"Bury Me Beneath the Willow" is a traditional ballad
folk song
Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be c ...
, listed as
number 410 in the
Roud Folk Song Index
The Roud Folk Song Index is a database of around 250,000 references to nearly 25,000 songs collected from oral tradition in the English language from all over the world. It is compiled by Steve Roud (born 1949), a former librarian in the London ...
.
It is also known as "Bury Me Beneath the Weeping Willow",
"The Weeping Willow",
"The Willow Tree"
and "Under the Willow Tree".
Its author is unknown.
The first citation to the song
appears in Henry Marvin Belden's 1909 compilation ''Ballads and Songs Collected by the Missouri Folk-Lore Society'' as "Under the Willow Tree".
The song's lyrics relate that the singer's lover has left her (in some descriptions just prior to their wedding). She asks that she be buried beneath the willow tree, in the hopes that her lover will still think of her.
Recordings and performances
The song has been recorded by several artists and was the
signature tune
A signature song is the one song (or, in some cases, one of a few songs) that a popular and well-established recording artist or band is most closely identified with or best known for. This is generally differentiated from a one-hit wonder in th ...
of Chicago folksinger Linda Parker. Performers recording the song include:
Dick Burnett and
Leonard Rutherford Leonard Rutherford (March 22, 1898 – June 30, 1951) was an American old-time fiddle player from Kentucky, United States. He was a full-time live-entertainer and recording artist, but lacking any inclination for showmanship he performed in partner ...
(1927);
the
Carter Family
Carter Family was a traditional American folk music group that recorded between 1927 and 1956. Their music had a profound impact on bluegrass, country, Southern Gospel, pop and rock musicians as well as on the U.S. folk revival of the 1960s. ...
(1936 and 1939);
The Delmore Brothers
Alton Delmore (December 25, 1908 – June 9, 1964) and Rabon Delmore (December 3, 1916 – December 4, 1952), billed as The Delmore Brothers, were country music pioneer singer-songwriters and musicians who were stars of the Grand Ole Opry in the 1 ...
(1938);
and
Curly Fox
Arnim LeRoy Fox (November 9, 1910 – November 10, 1995), better known as Curly (or Curley) Fox, was an American old-time and country fiddler, singer and country musician.
Biography
Fox was born in Graysville, Tennessee, United States, as ...
(1936);
and
Ricky Skaggs
Rickie Lee Skaggs (born July 18, 1954), known professionally as Ricky Skaggs, is an American neotraditional country and bluegrass singer, musician, producer, and composer. He primarily plays mandolin; however, he also plays fiddle, guitar, ma ...
and
Tony Rice
David Anthony Rice (June 8, 1951 – December 25, 2020), known professionally as Tony Rice, was an American guitarist and bluegrass musician. He was an influential acoustic guitar player in bluegrass, progressive bluegrass, newgrass and a ...
(1980).
The Carter Family also recorded an
answer song An answer song, response song or answer record, is a song (usually a recorded track) made in answer to a previous song, normally by another artist. The concept became widespread in blues and R&B recorded music in the 1930s to the 1950s. Answer son ...
, "Answer To Weeping Willow", in 1936. The lyrics are from the point of view of the original singer's lover, telling how he had not really left her, and that she was actually his true love and he had never meant for her to think otherwise.
In October 2020,
Dolly Parton
Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album d ...
spontaneously performed some lyrics from the song as a guest on ''
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
''The Late Show with Stephen Colbert'' is an American late-night news and liberal political satire talk show hosted by Stephen Colbert, which premiered on September 8, 2015. Produced by Spartina Productions and CBS Studios, it is the second it ...
'', referencing her mother who used to sing it to her. Parton's rendition was lauded by
Colbert, bringing him to tears.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bury Me Beneath the Willow
Folk songs
1927 singles