<P> The modified lyrics reference famous Confederate military commanders Joseph Johnston, P.G.T. Beauregard, and Robert E. Lee . Texan veterans sang it openly to mock Hood's mishandling of their Nashville campaign . </P> <P> In this version of the chorus, "soldier" replaced "darkey ." The same substitution is made throughout the song . </P> <P> In September 1955, for six weeks, Mitch Miller had a Billboard number one hit with "The Yellow Rose of Texas", and 13 months later, Miller's hit version was used for a key scene in the 1956 Texas - based film Giant . Miller's lyrics used "rosebud" and no words - except the term "yellow" - to indicate either Rose or the singer was a person of color . The 1955 song became a gold record . The song achieved the #2 position in the UK and the #1 position in Australia . </P> <P> There is also a children's text, following the same tune, with different lyrics: </P>

Who sings the song the yellow rose of texas