"Scarborough Fair / Canticle"
Are you going to Scarborough Fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme.
Remember me to one who lives there.
She once was a true love of mine.
You all know the song. It's a melodic ballad with a folk-music feel, with lyrics set against counter-lyrics, often just beyond hearing or comprehension.
Tell her to make me a cambric shirt,
(On the side of a hill in the deep forest green.)
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme;
(Tracing of sparrow on snow-crested brown.)
Without no seams nor needle work,
(Blankets and bedclothes the child of the mountain)
Then she'll be a true love of mine.
(Sleeps unaware of the clarion call.)
The entirety of the song is available on multiple online sources, and I encourage you to seek one out, possibly starting with the 'Related Web Page' noted at the top of this Cache Page.
"Scarborough Fair/Canticle" was released fifty years ago in October of 1966, and is the product of hundreds of years of musical mimicry and adaptation. The tune is typical of the Middle English period, an era spanning 400 years between 1100 and 1500 a.d. The lyrics, or at least the primary set, have been traced at least as far back as 1670, in the form of a Scottish Ballad called The Elfin Knight. By the end of the 18th century, dozens of versions of the song existed, and eventually one was learned by Martin Carthy, who released it on an album in 1965. Simon learned the song while working with Carthy in London in 1965.
In 1965, Simon & Garfunkel were early in their careers, having collaborated on a debut album, Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. and then broken up, only to get back together with new ideas. During their two-year period apart, Simon released a solo album containing a song called, The Side of a Hill. It is from this song that the haunting background lyrics are formed, making up the "Canticle" half of this popular song.
While "Scarborough Fair" deals with the aftermath of a broken love (older and longer versions of the song make it clear that both the man and the woman are weary of their former relationship, and will get back together only after each completes a series of impossible tasks), "Canticle" is a lightly masked war protest. The lyrics were adapted from an earlier song by Simon, called "The Side of a Hill", and tell of a cloud weeping over the grave of a seven-year-old child who was killed in an earlier battle, while a new war rages on below. Like the Peter, Paul and Mary song"Where Have All the Flowers Gone?", it begs the question, "When will we ever learn?"
So take the time to listen once more to the song, reading along with the lyrics, and ponder why Simon may have chosen to mix these two messages together.
Happy Caching!