The Homecoming Song: ‘Scarborough Fair’
Monthly Theme Prompt Response : Essay
It was 2006 when my son, ‘mine own Telemachus’, returned for the first time after going off to Australia to complete a Masters in Immunology, Bio Technology and Bio Chemistry.
My mother-in-law was thrilled seeing him after two years; he was her favourite grandchild. When she was not frying fish, making payasam, or cooking his favourite dosa-and-sambar combo, she was taking him to the local Temple to show him off to all her friends. Or she was sitting where she could see him, smiling at him with the kind of unconditional, unstinting love that only a grandparent can have.
My son loves music. And books. And silences. He had brought back a CD of music, which he played, softly, whenever he was awake.
I remember I was in the kitchen, when I heard this piece of ethereal beauty which sang, ‘Are you going to Scarborough Fair’ and I raced into the room and stood transfixed. It was Sarah Brightman’s version, not the Simon and Garfunkel one. I sat on the bed and listened to the song, while my son, deep into one of the numerous books he reads with incredible speed, looked at my face from time to time and grinned. I didn’t realise at the time that I had left milk on the stove and that it had merrily boiled over and was, even then covering the floor with a happy patina of white…
Later, again, Ashish had asked me to listen to another version of the song, sung by a young girl, Celia Pavey, this time, for the ‘Voice’:
I knew about Sarah Brightman only after I heard her sing ‘Scarborough Fair’. Afterwards, I heard her sing again, this time with Antonio Banderas. It was a song from The Phantom of the Opera, sung to honor Andrew Lloyd Webber on his 50 birthday celebration. Sarah Brightman was also the star of the original production of the Phantom:
The ‘Scarborough Fair’ song is, apparently, a traditional English folk song from the Middle Ages. It refers to an old market fair in Scarborough, Yorkshire, that started in the 14th century and continued till the 18th century. The song predated Simon and Garfunkel by hundreds of years, and they were introduced to it by Martin Cathy, a British singer. The song was then re-written with a song of theirs, ‘Canticle.’
‘Scarborough Fair’ is a haunting piece of music that will forever be a part of my heart. It will always remind me of my son, Ashish grinning at me, the silver strings of monsoon rain outside the window, and the thought that music can transport one to ethereal realms.
©️ 2022 Suma Narayan. All Rights Reserved.
This is the fourth of a series of essays about some of the music and songs which move me. It is a response to this prompt, tweaked a little:
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