Black is the Colour - saddest, heart-wrenching song of lost love. скачать в хорошем качестве

Black is the Colour - saddest, heart-wrenching song of lost love.

'Black is the Colour' is one of Scotland’s most moving songs of love lost, passed down through generations and across continents. In this version, a male Scottish singer leads the arrangement, which begins gently with harp and low whistle, then gradually grows with guitar, flute, fiddle, Northumberland pipes, accordion, and bass. The song itself is unusual in its form. Many traditional ballads follow the “8 and 6” pattern, but 'Black is the Colour' is written in even lines of “8 and 8,” a rhythm Shakespeare’s Bottom would have approved of when he called for a ballad “to be written in eight and eight.” This simple structure allows the song to flow with calm inevitability, like the river it so often references. Its mood is unmistakably melancholic — not bitter, but resigned, filled with quiet grief and enduring affection. The lyrics linger on the beauty of the absent beloved: her hair, her lips, her smile, her hands. There is no story of betrayal or conflict here; instead, the song gives voice to steadfast love. Because of this universality, 'Black is the Colour' has taken on many lives. Believed to have originated in Scotland, the song crossed the Atlantic with immigrants and took root in the Appalachian Mountains. Folk song collector Cecil Sharp documented versions in the early 20th century, ensuring its survival in America. In the last fifty years, it has been recorded countless times, each artist reshaping it slightly — yet always preserving its essential soul. Nina Simone’s celebrated version in the 1960s gave the song a new intensity and brought it into the jazz repertoire. Other folk interpreters, such as Jean Ritchie, Christy Moore, and The Corrs, have offered their own readings, sometimes sung by men, sometimes by women, sometimes with ornamented melodies, sometimes stripped back to stark simplicity. Each performance demonstrates how flexible the song is: it can be mournful, tender, or almost meditative. At its heart, though, it remains a song of longing — a testament to how folk music carries emotion across centuries. 'Black is the Colour' is both Scottish and universal, intimate yet expansive, a piece of living tradition. #ScottishFolk #TraditionalMusic #BlackIsTheColour #FolkSong #ScottishBallad #CelticMusic #FolkTradition #ScottishSinger The lyrics: Black is the Colour Black is the colour of my true love's hair. Her lips are like a rose so fair. The sweetest smile and the gentlest hands. I love the ground whereon she stands. I love my love and well she knows. I love the ground whereon she goes. If you no more on earth I see, I can't serve you as you have me. The winter's past and the leaves are green. The time has gone that we have seen, But still I hope a time will come, when you and I shall be as one. I go to Clyde to mourn and weep, But satisfied I could never sleep. I'll write to you a few short lines, and suffer death ten thousand times. How much I grieve; no words can tell. Though you are gone, I wish you well. But I still hope the time will come When you and I will be as one. I love my love and well she knows. I love the ground whereon she goes. The prettiest face, and the neatest hands. I love the ground whereon she stands.