He was born in Hatfield and grew up in Hampstead, London. After training as an actor he sang in coffee bars. He became a resident at the Troubador folk club in Earls Court in the late 1950s. He joined Redd Sullivan's Thameside Four in 1961. He is a renowned solo performer of traditional songs in a very distinctive style, accompanying himself on his trusty old Martin Guitar; his style is marked by the use of alternate tunings, and a strongly percussive picking style that emphasizes the melody. His debut album, Martin Carthy, was released in 1965, and also featured Dave Swarbrick playing fiddle on some tracks, although he was not mentioned in the album's sleeve notes.
He has also been involved with many musical collaborations. He has sung with The Watersons since 1972, was an early member of the UK folk rock group Steeleye Span, and was part of the innovative Brass Monkey ensemble, which mixed a range of brass instruments with Carthy's guitar and mandolin and John Kirkpatrick's accordion, melodeon and concertina.
For many years Carthy has enjoyed a creative partnership with fiddle player Dave Swarbrick. More recently, Waterson:Carthy has provided the forum for a successful partnership with partner Norma Waterson together with their daughter Eliza Carthy.
In June 1998 he was awarded the MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours. He was named Folk Singer of the Year at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in 2002, and again in 2005 when he also won the award for Best Traditional Track for 'Famous Flower of Serving Men'.
The False Lover Won Back
Martin Carthy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And low in yonder town;
In the place where my love nifty dwell,
The sun goes never down.
"Go and saddle to me the black and the blank,
Go and saddle to me the brown,
That I may ride around here, girl,
"Oh, but when will you come back again?
And when will you be home?"
"When the heather hills are nine times burnt
And all grow green again."
"Oh, but that's too long to stay away,
That's too long from your home.
And the babe that lies in my true side
Will be too long want his name."
But he turned his high horse all about
And fast away rode he,
And she's kilted up her gay clothing
And fast, fast followed she.
Crying, "Love for love that I do want
And love for love again.
Oh it's hard that I like you so well
And you not me again."
And the very first town that they come to,
Oh, he's bought her a broach and a ring.
And he's bid her rue and get along now,
No more follow him.
"But it's love for love that I do want
And love for love again.
It's hard that I like you so well
And you not me again."
But the very next town that they come to,
Oh, he's bought her hose and shoen.
And he's bid her rue and get along now,
No more follow him.
"But it's love for love that I do want
And love for love again.
Oh, it's hard that I like you so well
And you not me again."
And the very next town that they come to,
Oh, he's bought her a wedding ring.
And he's bid her dry up her rosy cheeks
And she should follow him.
"For it's love for love that I do want
And love for love again.
And there's none for you but me, dear girl,
None for you but me.
"There's comfort for the comfortless,
There's honey for the bee;
And there's none for me but you, dear girl,
None for you but me.
"And it's love for love that I have got
And love for love again.
So turn your high horse head about
And we will head for home."
The lyrics of "The False Lover Won Back" by Martin Carthy tell the story of a man who leaves his lover and is pursued by her. The first stanza sets the scene, describing the sun shining on a hill and town where his lover resides. He requests two horses to ride around the town, and his lover asks when he will be back. He responds that he will return only after the heather hills have burned nine times and grown green again, indicating that his return will not be soon. The lover protests, saying that he will be away from their home and their child for too long.
However, the man rides away, and the lover follows him, despite the difficulties she faces in catching up to him. At each town they come to, he buys her a gift but tells her to continue on without him. She begs him to return her love and stay with her, but his response remains the same: he only wants love for love and doesn't return her feelings. Eventually, he buys her a wedding ring and tells her that he loves her, and they ride home together.
The story reflects common themes in traditional folk songs, including love, loss, and perseverance. The repetition of the phrase "love for love again" emphasizes the idea that the singer wants a mutual, equal relationship rather than one in which he is pursued and does not reciprocate feelings.
Line by Line Meaning
Oh, the sun shines high on yonder hill,
The sun is shining bright in the place where the singer's love is not present.
And low in yonder town;
The town where the singer’s love resides is dark and gloomy.
In the place where my love nifty dwell,
My lover resides in a never-never land.
The sun goes never down.
My love is forever sheltered from misery.
"Go and saddle to me the black and the blank,
Get me the horses so that I can go for a ride.
Go and saddle to me the brown,
I need the brown horse.
That I may ride around here, girl,
So that I can roam around everywhere.
When the heather hills are nine times burnt
I will come when everything around me is at its lowest moment and is beginning to recover.
And all grow green again."
And I can see that things have started to grow green again.
"Oh, but that's too long to stay away,
That time frame is too long for me to stay away.
That's too long from your home.
I cannot afford to be away from my love for that long.
And the babe that lies in my true side
The baby who remains with me needs his name to be acknowledged.
Will be too long want his name."
It will be difficult if his name is not Established.
But he turned his high horse all about
The man turned his horse around.
And fast away rode he,
And he quickly started to ride away.
And she's kilted up her gay clothing
The woman put on her fancy clothes.
And fast, fast followed she.
And she started to follow him as quickly as possible.
Crying, "Love for love that I do want
I want love in return.
And love for love again.
Equal love is what I want.
Oh it's hard that I like you so well
It is hard to love someone so much when they do not love you in return.
And you not me again."
And you will not love me.
And the very first town that they come to,
They got to the first town.
Oh, he's bought her a broach and a ring.
He bought her gifts.
And he's bid her rue and get along now,
He asked her to go back.
No more follow him.
Stop following him.
"But it's love for love that I do want
The woman wanted love in return.
And love for love again.
Equal love is important to her.
It's hard that I like you so well
It’s tough, but I love you so much.
And you not me again."
But you do not reciprocate my feelings.
But the very next town that they come to,
They went to the next town.
Oh, he's bought her hose and shoen.
He purchased shoes and stockings for her.
And he's bid her rue and get along now,
He again urged her to go back.
No more follow him.
No more following him.
"But it's love for love that I do want
I still want love in return.
And love for love again.
My love should be reciprocated.
Oh, it's hard that I like you so well
Oh, it's challenging to love to someone who doesn't love you back.
And you not me again."
But you will not love me in return.
And the very next town that they come to,
They arrived at the following town.
Oh, he's bought her a wedding ring.
He bought her a wedding ring.
And he's bid her dry up her rosy cheeks
He ordered her to stop crying.
And she should follow him.
And she should follow him now.
"For it's love for love that I do want
I'm searching for love in return.
And love for love again.
Equality in love is important to me.
And there's none for you but me, dear girl,
No one else is there for her except him.
None for you but me.
Only him.
"There's comfort for the comfortless,
For those without love, there is comfort.
There's honey for the bee;
Similarly, bees get honey.
And there's none for me but you, dear girl,
The lady is the man's only love.
None for you but me.
Again, only him.
"And it's love for love that I have got
The man tells the woman that the love is mutual.
And love for love again.
He will love her in return.
So turn your high horse head about
So come back with me.
And we will head for home."
And we'll go home together.
Contributed by Brody K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
7777Scion
This was a very good performance - a great selection for Steeleye Span, too
eshiffer
Comfort for the comfortless, as honey for the bee...I greatly enjoy sinking into this song.
SweetSmoke21
Beautiful!!
Howell Osborne
Enjoyed very very much my friend! Thumbs up my friend!
~Howell