Green sleeves

Little is known about the origin of the song. The melody, written by an anonymous composer of the 16th century on the harmonic model of Romanesque , became the basis for numerous variations. The writing of the text of the ballad is often attributed to the English king Henry VIII , who supposedly addressed these verses to his beloved, presumably Anna Boleyn , who became Henry's second wife. She did not succumb to the king’s attempts to seduce her, and this refusal is reflected in the words of the song. However, there is also an opinion that the song dates back to the reign of Queen Elizabeth I , since the Italian style of composition in which it was written, got to England only after the death of the king ^[2] .

The text “Greensleeves” was first published in London in 1566 in the collection Pleasant Sonnets and Stories, which was republished under the title Handful of Pleasant Pleasures in 1584. This option, which has survived to this day, includes 18 quatrains and refrain , but it is generally accepted that only four quatrains and refrain are genuine. In total, there is a huge number of verses (according to some estimates, up to 1800) that play on the same topic - the author’s complaints about his beloved, who left him despite all his efforts.

There are many parodies of her and other topics; “Greensleeves” is one of the most parodied songs by flickers .

The name of the song reflects the nickname of the unfaithful lover to whom the author refers. It is believed that green sleeves could be an attribute of the clothes of courtesans in medieval England. In the Canterbury Tales, the green color is referred to as the “color of lightness in love” ^[3] , because after the “ free love ”, grass stains remained on the girl’s clothes.

• Odette - At the Gate of Horn (1957)
• John Coltrane - Africa / Brass album (1961)
• Marianne Faithfull - on the second side of the single "Marianne Faithfull" (1964)
• Elvis Presley - renamed Stay Away on the second side of US Male (1968); included in the soundtrack for the film " Stay Away Joe "
• James Taylor - James Taylor (1968)
• Jeff Beck - Truth Album (1968)
• The Tonics - Beat & Soulparty album (1968)
• Buddy Rich - The Buddy & Soul Album (1969)
• Vladimir Vavilov - under the heading “Green Sleeves” on the disc “ Lute Music of the 16th – 17th Centuries ” (1971)
• Glen Campbell - The Artistry of Glen Campbell (1972)
• Leonard Cohen - album "New Skin for the Old Ceremony" (1974)
• Flanders and Swann - "The Greensleeves Monologue Annotated"
• Olivia Newton-John - album "Come on Over" (1976)
• Rainbow - improvisation on a theme, a concert in Munich (1977)
• Slime - Yankees Raus (1982)
• The Kelly Family - Keep On Singing album (1989)
• Communism - renamed "Red Army Man, Tractor Driver and Blacksmith", bonus track from the album " Chronicle of a Dive Bomber "
• Lorina Mackennitt - The Visit album (1991)
• The King's Singers - Annie Laurie: Folksongs of the British Isles album (1993)
• Greg Joy - Celtic Secrets album (1993), instrumental version
• Timo Tolkki - Classical Variations and Themes (1994)
• Blackmore's Night - debut album " Shadow of the Moon " (1997)
• Welladay - album “Lights of Love” (1998)
• Ivan Rebrov - “From the World” Album (1999)
• Jordi Savall , Hespèrion XXI - album “Ostinato” (2001), an instrumental version in the tradition of authentic performance , and also performed together with Rolf Lisveland.
• Vanessa Carlton - Maybe This Christmas Album (2002)
• Jethro Tull - The Jethro Tull Christmas Album album (2003)
• Amy Nuttall - Best Days Album (2005)
• ANUNA - album "Celtic Origins" (2007)
• Celtic Woman - album "Celtic Woman Complete Collection" (2007)
• Nolvenn Leroy - album "Bretonne" (2010)
• “ Theater of Shadows ” - metal processing under the heading “Green Sleeves - Storm - Code”, album “ The Beast ”
• Myleene Klass - Myleene's Music for Mothers album (2008)
• The Pops - album “Mental transcription” (2008), a sample of the song sounds in the song “Black and White System”
• Anna Khvostenko - performs at concerts in memory of A. Khvostenko (2008), instrumental version with the Auktsion band
• Katie Sagal and The Forest Rangers - soundtrack to the series " Sons of Anarchy " in the 7th season, 7th series (2014)
• Sergey Kalugin and Olga Arefieva - collection “Acoustic Christmas” (2016)

• Novella Matveeva quoted a fragment of the melody in her song “The Girl from the Tavern”.
• The melody of the song sounds in the Soviet film "The Village of Duck", as well as in the cartoon "Lefty" (based on the story by N. S. Leskov).
• Samuel Marshak translated the words of the song in the form of the poem Green Sleeves (“To Your Green Sleeves ...”) ^[4]
• The song is mentioned in Tanit Lee’s Silver Lover

• Ian Pittaway. Greensleeves: Mythology, History and Music. Part 2 of 3: History . https://earlymusicmuse.com/ (2015-7-6). Date of treatment December 16, 2017.