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"" is a traditional English Folk Song and tune, basically a ground of the form called a '' Romanesca ''.
A Broadside Ballad by this name was registered at the London Stationer's Company in 1580 as "A New Northern Dittye of the Lady Greene Sleeves." No copy of that printing is known. It appears in the surviving ''A Handful of Pleasant Delights'' (1584) as "A New Courtly Sonnet of the Lady Green Sleeves. To the new tune of Green sleeves." It remains debatable whether this suggests that an 'old' tune of "Greensleeves" was in circulation, or which one our familiar tune is. Many surviving sets of lyrics were written to this tune.
The tune is also found in several late 16th century and early 17th century sources, such as Ballet's MS Lute Book and Het Luitboek Van Thysius , as well as various manuscripts preserved in the Cambridge University Libraries .
A widely-believed (but completely unproven) legend is that it was composed by King Henry VIII (1491-1547) for his lover and future Queen Consort Anne Boleyn . Anne, the youngest daughter of Thomas Boleyn , rejected Henry's attempts to seduce her. This rejection is apparently referred to in the song, when the writer's love "cast me off discourteously." However, it is most unlikely that King Henry VIII wrote it, as the song is written in a style which was not known in England until after Henry VIII died.
It is widely acknowledged that Lady Green Sleeves was at the very least a promiscuous young woman and perhaps a prostitute. Greensleeves accessed 04 September 2007, 2007. The reference to the colour of her sleeves suggests grass stains from a recent rendezvous with a suitor. Additionally, in England the colour green was associated with prostitution. It is said that the green sleeves were removable and required to be worn by prostitutes as a label of their profession.
In Shakespeare's '' The Merry Wives Of Windsor '', written around 1602 , the character Mistress Ford refers twice without any explanation to ''the tune of "Greensleeves,"'' and Falstaff later exclaims:
Let the sky rain potatoes! Let it thunder to the tune of 'Greensleeves'!
All of these allusions suggest that the song was well known at that time.
- A famous Christmas Song , " What Child Is This? ", combines the melody of "Greensleeves" with lyrics hailing the newborn Christ, "whom angels greet with anthems sweet while shepherds watch are keeping".
- Composer Ferruccio Busoni uses the "Greensleeves" melody at the beginning of his opera '' Turandot '' (1917) though it is set in China.
- Ralph Vaughan Williams wrote his ''Fantasia on Greensleeves'' for his opera ''Sir John in Love'' (1924-28). In HKCEE and HKALE , a version of this Fantasia performed by Sinfonia Of London and conducted by Sir John Barbirolli is broadcast to ensure all candidates that they have turned to the correct radio channel before the Chinese and English listening tests.
- Gustav Holst uses the melody in the fourth movement of his Second Suite In F For Military Band , "Fantasia on the Dargason", and again (albeit a different arrangement) in the finale of his later St Paul's Suite .
- The Smothers Brothers sang a modern version of "Greensleeves" with updated lyrics called "Where the Lilac Grows." It is found on their 1962 album ''The Two Sides of the Smothers Brothers''.
- The same year (1962) saw film composer Alfred Newman use the "Greensleeves" melody throughout the film '' How The West Was Won ''. Debbie Reynolds sang the version which began, "Away, away, come away with me, to the........and I'll build you a home in the meadow."
- A refrain of the melody is heard at the very end of the Beatles song, " All You Need Is Love ", amid the lyrics to " She Loves You ", sung by John Lennon .
- "Greensleeves" also formed part of a Quodlibet Contrapuntal section in the '' BBC Radio 4 UK Theme '' by Fritz Spiegl , in which it was played alongside '' What Shall We Do With The Drunken Sailor? ''. The UK Theme, including "Greensleeves", was broadcast each day at the start of Radio 4's morning programmes from 1973 until 2006, when it was dropped from the schedule.
- The tune of Greensleeves was frequently worked into documentaries produced by NFL Films , specifically during segments on Vince Lombardi and the 1973 Washington Redskins , frequently known as The Over-The-Hill Gang.
- Leonard Cohen reworked "Greensleeves" into his 1974 song "Leaving Green Sleeves" (off the album '' New Skin For The Old Ceremony '').
- Many other contemporary artists played or recorded versions of this tune, whether vocal or instrumental, in their own style, including Blackmore's Night , Stephane Grapelli , Kevin Max , Jeff Beck , Al Di Meola , Yngwie Malmsteen , Timo Tolkki , Vince Guaraldi , John Coltrane , Jethro Tull , The Scorpions , Neil Young , Slime , Vanessa Carlton , Rainbow , Sarah McLachlan , Derek Trucks Band , Loreena McKennitt and others.
- Allan Sherman , the famed parodist, did his own version called "Sir Greenbaum".
- During a "Stump the Band" segment on '' The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson '', an audience member sang a ditty called "Green Stamps," about a grocery clerk, to that tune. The refrain began, ''Green Stamps were all she gave...''
- "The Olde Year Now Away Has Fled" has the melody of "Greensleeves" with different lyrics. Versions have been performed by Áine Minogue and Alfred Deller (in which the title is actually "Greensleeves" with different lyrics).
Samples to listen:
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