Mighty Lak' a Rose

"Mighty Lak' a Rose" is a 1901 song with lyrics by Frank Lebby Stanton and music by Ethelbert Nevin.

The lyrics are written in an approximation of an African American accent as a "dialect song", and the title thus means "mighty like a rose".

It was common at the time for white families to hire trusted black women to care for their children.

The tune became a Tin Pan Alley hit, with versions by George Alexander (1903), Marguerite Dunlap (1911), and Geraldine Farrar (1916),[1] and it was a perennial of pop music for generations.

Other notable recordings include those by Bing Crosby (recorded December 4, 1945),[4] Jane Powell, Lillian Nordica, Geraldine Farrar, Vincent Lopez, Paul Robeson, Art Tatum, Wilbur DeParis, Nina Simone, Petula Clark, John McCormack, Henry Burr, and Roger Whittaker.