John Barleycorn

To "second" your basic interpretation [@bradburyesqu:19711] , which like some others simply finds the song basically about alcoholism and its nature of alcoholism's capability with many, to represent a monumental, basically negative and harmful force and temptation that some affected--especially the ones so severely affected that they make that "solemn oath" "solemn vow" to , simply put, stop drinking--may well abusing alcohol impossible to stop. As in, at the conclusion, "John Barleycorn"--metaphor for alcohol abuse--ends up for these three and by extension of course for the many many similarly affected--that despite the uttermost pledges to abstain from alcohol, they may be unable to abstain. About some of the other wording and descriptions, it does an apparent very good job of providing the basic cultivation and harvest procedures of producing barley. But , again at least in this version, I at least--as a farmer--see another quite key theme as to the barley growing description overall: that their exists the necessity in growing barley, to proceed very carefully and with a great deal of effort, to properly grow, harvest and (for strictly healthy , food use) put barley to food use. So much so, that the author(s) of the lyrics, detail this quite carefully. And growing sound, high quality grain here, is important both because in the first place , that high quality is necessary for strictly food use, because without the result being high quality, the grain will be very hard to get high quality or even good quality strictly food use from it. This grain, and also oats, at best are less nourishing and therefore harder to get all the wanted nutrition from, than, say, wheat. Still true today; barley and oats are considered much less ideal than wheat (and probably than some other less-used, if relatively obscure, grains).<br /> Again, this need to grow barley as sound as nutritious as it's capable of being, has key significance to the overall tale: inferior quality grain would tend to be very tempting to use to make some kind of alcohol drink. About the only other practical use, at least according to my understanding,(and did I mention, that farming , and other kinds of plant growing, has been my career?), could be livestock feeding... for which in those days, I believe would rarely be done, it being under the circumstances, too low level a use considering that livestock mostly could just be pastured/fed hay.<br /> <br /> And all the care and work necessary to growing food (human) quality barely, would be another reason the three men (by implication) set out to do what they could to discourage the scenario (low quality barely result) wherein the perhaps most logical use of the result, would be to make some kind of alcohol product. Which , in their case, would make the excessive alcohol drinking, apt to be all the more apt to come up as their temptation, temptation to that so-damaging result. <br /> <br /> But, alas, their apparent herculean plan and determination to overcome their alcohol problem, unfortunately fails; they still drink and seemingly will always drink to excess: the alcohol the grain here symbolizes and they are abusing yet are determined to stop abusing--prove too strong...they lose to "John Barlycorn".

@bradburyesqu The three men conspiring at the outset, from the lyric, sound more like they are trying to make a profit. Although not specified, they could be the farmer, the miller, and the brewer / distiller. They are the ones who conspire to profit from the death of John Barleycorn. There is certainly irony in the song but if the three men at the outset are trying to give up drink, the "they" of succeeding verses make a lot less sense. It's a song about a lot of things. Not just one.