Willow's Song
| "Willow's Song" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Magnet | |
| from the album The Wicker Man | |
| Recorded | 1973 |
| Genre | Psychedelic folk |
"Willow's Song" is a ballad by American composer
It is the best-known song from the film, and it is sometimes referred to as "The Wicker Man Song",[
According to Paul Giovanni, "The idea for the song was completely original with me—there was no indication of what it was to be in the script except a couple of lines of absolute filth," sourced by screenwriter
Cover versions
The song has been covered several times, notably as "How Do", on the
Other covers include:
- A version by Turtle Soup
- A version by the French pop band Autour de Lucie titled Island with alternative lyrics on the 1994 album L'Échappée belle
- A version by Nature and Organisation on the 1994 EP A Dozen Summers Against the World and the 1995 LP Beauty Reaps the Blood of Solitude with vocals by Rose McDowall.
- A version by Lush guitarist Emma Anderson's band Sing-Sing on their 2001 "Tegan" single
- A version by the British rock band Doves on their 2003 Lost Sides album
- A version by Faith and the Muse on their 2003 album The Burning Season
- A version by Seafood on the 2004 album As the Cry Flows
- A version by Isobel Campbell on her 2006 album Milkwhite Sheets
- A version by Anna Oxygen on her 2006 album This Is an Exercise
- A version by U.K indie dance group The Go! Team, appearing as a bonus track on their 2007 album Proof of Youth
- A version by Damh the Bard on his 2008 album The Cauldron Born, this time turning it into a duet and adding an evocative electronic rhythm
- Another version by Kelli Ali, formerly Kelli Dayton of the Sneaker Pimps, on her 2009 LP Butterfly
- A version by Daniel Licht for the 2012 Konami video game Silent Hill: Downpour
- A version can be heard in the 1998 anime Blue Gender in episode 06 "Relation"
In addition, a sample of the song was also used by British indie band Pulp on "Wickerman", from their 2001 album We Love Life.
References
- ^ a b Gary Carpenter (2000), The Wicker Man: Settling the Score
- ^ An interview with Lesley Mackie, www.wicker-man.com, 2006
- ^ a b David Bartholomew (1977), The Wicker Man, Cinefantastique vol 7, no 3
- ^ George Peele, The Old Wives' Tale, Sc. 12: "Fair maiden, white and red / Comb me smooth and stroke my head". [1]
- ^ The verse is not included in Thomas Ravenscroft's Deuteromelia (1609); but does appear on Christopher Hogwood's recording Music from the time of Elizabeth I (1992). On The City Waites' disc How the World Wags (Hyperion, 1980), it is said to have been taken from a singer in a present-day folk club [2]: "I saw a maid milk a bull. Fie, man, fie. / I saw a maid milk a bull, who's the fool now? / I saw a maid milk a bull, at every pull a bucket full. / Thou hast well drunken, man, who's the fool now?"[citation needed]
