She Moves Though The Fair: Marianne Faithfull

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Marianne Faithfull “She Moved Through the Fair” (1966, 1990).

Faithfull’s two versions appear on the albums North Country Maid and Blazing Away. The first is a pretty girl-singer version with more than a hint of Davy Graham’s Indian influence in the musical backing; the second is an a capella live version from a woman whose voice has changed beyond all recognition. It’s hard to credit that it is the same person, but both versions are lovely – although I think that the deeper-voiced, unaccompanied version is the more affecting of the two.

In both versions, Faithfull sings variations on Colum’s lyrics (verses 1, 2 and 4), keeping the original poem’s brothers, but it is the father (not the parents) who won’t slight you. In verse two, it is the young love’s progress that is described, not the watcher’s reaction thereto: “And I watched her so swiftly move here and move there”. In the last verse , she dreams that her dead love came in, which is a fairly standard variation, albeit one more associated with earlier recordings such as McCormack’s than with the rock-influenced 1960s. Her use of Moved in the title rather than Moves is also indicative of this (it seems that Anne Briggs changed that d to an s, from the evidence I have).

Some light is shed by Faithfull’s liner notes in Blazing Away. First, she credits Padraic Colum as the author. Then she tells us,

I’ve loved it since I was 16, sung it all through these years with their twists and turns of fate.

She was 16 at the end of 1962. I suspect that Faithfull’s source, whatever it was, would have drawn upon the song as sung by John McCormack.

She Moves Through the Fair: Trees

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/5281767/SMTTF/Trees%20-%20She%20Moves%20Through%20the%20Fair.mp3″

Trees, “She Moves Through The Fair” (1970).

This, another folk-rock version, is roughly contemporaneous with Fairport‘s version. However, the arrangement is distinctly different; there is a lot of acoustic guitar, a few drums quite a long way back in the mix, and this version is nearly twice as long as Fairport’s.

Tress make use of Colum’s lyrics, with many of the noted variations in place, including Mother/Father, hands being laid on and young loves visiting in the night (not as dreams).  Although the song retains its title, “She moves…” Celia Humphris actually sings he. In verse two, she sings, “so sadly I watched him” (this is more often the original fondly), and verse 3 is omitted, replaced with an instrumental break.

I originally bought this album because I was interested in the original version of the title track, “The Garden of Jane Delawney” – ably covered by All About Eve on a B-side – and was delighted to find “She Moves Through the Fair” here as well. In fact, I am fond of the whole album, as well as its follow-up, On the Shore.

She Moves Though the Fair: Fairport Convention

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/5281767/SMTTF/Fairport%20Convention%20-%20She%20Moves%20Through%20the%20Fair.mp3″

Fairport Convention, “She Moves Through the Fair” (1969).

This is quite possibly the best known version of the song.  Fairport Convention – folk-rock pioneers – are widely credited with extricating the song from the folk ghetto. Their arrangement puts rock instruments: guitars and drums – to the fore. Sandy Denny, the vocalist, learnt the song from Anne Briggs‘ version and had also recorded it solo. Denny’s solo version (a home recording) is currently available on the box set A Boxful of Treasures.

Denny’s solo demo is also available on Youtube:

Denny sings the most popular 3 verses of Colum’s version, with many of the noted variations from the original. Her clear, pure vocals are supported by the music.

Fairport continue to record the song live at their annual Cropredy Convention, usually with guest singers.

Richard Thompson, a founder member of Fairport (and the guitarist whose work is heard behind Denny in the full band version streamable at the top of this page) who has since left for a successful solo career, has also been known to sing the song live. To my knowledge, he has not made a formal recording, but this rather lovely version is available on Youtube: