Thomas Morley - Now Is the Month of Maying

About "Now Is the Month of Maying"

"Now is the month of maying" is one of the most famous of the English balletts (a light dancelike part song similar to a madrigal, frequently with a 'fa-la-la' chorus). It was written by Thomas Morley and published in 1595. It is based on the canzonet So ben mi ch'a bon tempo used by Orazio Vecchi in his 1590 Selva di varia ricreatione. It was printed in Thomas Morley's First Book of Ballets to Five Voyces (1595).The song delights in bawdy double-entendre. It is apparently about spring dancing, but this is a metaphor for making love/having sex. For example, a "barley-break" would have suggested outdoor sexual activity (rather like we might say a "roll in the hay"). The use of such imagery and puns increased during the Renaissance.The ballett forms a key part of Oxford's May Morning celebrations, where the choir of Magdalen College sing the verses from the roof of the college's Great Tower. It was also heard in 1964 on The Andy Griffith Show episode "The Song Festers".



Now is the month of maying,

When merry lads are playing,

Fa la la la la la la la la,

Fa la la la la la la lah.

Each with his bonny lass

Upon the greeny grass.

Fa la la la la la la la la, etc...

The Spring, clad all in gladness,

Doth laugh at Winter's sadness,

Fa la la, etc...

And to the bagpipe's sound

The nymphs tread out their ground.

Fa la la, etc...

Fie then! why sit we musing,

Youth's sweet delight refusing?

Fa la la, etc...

Say, dainty nymphs, and speak,

Shall we play barley break?

Fa la la etc...



Top songs by Thomas Morley

"Now Is the Month of Maying" video by Thomas Morley is property and copyright of its owners and it's embedded from Youtube.
Information about the song "Now Is the Month of Maying" is automatically taken from Wikipedia. It may happen that this information does not match with "Now Is the Month of Maying".
SONGSTUBE is against piracy and promotes safe and legal music downloading. Music on this site is for the sole use of educational reference and is the property of respective authors, artists and labels. If you like Thomas Morley songs on this site, please buy them on Itunes, Amazon and other online stores. All other uses are in violation of international copyright laws. This use for educational reference, falls under the "fair use" sections of U.S. copyright law.