Flowers
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If April showers bring May flowers, then now is the perfect time to refresh your playlists with a bouquet of songs about nature’s prettiest, petaled plants.
And luckily, flowers have served as inspiration for countless tracks over the decades. It’s easy to see why; from roses to buttercups and daisies, each of the colorful creations is a gorgeous work of art that usually smells as beautiful as it looks, their visual elegance translating delicately to lyrical beauty when referenced in song. You’ll notice them sprouting up in love songs in particular, because after all, is there anything sweeter to compare a romantic muse to than a flower?
But in addition to looking and smelling pretty, flowers hold a lot of symbolism, too. In general, they represent life, love, new beginnings, rebirth and, at times, death. We hand out bouquets to congratulate friends on jobs well done, gift them on Valentines Days and anniversaries to say “I love you,” and — be it at weddings or funerals — surround ourselves with blossoming arrangements to commemorate both the best and worst moments of our lives. Flowers have been infusing meaning into our days for as long as humans have been around, which means songwriters have abundant opportunities for metaphor and wordplay when incorporating the plants into their musical creations.
So to celebrate one of the best parts of May and springtime, Billboard has rounded up some of the best songs ever made about flowers, from modern pop hits to timeless classics and more. Allow your musical collection to blossom by checking out our picks, listed in no particular order, below.
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Katy Perry, “Daisies”
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo With a title that matches the name of Katy Perry’s daughter, Daisy, this Smile anthem finds the star reclaiming her power and pledging to never compromise her true self until she’s, well, pushing up daisies. “They tell me that I’m crazy, but I’ll never let ’em change me,” sings Perry, who would bring an actual daisy with her on her all-woman Blue Origin flight to space five years later.
Listen above.
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Ariana Grande, “Dandelion”
A bonus track from the deluxe edition of her Eternal Sunshine album, “Dandelion” finds Grande inviting a lover to let her make all of his wishes come true akin to the ritual of blowing wishes away with dandelion seeds. But she also warns with this turn of phrase: “Boy, just don’t blow this.”
Listen here.
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Post Malone feat. Swae Lee, “Sunflower”
Post Malone and Swae Lee’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse collaboration sounds just as sunny and inviting as its namesake, but the love they sing about on the track is a little more dark and complicated than what meets the ear. “Then you’re left in the dust, unless I stuck by ya,” they sing. “You’re the sunflower, I think your love would be too much.”
Listen here.
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Billie Eilish, “Wildflower”
Billie Eilish has said that “Wildflower” is one of her favorites on third album Hit Me Hard and Soft (it’s one of Billboard‘s, too), and for good reason. Though she never says the song’s title in the lyrics, it’s easy to guess at her intended meaning, with Eilish enviously describing her boyfriend’s ex as “happy and free” — much like the flowers that grow unbothered in the wild. (There’s also the fact that Devon Lee Carlson, who previously dated Eilish’s ex Jesse Rutherford of the band The Neighbourhood, owns a phone accessory line called Wildflower Cases).
Listen here.
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Rodgers and Hammerstein, “Edelweiss”
Both haunting and gentle, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s widely known “Edelweiss” lullaby from The Sound of Music pays homage to one of the most distinct symbols of Austria. Blossom of snow, may you bloom and grow forever.
Listen here.
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Seal, “Kiss From a Rose”
Oh, to be compared to a kiss from a rose, as Seal does with his love interest on this single from his eponymous sophomore album. Topping the Billboard Hot 100 in 1995, “Kiss From a Rose” remains the English singer-songwriter’s signature hit.
Listen here.
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Hayley Williams, “Roses/Lotus/Violet/Iris”
“Roses/Lotus/Violet/Iris” is one of many tracks on album Petals for Armor that find Hayley Williams in full bloom. On this form-shifting anthem, the Paramore frontwoman rejects the urge to compare herself to other women, pointing out that different types of flowers, while looking nothing alike, are all still beautiful.
Listen here.
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The Foundations, “Build Me Up Buttercup”
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo Like most buttercup flowers, “Build Me Up Buttercup” is perennial — a timeless classic that remains an enduring hit with each passing year. The Foundations recorded and released the track in 1969 for their album of the same name, blooming at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 as the group’s biggest career hit on the chart.
Listen above.
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The Lumineers, “Flowers in Your Hair”
On this opening track from The Lumineers self-titled 2012 album, Wesley Schultz and Jeremiah Fraites use the image of a girl with flowers in her hair to represent the bygone days of childhood innocence.
Listen here.
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Harry Styles, “Sunflower, Vol. 6”
Sunflowers are some of the warmest and most welcoming flowers, but they only stay in bloom for a few weeks. On his Fine Line deep cut of the same name, Harry Styles seems to reflect on a relationship that was similarly short and sweet, singing, “Sunflowers just died/ Keep it sweet in your memory.”
Listen here.
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Tom Petty, “Wildflowers”
Dedicated to a love interest who just can’t be pinned down — or possibly to himself — Tom Petty encourages the subject of this signature tune to run off and be as free as the wildflowers that sprout in the woods, meadows and wetlands, uninhibited by polite society.
Listen here.
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The White Stripes, “Blue Orchid”
Both the lyrics to “Blue Orchid” and its spooky music video leave a lot up for interpretation, with the ideas of color and affecting change popping up repeatedly. “You took a white orchid, turned it blue,” Jack White sings in falsetto over Meg White’s pounding drums on the track, which reached No. 43 on the Billboard Hot 100 — one of the duo’s three career entries on the chart.
Listen here.
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The Grateful Dead, “Sugar Magnolia”
Head’s all empty, and I don’t care! One of the Dead’s most well-known songs, “Sugar Magnolia” finds the band transporting listeners to a “sunshine daydream” where sweet blossoms and roses bloom freely, a magical world curated by an ethereal love interest who only leaves everything delightful in her wake.
Listen here.
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Outkast, “Roses”
The Caroline in this song is anything but sweet, with Outkast’s André 3000 and Big Boi spending the duration of this 2004 hit reminding a stuck-up girl that, just like everyone else, her No. 2s don’t exactly smell like roses. (“I know you like to think your s–t don’t stank, but lean a little bit closer …”)
Listen here.
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Miley Cyrus, “Flowers”
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo Come on, you knew this song was going to be on here. Miley Cyrus’ Grammy-winning hit from 2023 album Endless Summer Vacation spent eight weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming a widely known battlecry for all who have discovered the power of acts of self-love — like buying flowers for yourself, as the song’s hook directs — after a break up.
Listen above.