The Riddle Song

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"The Riddle Song," also known as "I Gave My Love a Cherry," is an American folk song, apparently a lullaby, from the Appalachians.^[1] It descends from a 15th-century song in which a maiden says she is advised to unite with her lover.^[2] It is related to Child Ballad no. 1, or "Riddles Wisely Expounded"^[3] and Child Ballad no. 46^[4] Burl Ives recorded it on 11 February 1941^[5] for his debut album, Okeh Presents the Wayfaring Stranger. Since then, it has been recorded by many artists, including Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, Doc Watson, Sam Cooke, and Carly Simon.^[6]

Some have seen the song's "cherry that has no stone" as a reference to the hymen, and some have even tried to reconstruct an original bawdy version from which modern versions are supposedly bowdlerized.^[4] However, the 15th-century version already has "the cherye with-outyn ony ston", whereas the relevant slang sense of "cherry" is not attested till the early 20th century,^[7], so singers could not have had it in mind in much earlier times. The other riddles in the original do not resemble the "reconstructions".

[edit] Media

[edit] References

1. ^ Digital Tradition Folk Music Database: Appalachian version
2. ^ Digital Tradition Folk Music Database: Medieval version
3. ^ Niles, John Jacob (1960). The Ballad Book of John Jacob Niles. New York: Dover Publications, Inc. ISBN 0-486-22716-2. 
4. ^ ^{a b} Thread at Mudcat discussions
5. ^ Naxos: Link
6. ^ iTunes: Music Store
7. ^ New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary

[edit] See also

Carly Simon, Into White, 2007