The classic folk song Scarborough Fair has delighted listeners for centuries, and there are few more famous recordings of it than the one made in 1966 by the iconic 60s duo Simon & Garfunkel. Now the legendary pair are teaming up to re-record it, albeit with slightly reworked lyrics.
When asked why, Paul Simon explained:
“Everyone’s re-recording their old hits these days, I’ve even done it myself, I know, but this was something different. I looked at what was happening in the UK with this whole Brexit thing and it made no sense. It just made me think of Scarborough Fair, and of course I did that with Artie back in the 60s so I called him up and asked if he’d be interested in doing a new version and he said OK.”
The original song was about impossible love, with the singer challenging his lover to do all manner of impossible things in order to win his heart, such as:
‘Tell her to make me a cambric shirt – parsley, sage, rosemary & thyme
Without no seam or needlework – then she’ll be a true love of mine
Tell her to wash it in yonder dry well – parsley, sage, rosemary & thyme
Where water never sprung nor drop of rain fell – then she’ll be a true love of mine’
The new recording will deal with Brexit, posing a series of equivalent riddles:
‘Tell her to split all of Ireland in two – parsley, sage, rosemary & thyme
Without stopping Irishmen passing through – then she’ll be a true love of mine
Tell her that leave means she’s Trump’s for the pickin’ – parsley, sage, rosemary & thyme
And he wants to feed her chlorine-filled chicken – then she’ll be a true love of mine’
And more on the same theme.
“It’s kind of strange, you know?” Art Garfunkel commented. “When you think of all the impossible things he asks her to do in the original song, and when you compare them to the demands of the people who want this thing called Brexit, all of a sudden the original doesn’t seem so crazy.”
The B-side will be another re-recording, Bridge Over Troubled Water, with new lyrics to make it about the English Channel.
The single will be released this Friday.