPM Top Singles[3] | 1 |
New Zealand Singles Chart[4] | 2 |
South Africa (Springbok)[5] | 7 |
UK Singles Chart[6] | 38 |
US Billboard Hot 100[7] | 4 |
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[8] | 2 |
Eric Heatherly version
"Flowers on the Wall" | ||||
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Single by Eric Heatherly | ||||
from the album Swimming in Champagne | ||||
B-side | "Someone Else's Cadillac" | |||
Released | February 26, 2000 | |||
Genre | Country | |||
Length | 3:29 | |||
Label | Mercury | |||
Songwriter(s) | Lew DeWitt | |||
Producer(s) | Keith Stegall | |||
Eric Heatherly singles chronology | ||||
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Eric Heatherly recorded the song in 2000 for his debut album, Swimming in Champagne. Released as his debut single, Heatherly's rendition reached number six on the Hot Country Songs chart and number 50 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Charts
Chart (2000) | Peak position |
---|---|
Canada Country Tracks (RPM)[9] | 3 |
US Billboard Hot 100[10] | 50 |
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[11] | 6 |
Year-end charts
Chart (2000) | Position |
---|---|
US Country Songs (Billboard)[12] | 30 |
In popular culture
- The song (its 1975 version) is used in the soundtrack to the 1994 film Pulp Fiction.[13] In the film, Bruce Willis's character sings along to the line, "smoking cigarettes and watching Captain Kangaroo" as he is driving.
- The song is also referenced in the 1995 film Die Hard with a Vengeance where Bruce Willis's character says he was "working on a nice fat suspension, smoking cigarettes and watching Captain Kangaroo" .
- Kurt Vonnegut quotes the song's complete lyrics in his 1981 book Palm Sunday, calling the song "yet another great contemporary poem by the Statler Brothers" and using it to describe "the present condition" of an American man who had recently departed his family. "It is not a poem of escape or rebirth. It is a poem about the end of a man's usefulness", he adds.
- It is the theme song of the radio series Linda Smith's A Brief History of Timewasting.[14]
- The Muppets covered the song in 2015, sung by a group of rats called 'The Ratler Brothers'. The music video has Bunsen Honeydew testing an anti-insomnia sleep machine on Beaker to counteract the effects of all the coffee he drank, but it doesn't work. The chorus lyrics removed the reference to smoking and changed to match Beaker's antics until his chemicals explode and Bunsen finally gets to sleep.
References
- ^ "8th Annual GRAMMY Awards|1965 GRAMMYs|GRAMMY.com". Archived from the original on 2020-06-13. Retrieved 2021-03-30.
- ^ "The 200 Greatest Country Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. May 24, 2014.
- ^ RPM Top Singles, March 1, 1966
- ^ Flavour of New Zealand, 24 February 1966
- ^ "SA Charts 1965–March 1989". Retrieved 5 September 2018.
- ^ "officialcharts.com". officialcharts.com. Retrieved July 28, 2023.
- ^ "The Statler Brothers Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
- ^ "The Statler Brothers Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
- ^ "Top RPM Country Tracks: Issue 7185." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. July 10, 2000. Retrieved July 8, 2013.
- ^ "Eric Heatherly Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
- ^ "Eric Heatherly Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
- ^ "Best of 2000: Country Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 2000. Retrieved August 15, 2012.
- ^ "Surf Music and Seventies Soul: The Songs of 'Pulp Fiction'". Rolling Stone. 21 May 2014. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
- ^ Country Classics Revisted: The Statler Brothers Make Boredom Fun in 'Flowers on the Wall'
Further reading
- Whitburn, Joel, Top Country Songs: 1944-2005 (2006)
External links
- Both the 1966 and 1975 versions on YouTube
- v
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- Phil Balsley
- Lew DeWitt
- Jimmy Fortune
- Don Reid
- Harold Reid
- Flowers on the Wall
- Sing the Big Hits
- How Great Thou Art
- Bed of Rose's
- Pictures of Moments to Remember
- Short Stories
- Entertainers...On and Off the Record
- Christmas Card
- The Originals
- 10th Anniversary
- Years Ago
- The Legend Goes On
- Today
- Atlanta Blue
- Pardners in Rhyme
- Christmas Present
- Four for the Show
- Maple Street Memories
- "I Still Miss Someone"
- "Flowers on the Wall"
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- "Bed of Rose's"
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- "Do You Know You Are My Sunshine"
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- "Let's Get Started If We're Gonna Break My Heart"
- "More Than a Name on a Wall"