The Bible and Music

Yesterday in class, we were asked to identify a song that professor played first us in class. The song was identified as ‘What Child is This.’ The actual beat and melody of the song though was from Greensleeves.’ ‘Greensleeves’ is a traditional English folk song and tune. There is a widely believed legend that was composed by King Henry VII of England for his lover Anne Boleyn. The song was probably written between 1491 and 1547. With the history of the song, I thought it was very interesting how songs can seem to be very similar in aspects like melody, beat and even lyrics.

Similar to some of the students in our class on Monday, ‘What Child is This’ was more commonly known, but it was really ‘Greensleeves.’ Professor McGrath told us that we have the opportunity in future class times to talk about similar songs and why they may have the same rhythm or purpose.  ‘What Child is This’ was set to the tune of ‘Greensleeves.’ When I listened to how similar both these songs were, I was reflecting on how sometimes when I am listening to music on the radio or on my phone I think it is another song. It is often amusing to see other people try to sing the lyrics to a song, only to realize it is a completely different song from an artist they might not even know. It is very interesting to me that music in completely different generations and time periods have nearly identical features in their songs. One thing I want to improve on is expanding my knowledge with songs like this and seeing how similar songs still have their own value and story behind them.