The Water Is Wide (song)

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"The Water Is Wide" (also called "O Waly, Waly") is an English folk song that has been sung since the 1600s and has seen considerable popularity through to the 21st century. It is related to Child Ballad 204 (Roud number 87), Jamie Douglas, which in turn refers to the ostensibly unhappy first marriage of James Douglas, 2nd Marquess of Douglas to Lady Barbara Erskine.

[edit] Themes

The inherent challenges of love are made apparent in the narrator's imagery: "Love is handsome, love is kind" during the novel honeymoon phase of any relationship. However, as time progresses, "love grows old, and waxes cold". Even true love, the narrator admits, can "fade away like morning dew".

[edit] Recent Renditions

"The Water is Wide" has been recorded countless times, with popular renditions by Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, John Gorka, & James Taylor. The lyrics vary from period to period and even from singer to singer.

The song was mildly popularised in the late 1990s when Jewel, Sarah McLachlan, and the Indigo Girls collaborated and produced a version of the song in concert on the Lilith Fair tour.

Charlotte Church, the Welch child soprano recorded her chilling rendition of this song on her 2001 album entitled, Enchantment.

"O Waly, Waly" has also been a popular choice for arrangements by classical composers, in particular Benjamin Britten, whose arrangement for voice and piano was published in 1948. The tune is often used for the hymn "When I Survey" by Isaac Watts.

The song was part of the soundtrack to the film The River Wild. The latest recording is by Hayley Westenra.