“Two Dozen Roses”
Shenandoah
Written by Robert Byrne and Mac McAnally
Radio & Records
#1 (1 week)
December 1, 1989
Billboard
#1 (1 week)
December 16, 1989
Our protagonist might’ve half-assed things here, but the same can’t be said for everyone else involved.
“Two Dozen Roses” is an underachiever’s fumbling attempts to recover after his promises and gifts weren’t enough to rekindle the flame. The character is written with enough sympathy to make you root for him just a little bit, and then with Marty Raybon as the lead vocalist, the guy becomes even more endearing.
Not to get all meta here, but Raybon’s characters have been so consistently lovable that it’s easy to imagine this girl comes around, and she sticks around even after he barely makes it to the church on time. Now they’re happily married, running out of gas on back roads and bonding over barbecue chicken and the TV guide. If they get too comfortable, he might just get one of those line dancing videos he saw on TV to spice things up.
Shenandoah’s hits continued into the nineties, with No. 1 singles on three different labels. Continue reading about Shenandoah in our Every No. 1 Singles of the Nineties feature.
“Two Dozen Roses” gets an A.
Every No. 1 Single of the Eighties
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Hard to believe we just one more song left in the 80s. We got through the decade very slowly, but now it’s finally almost over, From “Leaving Louisiana In The Broad Daylight” to “Out of Your Shoes”, the 80’s were a great decade for Country Music, This is an incredible idea and feature. Kevin, You started at the right decades (90’s and 80’s). Take some time. Take some time OFF. I am SO looking forward to the 2000’s!!!!
The truth is that Marty Raybon’s voice and skill as a singer as such, that he can make almost any song palatable. This song strikes me as being really dumb, but with Raybon vocals it seems perfectly reasonable
I originally thought this was the Shenandoah song with video of the band performing on risers, or some sew-saw apparatus, that was all over CMT. Turns out my memory is faulty again. That video is for “Rock My Baby” from the early nineties.
This song is solid and sweet without an official video. It is right in the new country slot.
Shenandoah certainly found their own lane as a country band. They were not a harmony group like the Oaks or the Statler Brothers and they were not trying to play at sounding like Alabama. Thankfully, Exile didn’t seemingly factor into their influences at all.
They reset what a country music band could be, and this single is solid evidence of that.