Scarborough Fair

**Total Length** | 2:27

**Scarborough Fair**was used as an insert song for the series, covered by Yamada Tamaru. It was used in Episode 1 and Episode 12 of the official *SukaSuka*anime adaption.

## Lyrics

Are you goin' to Scarborough Fair?

Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme

Remember me to one who lives there

He once was a true love of mine

Tell him to make me a cambric shirt

Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme

Without no seams nor needlework

Then he'll be a true love of mine

Tell him to find me an acre of land

Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme

Between the salt water and the sea strand

Then he'll be a true love of mine

Are you goin' to Scarborough Fair?

## Trivia

* The piece is a very old English folk song, dating back at least to the 1600s. It is often the the case with folk songs that the earliest incarnation of the song was not usually written down (because folk songs were traditionally passed down by word of mouth from one generation to the next, and also because most of the common people long ago could not read or write), and as such the song could date even earlier than that, perhaps even as far back as the Middle Ages. In its earliest incarnations, the song was called "The Elfin Knight," and was written in the Scots language of Scotland. But many of the words changed over the passage of time, and beginning in the late 1800s "Scarborough Fair" slowly began to emerge as the most common version. Versions of the song could traditionally be heard sung by the common people not just in Britain, but historically also in North America, with versions with titles like "Strawberry Lane" and "The Cambric Shirt" still being sung by farmers, woodcutters, and others in places like Maine, Massachusetts, and Virginia as late as the very early 20th century. By the mid 20th century, however, the old song had largely been forgotten by most Americans (the song continued to be popular and well-known in Britain, however). But in the 1960s, a very popular American music group, "Simon & Garfunkel" covered the song, and that immediately brought the song back into public memory. The old song has continued in popularity since that time.

* The cover used in *SukaSuka* is told from a woman's perspective, and is sung by a woman. In contrast, the most common versions of Scarborough Fair have usually been from a man's perspective, and Simon & Garfunkel's famous cover was sung in such a way as well. Thus, "she once was a true love of mine" and "Tell her...". But interestingly enough, the earliest documented versions of The Elfin Knight were told from a young woman's perspective—a young woman enamoured with the dashing Elfin Knight confidently playing a musical instrument atop a hill. But the Elfin Knight, not wishing to wed her because she is significantly younger than he is, poses impossible challenges on the woman if she is serious about marrying him (ex. "make me a fine Holland sark [shirt], [...] without any stitching or needle-wark."; in Scarborough Fair "tell her to make me a cambric shirt, without no seams nor needlework"). Once he is finished posing his challenges, she then turns the situation around on him, and tells him that if he would like to have his shirt, he will first have to complete impossible tasks for her (ex. "my father he asked me an acre o' land, between the salt sea and the strand"; in Scarborough Fair "tell her to find me an acre of land, between the salt water and the sea strand").

* The use of the song in *SukaSuka* was first revealed through the anime adaptation's first trailer, which was shot in live-action.