DESCRIPTION

This is one of three folk songs from Scotland that I've arranged (the other two are “Loch Lomond” and “Afton Water”).

Many beautiful melodies have come to us from Scotland, which seems fitting, given that Scotland itself is a land of immense beauty.

“My Love Is Like a Red, Red Rose” has an expressive melody with an unusually large range — the span of an octave plus a fifth. I chose the key of B major for my arrangement, since this key has a transcendent and timeless quality — perfect for the sentiment of the text.

In my arrangement, the ending phrase (“And I will come again, my Love, though it were ten thousand mile!”) trails off, without a sense of resolution — as if the speaker is unsure whether he and his true love will indeed meet again, despite his best intentions.

TEXT INFO

My Love Is Like a Red, Red Rose

Scottish folk song

Complete text:

O my Love is like a red, red rose
That's newly sprung in June.
O my Love is like a melody
That's sweetly played in tune.

As fair thou art, my bonnie lass,
So deep in love am I:
And I will love thee still, my dear,
Till all the seas go dry.

      Till all the seas go dry, my dear,
      Till all the seas go dry,
      And I will love thee still, my dear,
      Till all the seas go dry.

Till all the seas go dry, my dear,
And the rocks melt with the sun!
And I will love thee still, my dear,
While the sands of life shall run.

But fare thee well, my only Love!
O fare thee well, a while!
And I will come again, my Love,
Though it were ten thousand mile! 

      Though it were ten thousand mile, my Love,
      Though it were ten thousand mile,
      And I will come again, my Love, 
      Though it were ten thousand mile!