Romeo & Juliet, and Scarborough Fair

I've become fascinated with the process of video making. I am probably the last person on the planet to discover Windows Movie Maker and enjoyed creating my first video, which I'm sharing with you here.

I've always loved Franco Zeffirelli's 1968 film version of Romeo & Juliet with gorgeous Olivia Hussey and equally beautiful Leonard Whiting. I decided to create a video with images and stills from the film, but didn't want to use the music used in the film which I've always associated with Romeo & Juliet, but something a little different, though in the same tradition. I then recalled that I had been listening to Simon & Garfunkel of late, an old favorite -- and remembered Scarborough Fair/Canticle, and realized it would be a beautiful audio track to pair with the film.

I grew up hearing the music of Simon & Garfunkel, and Scarborough Fair has always been a favorite. The popular version sung by the duo derives from a traditional middle English ballad. Scarborough Fair was an annual fair that was held in the English seaside town of Scarborough, (in Yorkshire). It originated when King Henry III granted a charter in 1253 that allowed Scarborough to host the fair, which became a venue for European merchants, tradesmen, buyers and sellers as well as various vendors and the general public. The melody is lyrical, lovely and haunting, as is the refrain "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme". The song is narrated by a young man who asks a fair-goer to remember him to his former love, and sets out a series of impossible tasks that she must complete in order to win his favor again:

Are you going to Scarborough Fair?

Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme;

Remember me to one who lives there,

For once she was a true love of mine.

Tell her to make me a cambric shirt,

Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme;

Without any seam or needlework,

Then she shall be a true lover of mine.

Simon & Garfunkel set the tune in counterpoint with Canticle, which was reworked from a previous Paul Simon song. The addition of the counterpoint is genius. I do hope you enjoy the music and the images from the film.  Here is the video, followed by the Simon & Garfunkel lyrics:

 

 

 

Are you goin' 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 a sparrow on snow-crested ground).
Without no seams nor needlework (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 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 in 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.