Greensleeves traditional english songs

The song in its lines refers to a Lady Greensleeves, and in the 16th-century era, the green color was interpreted to have a sexual connotation. It's been suggested that green was symbolic of promiscuity and that the lady in question was a prostitute. Numerous recordings of the song have taken place over the 20 th century by Jazz artists, most memorably for a commercial of a blanket company.

As decades turn into centuries, the popularity of this song will stay fresh and novel for generations to come. Typical chord harmonic progression of lute traditional music and chord progression that was used for Greensleeves and What Child is This: If you think of the key of the song as minor key and use roman numeral system, the chord progression is going to be I minor - VII major - VI major - V major.

With a number system, it's going to be 1 minor - 7 major - 6 major - 5 major. If you think of the key of this song as major key and use the roman numeral system, the chord progression is going to be VI minor - V major - IV major - III minor or major. Tools Tools.

Greensleeves traditional english songs

Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikibooks Wikisource Wikidata item. English folk song. For the British record label, see Greensleeves Records. Origin [ edit ]. Lyrical interpretation [ edit ]. Wikisource has lyrics and music for the song: Greensleeves. Alternative lyrics [ edit ]. Early literary references [ edit ].

Form [ edit ]. This section may be too technical for most readers to understand. Please help improve it to make it understandable to non-experts , without removing the technical details. October Learn how and when to remove this message. The lyrics tell the tale of a spurned lover begging his beloved, referred to as Greensleeves, for her affection.

The first verse reads:. Here, the speaker feels wronged by his beloved. She has cast him aside despite his enduring love and delight in her company. The second verse continues the narrative of the forlorn lover:. The subsequent verses continue the theme of heartache, longing, and pleas for reciprocation. The lover speaks of the expensive gifts he gave her, signifying his willingness to spend his wealth to pursue her love.

Despite his efforts, he also articulates his sorrow and frustration at her continued rejection. This could be a metaphor for her free-spirited nature. A formal claim to its origin may more plausibly be traced to a Richard Jones who, in , registered a printed broadside ballad entitled A Newe Northen Dittye of ye Ladye Greene Sleves at the London Stationer's Company, though six more variants of the ballad followed by others in less than a year.

The lyrics themselves lend to multiple interpretations. One is that Lady Green Sleeves may have been a 'working girl', because green had connotations with promiscuity at the time. Another is that Lady Greensleeves was incorrectly assumed to be promiscuous, and that this is why her rejections are claimed by the singer in the song's narrative to be 'discourteous'.