# Greensleeves/What Child is This? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 14, 2007, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greensleeves-what-child-is-this/407960 "2007-06-14T04:47:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2015, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greensleeves-what-child-is-this/407960/101 "2015-12-28T00:36:00Z")
(Someone should give the obligatory Zombie Thread alert, yes?) I’m afraid this is one that I can never quite remember the words of either version, so they sort of mash up in my head… \* What child is this who laid to rest on Mary’s lap is sleeeeeeeeeping… Ummm mumble mumble mumble don’t know the words how can I not know the words? GREENSLEEVES was all my joy…\* So, perhaps because I never quite get to the Christ bits, I don’t think of this song as a Christmas song. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2015, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greensleeves-what-child-is-this/407960/102 "2015-12-28T00:38:21Z")
FWIW, the melodies of “Wabash Cannonball,” “British Grenadiers,” and the US “Marines’ Hymn” are all mutually interchangeable. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2015, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greensleeves-what-child-is-this/407960/103 "2015-12-28T00:45:23Z")
Greensleeves. From a historical romance I read when I was 13. It had lyrics and everything, so when I hear the tune, I hear _Greensleeves was my only love. My lovely lady Greensleeves._ ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2015, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greensleeves-what-child-is-this/407960/104 "2015-12-28T01:46:15Z")
Flanders and Swann. [Here’s a YouTube (audio only) recording.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mB-zBJykYj8) [Here is the text of the monologue](http://www.beachmedia.com/gorbuduc.shtml), with scholarly footnotes to explain the many (highly erudite!) jokes. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2015, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greensleeves-what-child-is-this/407960/105 "2015-12-28T01:55:58Z")
You can sing _“The Ballad of Gilligan’s Isle”_ to the tune of _“Amazing Grace”_. Go ahead. Try it. I dare ya. I double-dog dare ya. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2015, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greensleeves-what-child-is-this/407960/106 "2015-12-28T02:12:55Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > (Someone should give the obligatory Zombie Thread alert, yes?) > > I’m afraid this is one that I can never quite remember the words of either version, so they sort of mash up in my head… > \* > What child is this who laid to rest > on Mary’s lap is sleeeeeeeeeping… > Ummm mumble mumble mumble > don’t know the words how can I not know the words? > GREENSLEEVES was all my joy…\* > > So, perhaps because I never quite get to the Christ bits, I don’t think of this song as a Christmas song. What Child is this, Who done me wrong On Greensleeves lap is sleeping? For I have wooed her well and long But his head from my frolic is keeping Greensleeves was all my joy Greensleeves was my delight… Haste! Haste! Now move him off, That Kid, the son of Greensleeves. Why lies He on such rustic throne, Where cock and ass ain’t feeding? So must I meditate alone My silent eyes are pleading. [chorus] Oh, I’d do anything for her, If her Kid would but let me prove it We’d fill the air with such sweet myrrh If that Brat would but let me choose it! Greensleeves, that’s all she wrote Greensleeves, I’ll say good night Greensleeves, yer Kid won’t budge, And I’m out of double-entendres! ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2015, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greensleeves-what-child-is-this/407960/107 "2015-12-28T02:26:00Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > You can sing _“The Ballad of Gilligan’s Isle”_ to the tune of _“Amazing Grace”_. Go ahead. Try it. I dare ya. I double-dog dare ya. 🙂 I just tried, but found I had to write the words out first. How does one stumble onto something like this, anyway??? 😕 When I worked on the radio, we would sometimes play **this song:** I wonder how many tunes "The Cool Green Hills of Earth" has been sung to besides the theme from \*\*\*Gilligan's Island \*\*\*and "Puff the Magic Dragon"? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2015, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greensleeves-what-child-is-this/407960/108 "2015-12-28T02:41:49Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > FWIW, the melodies of “Wabash Cannonball,” “British Grenadiers,” and the US “Marines’ Hymn” are all mutually interchangeable. The melody of Chuck Berry’s “The Promised Land” is a rock and roll version of “Wabash Cannonball”. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2015, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greensleeves-what-child-is-this/407960/109 "2015-12-28T02:52:45Z")
One more YouTube plug: [a recorder quintet playing "Greensleeves to a Ground,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLalEYQ4q38)" a set of variations upon the theme. Remarkable! I’m impressed by the physicality of the bass (?) recorder! ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2015, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greensleeves-what-child-is-this/407960/110 "2015-12-28T03:28:03Z")
Huh. I always think of it as “What Child Is This,” and was unaware that “Greensleeves” even had words. As a kid, I though “Greensleeves” was just the real name, while “What Child is This” was that thing you often see with hymns when the name of the song is not the beginning of the first verse or chorus. I since learned they were different pieces. For a while I thought “What Child Is This” had a lower sixth scale on the word who in the opening line, but I’ve since heard too many people sing that F# in A minor instead of an F. And I’ve heard too many jazz versions of Greensleeves to think there’s a specific chord pattern. And I definitely have mostly heard the minor version, even on stuff specifically marked as “Greensleeves.” (I assume the Dorian version uses a minor five chord throughout.) I think I heard the Dorian version once in some History Channel special. ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2015, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greensleeves-what-child-is-this/407960/111 "2015-12-28T04:50:52Z")
