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Flowers on the Wall

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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.

"Flowers on the Wall"
Single by The Statler Brothers
from the album Flowers on the Wall
B-side"Billy Christian"
ReleasedJune 14, 1965
RecordedMarch 13, 1965
StudioColumbia (Nashville, Tennessee)
GenreCountry
Length2:19
LabelColumbia 43315
Songwriter(s)Lew DeWitt
Producer(s)Don Law and Frank Jones
The Statler Brothers singles chronology
"Your Foolish Game"
(1964) 		"Flowers on the Wall"
(1965) 		"My Darling Hildegarde"
(1966)

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

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In 2024, Rolling Stone ranked the song at #116 on its 200 Greatest Country Songs of All Time ranking.[2]

Charts

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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

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"Flowers on the Wall"
Single by Eric Heatherly
from the album Swimming in Champagne
B-side"Someone Else's Cadillac"
ReleasedFebruary 26, 2000
GenreCountry
Length3:29
LabelMercury
Songwriter(s)Lew DeWitt
Producer(s)Keith Stegall
Eric Heatherly singles chronology
"Flowers on the Wall"
(2000) 		"Swimming in Champagne"
(2000)

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

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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

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Chart (2000) Position
US Country Songs (Billboard)[12] 30
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  • 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

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  1. ^ "8th Annual GRAMMY Awards|1965 GRAMMYs|GRAMMY.com". Archived from the original on 2020-06-13. Retrieved 2021-03-30.
  2. ^ "The 200 Greatest Country Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. May 24, 2014.
  3. ^ RPM Top Singles, March 1, 1966
  4. ^ Flavour of New Zealand, 24 February 1966
  5. ^ "SA Charts 1965–March 1989". Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  6. ^ "officialcharts.com". officialcharts.com. Retrieved July 28, 2023.
  7. ^ "The Statler Brothers Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  8. ^ "The Statler Brothers Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
  9. ^ "Top RPM Country Tracks: Issue 7185." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. July 10, 2000. Retrieved July 8, 2013.
  10. ^ "Eric Heatherly Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  11. ^ "Eric Heatherly Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
  12. ^ "Best of 2000: Country Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 2000. Retrieved August 15, 2012.
  13. ^ "Surf Music and Seventies Soul: The Songs of 'Pulp Fiction'". Rolling Stone. 21 May 2014. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
  14. ^ Country Classics Revisted: The Statler Brothers Make Boredom Fun in 'Flowers on the Wall'

Further reading

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  • Whitburn, Joel, Top Country Songs: 1944-2005 (2006)
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