scarborough fair

I don't know if your familiar with the artists Simon and Garfunkel, but if you aren't you need to be. One of the most popular groups of the 1960s, the duo is best known for their songs Sounds of Silence, The Boxer, Ms. Robinson and Bridge Over Troubled. But the song I'm writing about isn't really one of their most popular, even though I;m sure plenty of people have heard it. Its called Scarborough Fair and its definitely my favorite of their songs (although the Boxer is a close second). Anyways although the song's melody is gorgeous, the lyrics are even better and make way more of a statement (which makes sense). But anyways. My mom and I always used to talk about this song. She used to be an English teacher at a high school and she put the lyrics of this song all around her room. So whenever I hear it playing I think of her. Simon and Garfunkel's version of the song is meant to be protest against the Vietnam War. Comprised of two different songs it uses a love song and war story to appeal to the masses. The one song is called Scarborough Fair. The Scarborough Fair was a 45 day trading event that took place in medieval Europe. This single song is a love song about a man in search of his true love. The other song used is called Side of a Hill. This song focuses on the dehumanizing character of war. By combining these two songs Simon an Garfunkel create a successful protest by contradicting a humanistic song about the love with one of the most dehumanizing acts of man. The lyrics are below.

SIDE OF A HILL
On the side of a hill
In a land called somewhere
A little boy lies asleep in the earth
While down in the valley a cruel war rages
And people forget what a childs life is worth
On the side of a hill a little cloud weeps
And waters the grave with its silent tears
While a soldier cleans and polishes a gun
That ended a life at the age of seven years
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------SCARBOROUGH FAIR
Are you goin to scarborough fair?
parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Remember me to one who lives there,
she once was a true love of mine
Tell her to make me a cambric shirt,
parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Without no seams nor needlework, then shell be a true love of mine
Tell her to find me an acre of land,
parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Between the salt water and the sea strand, then shell be a true love of mine
Tell her to reap it in a sickle of leather,
parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
And to gather it all in a bunch of heather,
then shell be a true love of mine
Are you goin to scarborough fair?
parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Remember me to one who lives there,
she once was a true love of mine