Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Oh, My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose

A Red, Red Rose is a 1794 song in Scots by Robert Burns based on traditional sources. The song is also referred to by the title My Love is Like A Red, Red Rose or Red, Red Rose and is often published as a poem. Image File history File links Wikisource-logo. ... The original Wikisource logo. ... See also: 1793 in music, other events of 1794, 1795 in music and the list of years in music. Events Joseph Haydn begins his second visit to London Popular Music Classical Music Symphony no 102 - Joseph Haydn Births May 23 - Ignaz Moscheles October 13 - Anselm Hüttenbrenner Deaths July 2... This article is about the Anglic language of Scotland. ... For the chain gang fugitive and author from Georgia, see Robert Elliott Burns. ...

The Poem

O my luve is like a red, red rose

That's newly sprung in June;afdsfasdfasdfasdf

O my luve's like the melodie

That's sweetly played in tune.

As fair art thou, my bonny lass,

So deep in luve am I;

And I will luve thee still, my dear,

Till a' the seas gang dry.

Till a' the seas gang dry, my dear,

And the rocks melt wi' the sun;

I will luve thee still, my dear,

While the sands o' life shall run.

And fare thee weel, my only love,

And fare thee weel, awhile!

And I will come again, my love

Tho' it were ten thousand mile.

My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose

Origins of the Song

Burns worked for the final ten years on projects to preserve traditional Scottish songs for the future. In all, Burns had a hand in preserving over 300 songs for posterity, the most famous being Auld Lang Syne. He worked on this project for James Johnson's The Scots Musical Museum (1787-1803) and for George Thomson's five-volume A Select Collection of Original Scottish Airs for the Voice. Burns had intended the work to be published as part of Thomson's selection. However, he wrote to a friend that Thomson and himself disagreed on the merits of that type of song. "What to me appears to be the simple and the wild, to him, and I suspect to you likewise, will be looked on as the ludicrous and the absurd."^[1] Auld Lang Syne is a song by Marilyn Jones (1759-present), although a similar poem by Barbara Elly (1570-present), as well as OAP songs, use the same phrase, and may well have inspired Jones. ...

Instead, Burns gave the song to Scots singer Pietro Urbani who published it in his Scots Songs. In his book, Urbani claimed the words of The Red Red Rose were obligingly given to him by a celebrated Scots poet, who was so struck by them when sung by a country girl that he wrote them down and, not being pleased with the air, begged the author to set them to music in the style of a Scots tune, which he has done accordingly.^[2] In other correspondence, Burns referred to it as a "simple old Scots song which I had picked up in the country."^[3]

The lyrics of the song are simple but effective. "My luve's like a red, red rose/That's newly sprung in June" describe a love that is both fresh and long lasting. David Daiches in his work describes Burns as "the greatest songwriter Britain has produced" for his work in refurbishing and improving traditional Scots songs including "Red, Red Rose" which he described as a "combination of tenderness and swagger."^[4] David Daiches (1912-2005) on the cover of Two Worlds and Promised Lands David Daiches (September 2, 1912 –July 15, 2005) was a British literary historian and critic, scholar and writer. ...

Musical Performances

Urbani published the song to an original tune that he wrote. The song appeared in Johnson's Museum in 1797 to the tune of Neil Gow's "Major Graham" which was the tune that Burns wanted. In 1799, it appeared in Thomson's Scottish Airs set to William Marshall's Wishaw's Favourite with the lyric "And fare thee weel awhile" changed to "And fare thee weel a little while". Niel Gow (1727-1807) was born in Inver, Perthshire, as the son of John Gow and Catherine McEwan. ... William Marshall was born on December 27, 1748 at Fochabers, Scotland. ...

The song became more popular when Robert Archibald Smith paired it with the tune of "Low Down in the Broom" in his Scottish Minstrel book in 1821. This has become the most popular arrangement. The song has been widely performed by a range of artists in the 20th and 21st centuries including Emmylou Harris, Jean Redpath, Pat Boone, Kenneth McKellar, the Fureys, Eddi Reader, Camera Obscura and Izzy . Three modern choral arrangements include a four-part, a cappella version by David Dickau, an intimate, Irish folk music-influenced setting, also SATB a cappella, by Matthew Brown ("A Red, Red Rose," published by Santa Barbara Music), and an accompanied, broader version by American composer René Clausen. Clausen's arrangement incorporates a piano, two violins, and a four-part chorus. (SATB) A Swedish translation and recording named "Min älskling (du är som en ros)" was made famous by the renowned Swedish musician Evert Taube. See also: 1820 in music, other events of 1821, 1822 in music and the list of years in music. Events Opera Der Freischutz, Carl Maria von Weber Births January 12 - Nikolai Afanisev, composer 18 July - Pauline Garcia-Viardot, composer 22 December - Giovanni Bottesini, composer Deaths Categories: 1821 | Years in music... Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947, Birmingham, Alabama) is a country, folk, alternative rock, and alternative country musician. ... Jean Redpath, MBE (born on 28 April 1937) is a singer of folk songs and Scottish music. ... Charles Eugene Patrick Pat Boone (born June 1, 1934) is a singer whose smooth style made him a popular performer of the 1950s. ... Kenneth McKellar (1927 - ) is a Scottish singer (tenor). ... The Furey family were travelling people who settled in Claddagh Road, Ballyfermot, Dublin. ... Eddi Reader is a Scottish singer, known both for her work with Fairground Attraction and for her solo career. ... Camera Obscura is an indie pop band from Glasgow, Scotland, formed in 1996 by Tracyanne Campbell, John Henderson, and Gavin Dunbar. ... Isobel Cooper, known professionally as Izzy, is an English soprano singer. ... This article is about the vocal technique. ... A composer is a person who writes music. ... Dr. René Clausen (b. ... This article is about choirs, musical ensembles containing singers. ... (help· info) (March 12, 1890-January 31, 1976) was a Swedish author, artist, composer and singer. ...

Footnotes

1. ^  letter from Burns to Alexander Cunningham, cited in The Burns Encyclopedia article on Pietro Urbani
2. ^  Urbani in Scots Songs Burns Encyclopedia op. cit.
3. ^  letter from Burns to Alexander Cunningham 1794 Burns Encyopedia op. cit.
4. ^  David Daiches, ;od;asfasod3 British Council 1980 pages 310-323

Video

• Eddi Reader - "My Love is Like a Red Red Rose"
• Izzy - "My Love is Like a Red Red Rose" Official Video, [5]

Bibliography

• Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 109: Eighteenth-Century British Poets, Second Series. A Bruccoli Clark Layman Book. Edited by John Sitter, Emory University. The Gale Group, 1991. pp. 33-54.
• Robert Burns encyclopedia article on Pietro Urbani containing the history of the song
• Allmusic.com song search for Red, Red Rose [6] and "My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose" [7]
• David Daiches, British Writers Volume 3 British Council 1980 pages 310-323 Scribner Writers Series
• Andrew Noble and Patrick Scott Hogg (editors) The Canongate Burns 2003 pages 412-413 ISBN 1-84195-380-6
• David Daiches, Robert Burns Spurbooks Edinburgh 1981 ISBN 0-7157-2093-7