[WARNING: This song contains antiquated racial stereotypes. It is presented here for historical and educational purposes only.]
A darktown botanical fascination, 1900
words by Walter H. Ford
music by John W. Bratton
Performed in vaudeville by Bertha Waltzinger
The sheet music:
Accompaniment:
Lyrics
1. I’d got a job a’tendin’ to de flowers
In a home my boss has got in Tennessee
But I think I spent the happiest of hours
When a vision peeked across de fence at me
She must ‘a been de one I’d been a prayin’ for
At night when sunflow’rs hides dere face from view
Now her bridal robes and trousseau I’m a payin’ for
And I calls her by a pet name, “Sunflow’r Sue”
Chorus
My Sunflower Sue, I loves yo’, loves yo’, yes, I do
And I’m gwine to wear yer picture near my heart
For yer’ eyes do shine so bright
Like de’ search lights in de night
And I loves yo’, my Sunflower Sue
2. De roses seemed de sweetest things I tended
And de pansies kept a lookin’ at me, too
But my dream of female loveliness was ended
When I saw her near the sunflow’rs lookin’ through
De marigolds and shrubs I ‘aint forsakenin’
I watches ’em just like I used to do
For a better feelin’ in my heart’s a-wakenin’
And dey grows a heap sight more for Sunflow’r Sue
Sung here by Fred Feild: