Scarborough fair
Trafton Lyrics
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Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Remember me to one who lives there
He once was a true love of mine
Tell him to make me a cambric shirt
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Without no seams nor needle work
Tell him to find me an acre of land
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Between salt water and the sea strands
Then he'll be a true love of mine
Tell him to reap it with a sickle of leather
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
And gather it all in a bunch of heather
Then he'll be a true love of mine
Are you going to Scarborough Fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Remember me to one who lives there
He once was a true love of mine
The song Scarborough Fair is a traditional English ballad that dates back to the medieval era. The lyrics offer a series of impossible tasks that must be accomplished for the singer's true love to be proven. The singer implores the person they are addressing – likely a traveling fair-goer – to deliver a message to a former lover who lives in Scarborough. The refrain "Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme" acts as a sort of lyrical timestamp, reflecting the importance of these herbs in medieval times both medicinally and mystically.
The first task is for the lover to make a cambric shirt without any seams or needlework, which is a reference to a mythical shirt that was said to give the wearer invincibility. The second task asks for an impossible amount of land, an acre between the sea and the salt water border. The third task is for the lover to reap the land with a sickle of leather and gather it in a bunch of heather. These lyrical tasks are alluding to various folk traditions of the time and the impossibility of fulfilling them serves to show the singer's sense of loss and longing for a lost love.
One theory suggests that the song is related to the legend of The Ballad of Earl Richard, which is a story of murder, guilt, confession, penance, and redemption from the 13th-century featuring a woman who travels "from the east" and "asks impossible tasks" of her former lover.
Line by Line Meaning
Are you going to Scarborough Fair?
Will you be attending the Scarborough Fair event?
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Listing off these common herbs for use in the following requests.
Remember me to one who lives there
Pass along my greetings to someone living in Scarborough.
He once was a true love of mine
I loved this person in the past.
Tell him to make me a cambric shirt
Requesting a specific type of shirt be made.
Without no seams nor needle work
The shirt must be seamless and not sewn.
Then he'll be a true love of mine
If he fulfills this request, my love for him will be rekindled.
Tell him to find me an acre of land
Asking for land to be obtained.
Between salt water and the sea strands
The land should ideally be located between the ocean and a body of saltwater.
Tell him to reap it with a sickle of leather
When the land is obtained, it should be harvested with a specific tool.
And gather it all in a bunch of heather
The harvested items should be grouped together in a specific manner.
Then he'll be a true love of mine
If he fulfills this request, my love for him will be rekindled.
Are you going to Scarborough Fair?
Repeating the initial question.
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Reiterating the herbs previously mentioned.
Remember me to one who lives there
Repeating the request to pass along greetings.
He once was a true love of mine
Reiterating past love.
Writer(s): evan gordon, trafton
Contributed by Hailey H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Paige
on Lake House Poem
When the cold sets in
We can dress for it
When the pavement ends
My body notices
But when yours started caving in
Nothing I could say would save it
All of those days blend together somehow
Don't have much fate in forever so now
I think of us and the seventies couch
Awake in the lake house
People keep changing like cumulus clouds
Some float way up and then never come down
Maybe they're lost and don't wanna be found like us
In the lake house
Where the hills begin
There's an emptiness
When you fell in love with it
My body witnesses
With all that quiet pressing in
And nothing I could say would break it
All of those days blend together somehow
Don't have much fate in forever so now
I think of us and the seventies couch
Awake in the lake house
You keep on changing like cumulus clouds
How far up are you? When will you come down?
Maybe you're lost and don't wanna be found
Dizzy and dying like us in the lake house Us in the lake house
Like us in the lake house
Like us in the lake house
Like us in the lake house
Maybe if we pick some words to repeat
Chanting their sounds as we're falling asleep
We could wake up and just know what they mean
Try to say nice things but we still sound so mean
So you should keep running 'til you can not breathe
You'll get nowhere but lost in the streets
You could be strong but it's likely you're weak
I could be wrong but I'm not usually
And I hope one day we'll end up in between
But for right now common ground I can't see
It's probably part of the floor of the sea
I won't and god knows you can't swim that deep for me
Can't swim that deep for me
Can't swim that deep for me
Can't swim that deep for me
It's just that lately
I've been angry
Though I can't seem
To find all my reasons in times when I need them
So sorry
It's only
That I'm lonely
And if I had you the way I wanted to then I wouldn't be
Then I wouldn't be
I wouldn't be