65 Roses (song)
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| "65 Roses" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Lee J Collier | |
| from the album Don't Call Me Madam or I'll Send You an Invoice! | |
| Released | 2001 |
| Recorded | 2001 |
| Genre | Country[1] |
| Songwriter | Lee J Collier |
"65 Roses" is a 2001 song about cystic fibrosis written and performed by Australian singer Lee J Collier. The song is about a young girl who cannot pronounce "cystic fibrosis", instead calling it "sixty-five roses", only to learn the correct pronunciation when she grows older. The song won Collier the New Songwriters Award at the 2002 Tamworth Songwriters Awards.
The same year, Australian band Wolverines recorded the song with a few lyric changes and released it as a single. Due to promotional complications between LJ Hooker (a sponsor of Cystic Fibrosis Australia) and the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), the song stalled at number 23 on the ARIA Singles Chart in July. A re-release in 2002 failed to make a significant impact in Australia, but in New Zealand, the single reached number one in May, becoming the band's only hit outside Australia.
"65 Roses" was written by Australian singer Lee J Collier in 2001.[1] The song is about a young girl who is told by her parents that her older sister has cystic fibrosis. However, she misunderstands the condition's name and calls it "sixty-five roses" instead.[1] This leads her to believe that flowers are causing her sister's fatigue and breathlessness, which baffles her. When she gets older, she finally begins to understand her sister has "cystic fibrosis", not "sixty-five roses", and why her parents were teary-eyed when they told her about the condition. Realizing the truth, the girl wishes her sister had roses instead.[1]
Collier's original version was praised by many organisations, and she received numerous awards, including the Tamworth Songwriters Association Award for Songwriter of the Year and Contemporary Country Song of the Year, in 2002.[1][2] The song was later included on her album Don't Call Me Madam or I'll Send You An Invoice!, and she has performed the song at many cystic fibrosis fundraisers.[1]
