Scarborough Fair

The emotional journey within 'Scarborough Fair' is both nostalgic and melancholic, as it recounts a love that is no longer attainable. The song begins with a gentle, almost ethereal invocation of the singer's former lover and a request to be remembered to them. This remembrance is tied up in the refrain mentioning herbs that have historically been associated with protection and remembrance, casting a wistful spell of longing.

As the ballad progresses, the requests laid forth become increasingly impossible, creating an emotional landscape filled with yearning and the recognition of unattainable desires. The male and female parts alternately describe tasks that are paradoxical and quixotic in nature—such as sewing a shirt without a seam or needlework, or reaping a field with a leather sickle. These tasks emphasize the futility and the absurdity of trying to meet unreasonable demands to prove one's love.

Towards the song's climax, both voices join to convey a sense of mutual unfulfillment, revealing that neither can fulfill the other's demands. This evokes feelings of desperation and the pain associated with the realization that some aspects of the past—and the love once shared—cannot be resurrected. The song takes listeners through the bittersweet journey of acknowledging that remembrance is all that's left.

In its conclusion, the ballad carries a heavy sense of resignation. Love imposes impossible tasks, and while these may not be more than any heart would ask, they serve as poignantly unachievable symbols. Love and remembrance linger, but the true emotional resolution is the acceptance that they will remain only in memory, not in reality.