Volume 12 , Issue 14

Green Grow the Lilacs (A Folksong)

One version of Green Grow the Lilacs, the lyrics opens:
Chorus
Green grow the lilacs, all sparkling with dew
I'm lonely, my darling, since parting with you;
But by our next meeting IU'll hope to prove true
And change the green lilacs to the Red, White and Blue.

I once had a sweetheart, but now I have none
She's gone and she's left me, I care not for one
Since she's gone and left me, contented I'll be,
For she loves another one better than me.

Chorus
I passed my love's window, both early and late
The look that she gave me, it makes my heart ache;
Oh, the look that she gave me was painful to see,
For she loves another one better than me.

Chorus
I wrote my love letters in rosy red lines,
She sent me an answer all twisted and twined;
Saying,"Keep your love letters and I will keep mine
Just you write to your love and I'll write to mine.

This ballad was based on a similar song, Green Grows the Laurel, that was popular in 17th century Scotland. The American ballad tells the story of an American soldier's love for a Mexican lass. Though we do not have the words for the earlier version, it evidently had a similar theme, with different nationalities. There are countless versions of the song.

One story of the songs origin speculates that Cowboys in South Texas loved to sing the song. Across the way, Mexicans, who could not understand the words, could only hear "GREEN GROW." So white Americans became known as "Gringo" by the Mexicans. However ... other scholars date the term to the incursion of American troops in Mexico to search for Pancho Villa.

"Green Grow the Lilacs" was a 1931 play by Lynn Riggs and named for the popular folk song of the same name, Green Grow the Lilacs. It was performed 64 times on Broadway, opening on January 26, 1931 and closing March 21, 1931. It also played January 19, 1931 through January 24, 1931 at the National Theatre in Washington, D.C.

It was produced by the Theatre Guild and directed by Herbert J. Biberman.

The debonair, ultra-sophisticated actor Franchot Tone portrayed cowboy Curly. June Walker was seen as his sweetheart Laurey. Theatre Guild board member Helen Westley, who had appeared as Mrs. Muskat in the original Broadway production of Ferenc Moln?r's Liliom, played Aunt Eller. Lee Strasberg, later to become a renowned teacher of method acting, played the part of the Persian peddler.

The play also toured the Midwest, and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. It appeared at the "Dallas Little Theatre" during the week of March 7, 1932, and again in Dallas at the "Festival of Southwestern Plays," on May 10, 1935.

Green Grow the Lilacs was a folk song of Irish origin that was popular in the United States during the mid-1800s. The song title is familiar as the source of a dubious popular etymology for the word "gringo," supposedly being a Hispanicization of "green grow," which Mexicans certainly could have heard U.S. troops singing during the Mexican-American War.
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