Are you going to Scarborough Fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme
Remember me to one who lives there
She once was a true love of mine

Tell her to make me a cambric shirt
(On the side of a hill, in the deep forest green)
Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme
(Tracing of sparrow on snow-crested ground)
Without no seams nor needle work
(Blankets and bedclothes the child of the mountain)
Then she'll be a true love of mine
(Sleeps unaware of the clarion call)

Tell her to find me an acre of land
(On the side of a hill, a sprinkling of leaves)
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
(Washes the grave with silvery tears)
Between the salt water and the sea strands
(A soldier cleans and polishes a gun)
Then she'll be a true love of mine

Tell her to reap it with a sickle of leather
(War bellows blazing in scarlet battalions)
Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme
(Generals order their soldiers to kill)
And gather it all in a bunch of heather
(And to fight for a cause they've long ago forgotten)
Then she'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
She once was a true love of mine


Lyrics submitted by kevin, edited by marrerosmi, orchy

Scarborough Fair/Canticle Lyrics as written by Paul Simon Arthur Garfunkel

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

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Scarborough Fair/Canticle song meanings
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  • +3
    General Comment

    Okay, I think there's more to it than anyone has mentioned. Paul Simon took the old song about Scarborough and added the Canticle part to completely change the meaning of the song to an antiwar theme. Think of this and reread the lyrics--the speaker is a soldier who has been mortally wounded in battle. He left his girlfriend in Scarborough, and is unsure of the status of the relationship. He tells the listener to find her and ask her to perform these tasks (last rites, maybe--maybe the cambric shirt is a bodybag?) If she does, then he will know (posthumously) that she really does love him. It shows how war is a foolish waste of young life. The contrast and balance between the two songs reflects the contrast between the endless possibilities of young love and the futility of war.

    edguidryon December 30, 2006   Link

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