This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
There was a knight, and a lady bright
And three little babes had she
She sent them away, to a far country
To learn their grammerie
They hadn't been gone but a very short time
About three months and a day
When the lark spread o'er this whole wide world
And taken those babes away
It was on a cold, cold Christmas night
When everything was still
And she saw her three little babes come running
Come running down the hill
She set them a table of bread and wine
That they might drink and eat;
She spread them a bed of winding sheet
That they might sleep so sweet
"Take it off, take it off," cried the eldest one;
"Take it off, take it off," cried she
"For I shan't stay here, in this wicked world
When there's a better one for me."
"Cold clods, cold clods, inside my bed
Cold clods, down at my feet —
The tears my dear mother shed for me
Would wet my winding sheet"
And three little babes had she
She sent them away, to a far country
To learn their grammerie
They hadn't been gone but a very short time
About three months and a day
When the lark spread o'er this whole wide world
And taken those babes away
It was on a cold, cold Christmas night
When everything was still
And she saw her three little babes come running
Come running down the hill
She set them a table of bread and wine
That they might drink and eat;
She spread them a bed of winding sheet
That they might sleep so sweet
"Take it off, take it off," cried the eldest one;
"Take it off, take it off," cried she
"For I shan't stay here, in this wicked world
When there's a better one for me."
"Cold clods, cold clods, inside my bed
Cold clods, down at my feet —
The tears my dear mother shed for me
Would wet my winding sheet"
Lyrics submitted by tiredgorilla
Three Little Babes Lyrics as written by Trad Joanna Newsom
Lyrics © ROUGH TRADE PUBLISHING
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
How come it says there are 42 comments. Where'd they all go? Anyway, this is an old traditional, right? Anybody know where from? Any story?
It's a folk song from the UK, I did a little researching.<br /> <br /> "Grammery" is sorcery; the lady sent her children away to learn sorcery -- she was a witch.<br /> The "lark" is the bubonic plague (the Black Death), so her children died of the plague while learning witchcraft.<br /> <br /> The children come back to her as ghosts. I'm not actually sure about the table being set and the beds being made. Perhaps she doesn't realise her children are dead, or perhaps she is preparing a burial ceremony for them. The "winding sheet" would refer to a shroud in any case, whether intentional by the lady or not.<br /> <br /> I'm not sure what it is Joanna Newsom sings, but the original song says "cold clods," not "clogs." Referring to the cold earth of the grave.<br /> "Wet" rather than "wed" makes more sense in my mind. "Wed" makes me think of Antigone.