Greensleeves for me, unless I hear it in December. It was my ringtone for a while until I missed some calls in December when I was at the store, someone was trying to call me, and I thought it was the store music. I heard it first as a child as What Child is This, but I probably was 12 or so when I found out it was really Greensleeves, and since then that’s how I think of it. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2015, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greensleeves-what-child-is-this/407960/112 "2015-12-28T05:40:32Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > FWIW, the melodies of “Wabash Cannonball,” “British Grenadiers,” and the US “Marines’ Hymn” are all mutually interchangeable. I’m going to say No they’re not. “You will find their gates are guarded by… The Wabash Cannonball”?? Do you mean the metre? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2015, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greensleeves-what-child-is-this/407960/113 "2015-12-28T06:15:00Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > I’m going to say No they’re not. > > “You will find their gates are guarded by… > The Wabash Cannonball”?? > > Do you mean the metre? I mean the melodies, not the lyrics. That would be the metre, yes. I can sing any one of the three to any one of the melodies of the others. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2015, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greensleeves-what-child-is-this/407960/114 "2015-12-28T06:35:49Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I mean the melodies, not the lyrics. That would be the metre, yes. I can sing any one of the three to any one of the melodies of the others. The melodies are not the same even though you can sing them interchangeably with each others because they have the same metre and number of lines etc. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2015, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greensleeves-what-child-is-this/407960/115 "2015-12-28T08:05:56Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > The melodies are not the same even though you can sing them interchangeably with each others because they have the same metre and number of lines etc. I didn’t say they were the same. I said they were interchangeable. There’s a, duh, difference. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2015, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greensleeves-what-child-is-this/407960/116 "2015-12-28T13:46:27Z")
I’ve always known its title as Greensleeves and only the lyrics “what child is this . . .”. So, in other words, I always thought they were one and the same. At some point it was explained to me that Henry VIII wrote it, but I think I assumed he wrote the music and someone else(American?) wrote the Christmasy lyrics (but that it is still called _Greensleeves_). ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2015, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greensleeves-what-child-is-this/407960/117 "2015-12-28T16:22:09Z")
Born & raised Catholic, and the song is “Greensleeves” to me, and “What Child Is This?” is “that Christmas song sung to the tune of Greensleeves.” ---
**Author:** ![Shearer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/57b2e6/32.png) [@Shearer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shearer)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2015, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greensleeves-what-child-is-this/407960/118 "2015-12-28T17:13:22Z")
Never heard of the christmas song. I only associate Greensleeves with the Tudors ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2015, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greensleeves-what-child-is-this/407960/119 "2015-12-28T17:29:47Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I didn’t say they were the same. I said they were interchangeable. There’s a, duh, difference. A lot of songs are interchangeable. I thought you were pointing out something notable. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2015, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greensleeves-what-child-is-this/407960/120 "2015-12-28T18:51:46Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > I think of it (complete with punctuation) as: > > Greensleeves (_What Child is This_) > > because that’s how it was listed in the songbook for my [Magical Musical Thing](http://www.miniorgan.com/lib/view.php?miniorgan=12&srch=&srch_type=&sortby=&output=) as a kid. I had no idea that it was a Christmas Carol until just now. > > Did you know that 90% of songs printed in books will fit to the tune of Greensleeves? Try it! You might have to Alanis a few of the words to fit, but it makes those boring “poems” a lot more interesting when you read them aloud to your kids: > > **Song of Nimrodel** (by JRR Tolkien) > > An Elven-maid there was of old, > A shining star by day: > Her mantle white was hemmed with gold, > Her shoes of silver-grey. > > A star was bound upon her brows, > A light was on her hair > As sun upon the golden boughs > In Lórien the fair. That’s really neat. Needs a chorus though. Nimrodel was my Lady fair Nimrodel was my delight Who but my Lady Nimrodel [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greensleeves-what-child-is-this/407960.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greensleeves-what-child-is-this/407960.md?page=7)