Tune
The tune was written by Joseph Brackett (1797–1882) who first joined the Shakers at Gorham, Maine, when his father's farm helped to form the nucleus of a new Shaker settlement.
A manuscript of Mary Hazzard of the New Lebanon, New York, Shaker community records this original version of the melody:
The song quite closely resembles several repetitions of the opening measures of William Byrd's renaissance composition, "The Barley Break', which Byrd intended to imitate country children playing a folk game. Similarly, Brackett is claimed to have come up with the song as an imitation of what folk music sounds like.
Read more about this topic: Simple Gifts
Famous quotes containing the word tune:
“My advice to people today is as follows: If you take the game of life seriously, if you take your nervous system seriously, if you take your sense organs seriously, if you take the energy process seriously, you must turn on, tune in, and drop out.”
—Timothy Leary (b. 1920)
“School days, school days; dear old golden rule days.
Readin’ and ‘ritin’ and ‘rithmetic; taught to the tune of a hick’ry stick.”
—Will D. Cobb (1876–1930)
“[Children] need time to stare at a wall, daydream over a picture book, make mud pies, kick a ball around, whistle a tune or play the kazoo—to do the things today’s adults had time to do when they were growing up.”
—Leslie Dreyfous (20th century)