Talk:The Water Is Wide (song)

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Moved from article[edit]

I've moved the following text from the article:

As a descendant of the Douglas Erskine marriage aforementioned, I can say that it is doubtful that this ballad tells a story of the affair. Originally entitled "O Waly, Waly", the ballad's author remains unknown,no one really knows when, to the best of my knowledge. Contemplator.com states it was published in 1724. The tune "Lord Jamie Douglas", which would refer to the Douglas Erskine marriage did not come along until 1776, with the instruction that it be sung to the tune of "O Waly Waly" (see www.contemplator.com).

Thanks, Graham87 12:38, 17 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The Joan Baez 75th Birthday Celebration album contains a fantastic version of The Water is Wide, sung by Joan Baez, Mary Chapin Carpenter and the Indigo Girls. Excellent harmonies. 108.49.31.11 (talk) 16:39, 4 September 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Linda, Linda, Linda.[edit]

This song is also song in the move Linda, Linda, Linda, by the injured drummer. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.76.243.131 (talk) 10:01, 17 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Waly Waly[edit]

Does NOT mean "wail wail". The word is really "wae" meaning "woe"; that is, mourning or wretched, sorrowful. "Wae" is still preserved in the Scottish expression "dool an' wae" (dolefullness and woe). So Waly = woe+ly. And "waly, waly" means "woefully, woefully".

So it should be translated in foreign languages as an equivalent to mournfully, sorrowfully, or wretchedly. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 109.148.207.232 (talk) 22:29, 11 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Lyrics[edit]

The line given "Where I and my love want to go!" is not really right, irrespective of the version. The line is usually Where my true love and I did lie" (this also part-rhymes with "burn-side".)

In any case the line given, if a variant, is still almost certainly a mishearing: it's a syllable short and in the wrong tense. It doesn't make sense logically or dramatically because the lover is gone and the singer is lamenting being alone. And "we] want to go" is just the wrong register for the rest of these lyrics, too modern.

I strongly suspect this version should NOT be, "Where I and my love want to go" but "Where my love and I were wont to go".

(We were wont to... = we used to...; we were in the habit of...) "Were wont to" preserves the sense, the tense, the natural sentence-stress, normal word order and the scan. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 109.148.207.232 (talk) 23:11, 11 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]

English?[edit]

Since the song is known from versions collected on southern England, what is the basis for the statement that it is of Scottish origin?101.98.161.149 (talk) 02:08, 9 May 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I am having some trouble seeing a lyrical or melodic connection to Scotland. The tune seems to be first recorded in 1905 and the lyrics ('the water is wide') seem to bear little resemblance to the lyrics of the Scottish songs cited. I have added 'citation needed' in the hope someone will make the case more clearly. Burraron (talk) 11:27, 3 December 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Kidnapped (1971 film)[edit]

'The soundtrack was composed and conducted by Roy Budd. The end title song, "For All My Days", was sung by Mary Hopkin.' Isn't this a rendition of "The Water Is Wide" with new lyrics by Roy Budd. Hear it on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOsWBF4fA3I. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 178.6.87.127 (talk) 13:10, 25 June 2017 (UTC)[reply]

External links modified[edit]

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Gone wild... needs pruning[edit]

The article has become a dumping ground for masses of "my favourite" recordings, and for various unsourced, uncited, non-notable variants. I propose a major pruning. Any objection? Feline Hymnic (talk) 11:58, 22 August 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Please do. I detest the 'In Popular Culture' rubbish tip. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2001:8003:3034:8100:8847:278:5211:8429 (talk) 09:15, 17 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

No objection here! In fact, it is weird that the ancestral song from which "The Water is Wide" come from ("Waly, Waly"), is redirected to this article! It would seem that it should be the other way around? And within the "Waly, Waly" article, maybe have a section on how there was a derivatave of it in America (via Cecil Sharp's re-editing of various "Waly, Waly" versions he collected), called "The Water is Wide", that became popularized (see this article: "The Water Is Wide", The History Of A "Folksong", by Jürgen Kloss), in addition to this article, Allen, J. W. "Some Notes on" O Waly Waly" Journal of the English Folk Dance and Song Society 7.3 (1954): 161-171.. --173.28.132.219 (talk) 17:24, 9 September 2021 (UTC)[reply]

The Water is Wide[edit]

I find it incredible that there is no comment regarding Karla Bonoff’s recording of this song. It is perhaps one of her most iconic recordings! 76.140.61.161 (talk) 04:45, 12 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]