Wild Mountain Thyme
Robyn Hitchcock and The Egyptians Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And the leaves are sweetly turning
And the wild mountain thyme
Grows around the purple heather.
Will you go, lassie, go?
If you will not go with me
You know, I'd surely find another
From all around the purple heather.
Will you go, lassie, go?
And we'll all go together
To pull the wild mountain thyme,
From all around the purple heather.
Will you go, lassie, go?
I will build my love a shrine
At foot of the fountain
O and on it I will pile,
All the flowers of the mountain.
Will you go, lassie, go?
And we'll all go together
To pull the wild mountain thyme,
From all around the purple heather.
Will you go, lassie, go?
The song "Wild Mountain Thyme" by Robyn Hitchcock and The Egyptians is a rendition of the traditional Scottish folk song. The lyrics describe the beauty of summertime and the blooming of wild mountain thyme, which grows around purple heather. The singer asks a girl, or "lassie," to accompany him to pull the thyme from the heather. If she doesn't want to go with him, he will find another girl to join him in the task. He promises to build a shrine for his love at the foot of the fountain and adorn it with all the flowers of the mountain.
The song's simple yet emotive lyrics express a sense of yearning for companionship and the splendor of nature. It has become a popular cover song among folk and folk-rock artists and has been recorded by artists like Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, and the Irish band The Chieftains. The song's theme of seeking love and connection in nature resonated with the counterculture movement of the 1960s and has been a favorite of hippies and folk music fans ever since.
Line by Line Meaning
O the summer time is coming
The season of summer is approaching
And the leaves are sweetly turning
The leaves on trees are changing colors beautifully
And the wild mountain thyme
A plant called wild mountain thyme
Grows around the purple heather.
It grows near the purple heather plants
Will you go, lassie, go?
Asking the person (lassie) if they want to go somewhere with the artist
If you will not go with me
If you choose not to accompany me
You know, I'd surely find another
The singer would find another person to go with if necessary
To pull wild mountain thyme,
To collect the wild mountain thyme plant
From all around the purple heather.
It grows near the purple heather plants
Will you go, lassie, go?
Asking the person (lassie) again if they want to go somewhere with the artist
And we'll all go together
Everyone will go together
To pull the wild mountain thyme,
To collect the wild mountain thyme plant
From all around the purple heather.
It grows near the purple heather plants
Will you go, lassie, go?
Asking the person (lassie) again if they want to go somewhere with the singer
I will build my love a shrine
The singer will construct a building for their love interest
At foot of the fountain
The shrine will be built near a fountain
O and on it I will pile,
The artist will stack things on the shrine
All the flowers of the mountain.
The flowers from the mountain will be placed on the shrine
Will you go, lassie, go?
Asking the person (lassie) one more time if they want to go somewhere with the singer
And we'll all go together
Everyone will go together
To pull the wild mountain thyme,
To collect the wild mountain thyme plant
From all around the purple heather.
It grows near the purple heather plants
Will you go, lassie, go?
Asking the person (lassie) one last time if they want to go somewhere with the singer
Contributed by Avery F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Gogiggs64
I love this song. I love this version. I love Robyn Hitchcock.
Please live long enough for me to see you play again.
Nick R O'Philiac
I first knew and loved this song via the Byrds but this version stands alone and apart as something rather wonderful in its own right