Anyone who didn't immediately remember the scene in question when you read that headline, what can I say, you're culturally deprived. Yes, those famous opening lines, immortalized in song:
"I gave my love a cherry
That had no stone
I gave my love a chicken
That had no bone
I gave my love a story
That haaad no end
I gave..."
Cue John "Bluto" Belushi. Please. About an hour ago, I discovered that this is actually a real song - "The Riddle Song," a.k.a. "I Gave My Love a Cherry". Frighteningly, it is listed on the "Songs for Teaching: Music to Promote Learning" website (learning to get beat up, maybe...). Of course, the uninitiated can discover this second verse:
"How can there be a cherry
That has no stone?
And how can there be a chicken
That has no bone?
And how can there be a story
That has no end?..."
Hmmm, "choke chicken," "no bone," "your cherry"... and what happens then? That was my take, anyway, when I saw the movie. But nooooo.... for the stout of heart, here are the full lyrics and the answers, that you may have your cultural knowledge expanded (or thrust deeper into the depths of hell, your pick) just like me...
I gave my love a cherry
That had no stone
I gave my love a chicken
That had no bone
I told my love a story
That had no end
I gave my love a baby
With no crying.How can there be a cherry
That has no stone?
And how can there be a chicken
That has no bone?
And how can there be a story
That has no end?
And how can there be a baby
With no crying?A cherry when it's blooming
It has no stone
A chicken when in the shell
It has no bone
The story of how I love you
It has no end
A baby when it's sleeping
It's not crying.
I still like my interpretation better.
Joe:
Welcome to the Wonder That is Folk Music.
On a related note, "Scarborough Faire" is one of the great "piss off" songs ever written.
Basically, everything in the song breaks down to "tell him to do a lot of impossible things, and I'll think about it."
You know, I recently made the same discovery you did, and I too was shocked to learn that this was a real song.
It's been recorded by Joan Baez and Pete Seeger. How I would love to have seen John Belushi take Seeger's guitar away from him and smash it into a wall. And instead of saying "Sorry", he could say "Here's your neck back, you warbling commie clown."
This is a common theme in traditional song. Just about every culture has one, with variations.
There are also the medieval courtly love (Provencal troubadour) songs on a similar theme, that the suitor must demonstrate worthiness by accomplishing a series of seemingly impossible tasks. Not folk songs, those, however.
I first heard a Renaissance-era version of the song - but it's really much sweeter (the version I heard is slow, sung by a male alto):
I will give my love an apple, without e'er a core.
I will give my love a house, without e'er a door.
I will give my love a palace, wherein she may be,
And she may unlock it without e'er a key.
My head is the apple, without e'er a core.
My mind is the house, without e'er a door.
My heart is the palace, wherein she may be,
And she may unlock it without e'er a key.
Long live DELTA TAU CHI!!!!
And people wonder why the older members of society get cranky when confronted with the cultural ignorance of the young!