Scarborough Fair

Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme are supposedly traditional abortifacients. On the whole I think the message the song is sending is that the woman at the fair will never again be a true love of his.

To me, this song is all about insecurity. The lover, paranoid that her partner is not in love with them any more, convinces themself that the more their partner gives them in the form of material possessions, then the closer they will be emotionally. (note- I wrote 'them' instead of s/he because on my 'very best of...' album, she is singing about a man.)

I disagree. If you read the lyrics you see the tasks themselves are impossible. sickles need to be metal, and you cannot make a shirt without any stitches or seams. This songs meaning is more clear with the original lines from the old folk song, which adds in the last verse that if the poor lover will simply say that he/she will attmept these tasks, thats all the singer needs for complete assurance.

I love the way Sarah did this song. It's very beautiful. I've always loved this song.

Letmein, I agree with you, the woman in the story is apparently asking impossible things from his lover, so I think she's just basically rejecting him.

Well I see what your saying kryptoncolomo, however it seems to me from the lyrics being always being "Tell her" That the man is indeed asking for impossible things because he knows they cannot be together. Thus saying when the impossible is possible we will be together. If I'm not mistaken Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme we're used in food so they did not taste bitter(among other uses). It sounds like, to me at least, saying that line is removing the "bitterness" from the past relationship? I could be totally wrong but that's the way I see it.

Another thing about these tasks nobody has said so far: peppercorns are native to Southern India and would never grow in the English soil, except in a glasshouse (greenhouse.)