Sounds like a dying soldier in Medieval times asking someone to find his once true love at Scarborough Fair, and he is requesting that she does things for his burial (find an acre of land on a hillside, that she makes him a cambric shirt). Scarborough is a very old and beautiful seaside town in Northern England. Whatever it means, this version by Simon and Garfunkel is one of the most beautiful songs ever recorded. I love listening to it.
Greetings from Canada. Scarborough is a town in Yorkshire, north England. A Fair is an annual market with entertainment (parades, dancing, singing, awards for best pies or cheese, best cows and pigs, three-legged races and so on). Hi Fay... funny algorithm. Peace, love and bellbottoms.
Only a true master can assemble a piece like this in such a complex and mesmerizing canticle format. The several balanced melodies and lyrics intertwine between each other in such a subtle and perfectly balanced format that it might easily be overlooked. The listener literally just falls into the song and is drawn along on this sojourn without volition fully hypnotized while at the same time bewildered about the story behind the lyrics. What does it mean? i don't know but am eager to jump on this journey again and again. Amazing, just amazing! Thanks! 😊😊😊😊
The roots of "Scarborough Fair" trace as far back in time as 1670. In terms of pop music, Simon & Garfunkel went into deep time on this one, and pulled it off with style! "Remember me to one who lives there \ For she once was a true love of mine" -- Bob Dylan released his take on the tune as the song "Girl from the North Country". And for another sixties take on the ancient marketplace, also check out Fairport Convention "She Moves Through The Fair".
Scarborough Fair is a traditional English folk song that Paul Simon learned in England in the 1960s (he garbles the lyrics somewhat, but it is a series of impossible tasks) - here it is interleaved with a second song, Canticle. Scarborough is a town in the north of England - most towns would have annual fairs,when people came together to buy and sell produce.
May I add that some of the words from the Canticle part come from another Paul Simon song, The Side of a Hill, about the terror and futility of war. To me, interweaving a love song with such delicate images and a song about war create quite a striking contrast. On that same album, S&G did something similar by playing a reading of the 6 O'Clock News with its tragic stories over the Christmas song, Silent Night.
Fay, in the song Scarborough is a city in England and they have a fair (or maybe more than one fair, I don't know), so the narrator is asking basically, "are you going to the fair in Scarborough?
I thought a line of this sounded like a line out of "Girl From the North Country" by Dylan. After some research it looks like Dylan "borrowed" from this song for "North Country". I think it's around "She'll be a true love of mine", also "Remember me to one who lives there", Dylan has almost these exact lines in "Girl From the North Country". Fay, please react to "Girl From the North Country" (the duet with Johnny Cash is the best version) and also "North Country Blues" by Dylan, (live version at Newport Folk Festival, 1963). YOU WON'T BE DISAPPOINTED!
This is just my interpretation MPWA. By combining two songs and thank you John Clibbens for your information. Our boys Simon and Garfield have woven a complex story of war and love. A fair in this sense is much like the farmer's market you and I have discussed. And we are hearing a seller calling out his products, "Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme." That background sound is the substance of our man's memories from a time when he had a true love. The singing of a battle, and a grave upon a hill. To me, tells us this man will and has died. We are hearing his last words. A request. "Are you going to Scarborough Fair?" Please find this woman I loved and have her weave me a clean shirt to be buried in.
I don’t know the meanings myself, but back in medieval times, the herbs had specific meanings, like for instance, Thyme meant courage. I think you could Google the other plants to get what they symbolize, but that knowledge doesn’t really add much to your understanding of the song, imo. I never knew what the words in the Canticle part were, let alone what they meant as a child, but that never lessened my enjoyment of one of the most beautiful songs ever sung. ❤
Thanks for this info, i will check out the other herbs just for my own knowledge. Sure sometimes we don't need to understand the song or know the words to enjoy it. Music is a universal language. It speaks to the soul.
Sounds like a dying soldier in Medieval times asking someone to find his once true love at Scarborough Fair, and he is requesting that she does things for his burial (find an acre of land on a hillside, that she makes him a cambric shirt). Scarborough is a very old and beautiful seaside town in Northern England. Whatever it means, this version by Simon and Garfunkel is one of the most beautiful songs ever recorded. I love listening to it.
