The Riddle Song
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"The Riddle Song," also known as "I Gave My Love a Cherry," is an American folk song, apparently a lullaby, from the Appalachians.[1] It descends from a 15th-century song in which a maiden says she is advised to unite with her lover.[2] It is related to Child Ballad no. 1, or "Riddles Wisely Expounded"[3] and Child Ballad no. 46[4] Burl Ives recorded it on 11 February 1941[5] for his debut album, Okeh Presents the Wayfaring Stranger. Since then, it has been recorded by many artists, including Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, Doc Watson, Sam Cooke, and Carly Simon.[6]
Some have seen the song's "cherry that has no stone" as a reference to the hymen, and some have even tried to reconstruct an original bawdy version from which modern versions are supposedly bowdlerized.[4] However, the 15th-century version already has "the cherye with-outyn ony ston", whereas the relevant slang sense of "cherry" is not attested till the early 20th century,[7], so singers could not have had it in mind in much earlier times. The other riddles in the original do not resemble the "reconstructions".
[edit] Media
- Riddle Song (file info) — play in browser (beta)
- One version of the Riddle Song.
- Problems listening to the file? See media help.
[edit] References
- ^ Digital Tradition Folk Music Database: Appalachian version
- ^ Digital Tradition Folk Music Database: Medieval version
- ^ Niles, John Jacob (1960). The Ballad Book of John Jacob Niles. New York: Dover Publications, Inc. ISBN 0-486-22716-2.
- ^ a b Thread at Mudcat discussions
- ^ Naxos: Link
- ^ iTunes: Music Store
- ^ New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary
[edit] See also
Carly Simon, Into White, 2007
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