(I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden

"(I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden" was written by Joe South, a musical polymath who made a name for himself as a session guitarist (he played on Bob Dylan's 1966 Blonde On Blonde album) and songwriter. He wrote most of the songs on the country singer Billy Joe Royal's 1965 album Down In The Boondocks, including the hit title track. Royal was the first to record this song, including it on his album Billy Joe Royal Featuring "Hush" in 1967 ("Hush" was also written by South, later popularized by Deep Purple). Joe South included the song on his debut album, Introspect, in 1968. A year later, Dobie Gray's version went to #119 in America, but it was Lynn Anderson's sassy gender-swapped cover in 1970 that was the hit - she's letting the guy know he needs to manage his expectations and appreciate her. This rendition topped the Country chart for five weeks, went to #3 on the Hot 100, and was huge internationally, topping the charts in Canada, Australia, Germany, and several other countries.

"I never promised you a rose garden" is another way of saying "I never said it would be easy." The singer encourages her lover to enjoy the good times in their relationship because the bad times are inevitable ("Along with the sunshine there's gotta be a little rain sometime").

Because of lyrics like "I could promise you things like big diamond rings," Anderson's producer (and husband) Glenn Sutton considered this a man's song and tried to dissuade her from covering it. Only when they had some extra studio time left did he consider it for an album cut, but with some changes. They reworked the track with an uptempo arrangement that included a string section and mandolin. When Columbia Records' exec Clive Davis heard it, he insisted it be released as a single.