Greetings from Canada. Scarborough is a town in Yorkshire, north England. A Fair is an annual market with entertainment (parades, dancing, singing, awards for best pies or cheese, best cows and pigs, three-legged races and so on). Hi Fay... funny algorithm. Peace, love and bellbottoms.
Only a true master can assemble a piece like this in such a complex and mesmerizing canticle format. The several balanced melodies and lyrics intertwine between each other in such a subtle and perfectly balanced format that it might easily be overlooked. The listener literally just falls into the song and is drawn along on this sojourn without volition fully hypnotized while at the same time bewildered about the story behind the lyrics. What does it mean? i don't know but am eager to jump on this journey again and again. Amazing, just amazing! Thanks! 😊😊😊😊
The roots of "Scarborough Fair" trace as far back in time as 1670. In terms of pop music, Simon & Garfunkel went into deep time on this one, and pulled it off with style! "Remember me to one who lives there \ For she once was a true love of mine" -- Bob Dylan released his take on the tune as the song "Girl from the North Country". And for another sixties take on the ancient marketplace, also check out Fairport Convention "She Moves Through The Fair".
Scarborough Fair is a traditional English folk song that Paul Simon learned in England in the 1960s (he garbles the lyrics somewhat, but it is a series of impossible tasks) - here it is interleaved with a second song, Canticle. Scarborough is a town in the north of England - most towns would have annual fairs,when people came together to buy and sell produce.
May I add that some of the words from the Canticle part come from another Paul Simon song, The Side of a Hill, about the terror and futility of war. To me, interweaving a love song with such delicate images and a song about war create quite a striking contrast. On that same album, S&G did something similar by playing a reading of the 6 O'Clock News with its tragic stories over the Christmas song, Silent Night.
@@johno1765 Yes, that’s another beautiful song.
I love this song! Thank you for covering it.
Hello from Scarborough
Fay, in the song Scarborough is a city in England and they have a fair (or maybe more than one fair, I don't know), so the narrator is asking basically, "are you going to the fair in Scarborough?
I thought a line of this sounded like a line out of "Girl From the North Country" by Dylan. After some research it looks like Dylan "borrowed" from this song for "North Country". I think it's around "She'll be a true love of mine", also "Remember me to one who lives there", Dylan has almost these exact lines in "Girl From the North Country".
Fay, please react to "Girl From the North Country" (the duet with Johnny Cash is the best version) and also "North Country Blues" by Dylan, (live version at Newport Folk Festival, 1963). YOU WON'T BE DISAPPOINTED!
It uses old English terms and references. It's done in an old English madrigal style. Harpsichord, flute & chimes.
This is just my interpretation MPWA. By combining two songs and thank you John Clibbens for your information. Our boys Simon and Garfield have woven a complex story of war and love.
A fair in this sense is much like the farmer's market you and I have discussed. And we are hearing a seller calling out his products, "Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme." That background sound is the substance of our man's memories from a time when he had a true love.
The singing of a battle, and a grave upon a hill. To me, tells us this man will and has died. We are hearing his last words. A request. "Are you going to Scarborough Fair?" Please find this woman I loved and have her weave me a clean shirt to be buried in.
In the lyrics he gives his former love a series of impossible tasks to complete. It seems he does not want her back.
Or to leave his site?
Who would want her back after what she did?
Greetings from italy❤
This song is very old, as in hundreds of years.
The Celtic Women do a beautiful version as well.
I don’t know the meanings myself, but back in medieval times, the herbs had specific meanings, like for instance, Thyme meant courage. I think you could Google the other plants to get what they symbolize, but that knowledge doesn’t really add much to your understanding of the song, imo. I never knew what the words in the Canticle part were, let alone what they meant as a child, but that never lessened my enjoyment of one of the most beautiful songs ever sung. ❤
Thanks for this info, i will check out the other herbs just for my own knowledge. Sure sometimes we don't need to understand the song or know the words to enjoy it. Music is a universal language. It speaks to the soul.
Hi i'd recommend Hayley Westenra's cover of "Scarborough Fair".
it only proves ONE thing - ANYBODY can write a song !! ... all you need is a paper & pen ... and wait for the millions !!
❤❤❤
Sorry Faye, the original does not sound like this?