"Black Is the Color (of My True Love's Hair)" (

Roud 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 ...

3103) is a traditional ballad folk song known in the US as associated with colonial and later music in the

Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. They ...

. It is believed to have originated in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, as it refers to the River Clyde in the lyrics. American musicologist Alan Lomax supported the thesis of Scottish origin, saying that the song was an American "re-make of British materials."

Different versions

Many different versions of this song exist, some addressed to men and others addressed to women. There are other differences: * ''...like some rosy fair...'' or ''...like a rose so fair... ''or ''... something wondrous fair'' * ''...the prettiest face and the neatest hands...'' or ''...the sweetest face and the gentlest hands... ''or ...''the clearest eyes and the strongest hands '' * ''...still I hope the time will come...'' or ''...some times I wish the day will come... ''or ... ''I shall count my life as well begun, when he and I shall be as one.'' * ''...you and I shall be as one...'' or ''...s/he and I can be as one...'' These words are set to two distinct melodies, one of which is traditional and the other was written by the Kentucky folk singer and composer

John Jacob Niles John Jacob Niles (April 28, 1892 – March 1, 1980) was an American composer, singer and collector of traditional ballads. Called the "Dean of American Balladeers," Niles was an important influence on the American folk music revival of the 195 ...

by 1941. Niles recalled that his father thought the traditional melody was "downright terrible", so he wrote "a new tune, ending it in a nice modal manner." This melody was used in the ''

Folk Songs Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has be ...

'' song cycle by

Luciano Berio Luciano Berio (24 October 1925 – 27 May 2003) was an Italian composer noted for his experimental work (in particular his 1968 composition ''Sinfonia'' and his series of virtuosic solo pieces titled '' Sequenza''), and for his pioneering work ...

. The song has become a part of the traditional repertory of Celtic music artists. The song was collected as "Black is the color" by

Cecil Sharp Cecil James Sharp (22 November 1859 – 23 June 1924) was an English-born collector of folk songs, folk dances and instrumental music, as well as a lecturer, teacher, composer and musician. He was the pre-eminent activist in the development of t ...

and

Maud Karpeles Maud Karpeles (12 November 1885 – 1 October 1976) was a British collector of folksongs and dance teacher. Early life and education Maud Pauline Karpeles was born at Lancaster Gate in Bayswater, London, in 1885. She was the third of five child ...

in 1916 from Mrs Lizzie Roberts. It appeared in ''Sharps English Folksongs From The Southern Appalachians'' (1932). In the 1960s,

Patty Waters Patty Waters (born March 11, 1946) is a jazz vocalist best known for her free jazz recordings in the 1960s for the ESP-Disk label. Career Waters was born in Iowa and started singing semi-professionally in high school. After school, she sang for ...

sang an extended version for an ESP record that leaned toward the avant garde and extremes of vocal improvisation.

Recorded versions

Versions of the song have been recorded by many artists, including:

Settings

* 1964 -

- ''Folk Songs''

Pop culture references

"Black Is the Color" is featured in ''

The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology television series created by Rod Serling. The episodes are in various genres, including fantasy, science fiction, absurdism, dystopian fiction, suspense, horror, sup ...

'' season 3 episode entitled "The Passersby", which aired on October 6, 1961. "Black Is The Color" is featured in the 1962 pilot for the western TV series Gallaway House, starring Johnny Cash, Merle Travis, Karen Downs and Eddie Dean. "Black is the Color" is featured in ''

The Flame and the Flower ''The Flame and the Flower'' (published 1972) is the debut work of romance novelist Kathleen E. Woodiwiss. The first modern "bodice ripper" romance novel, the book revolutionized the historical romance genre. It was also the first full-length r ...

'' by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss. A sailor sings it to Heather as she and her new husband, Brandon Birmingham, pass by on the way to an inn before leaving London. The "Lover's Lament" / "Love's Jewels" lyrics sung in

Anne Bishop Anne Bishop is an American fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, wh ...

's Tir Alainn book series are loosely based on this song. A cover of the song by Jim Moray featured on the '' Class'' season 1 finale "The Lost", appearing in both the post credit opening and closing fight sequence. A cover of the song by Cara Dillon featured on Derry Girls (2018 TV series) season 3, episode 4 ‘The Haunting’ ending sequence.

References

External links

Song lyrics
{{authority control Nina Simone songs Jo Stafford songs Burl Ives songs Jean Ritchie songs American folk songs Year of song unknown