"Greensleeves" can have a ground either of the form called a romanesca; or its slight variant, the passamezzo antico; or the passamezzo antico in its verses and the romanesca in its reprise; or of the Andalusian progression in its verses and the romanesca or passamezzo antico in its reprise. The romanesca originated in Spain and is composed of a sequence of four chords with a simple, repeating bass, which provide the groundwork for variations and improvisation.
Origin
A broadside ballad by this name was registered at the London Stationer's Company in September 1580, by Richard Jones, as "A Newe Northen Dittye of ye Ladye Greene Sleves". Six more ballads followed in less than a year, one on the same day, 3 September 1580, then on 15 and 18 September, 14 December, 13 February 1581, and August 1581. It then appears in the surviving A Handful of Pleasant Delights as A New Courtly Sonnet of the Lady Green Sleeves. To the new tune of Green Sleeves. There is a persistent belief that Greensleeves was composed by Henry VIII for his lover and future queen consortAnne Boleyn. Boleyn allegedly rejected King Henry's attempts to seduce her and this rejection may be referred to in the song when the writer's love "cast me off discourteously". However, the piece is based on an Italian style of composition that did not reach England until after Henry's death, making it more likely to be Elizabethan in origin.
Lyrical interpretation
A possible interpretation of the lyrics is that Lady Green Sleeves was a promiscuous young woman, perhaps even a prostitute. At the time, the word "green" had sexual connotations, most notably in the phrase "a green gown", a reference to the grass stains on a woman's dress from engaging in sexual intercourse outdoors. An alternative explanation is that Lady Green Sleeves was, through her costume, incorrectly assumed to be sexually promiscuous. Her "discourteous" rejection of the singer's advances supports the contention that she is not. In Nevill Coghill's translation of The Canterbury Tales, he explains that "green was the colour of lightness in love. This is echoed in 'Greensleeves is my delight' and elsewhere."
Alternative lyrics
Christmas and New Year texts were associated with the tune from as early as 1686, and by the 19th century almost every printed collection of Christmas carols included some version of words and music together, most of them ending with the refrain "On Christmas Day in the morning". One of the most popular of these is "What Child Is This?", written in 1865 by William Chatterton Dix.
Early literary references
In Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor, the character Mistress Ford refers twice to "the tune of 'Greensleeves'", and Falstaff later exclaims: These allusions indicate the song was already well known at that time.
In popular culture
The tune was the basis for "Home in the Meadow," a recurring song throughout the 1962 epic film How the West Was Won.
The tune was used as the slow march of the London Trained Bands in the 16th and 17th Centuries. Later the 7th Battalion London Regiment, which claimed descent from the Yellow Regiment of London Trained Bands, adopted the tune as its quick march during World War I, replacing "Austria", which had been used until then.
Ralph Vaughan Williams's Fantasia on "Greensleeves", based on the "Greensleeves" melody, is actually an arrangement by Ralph Greaves of an orchestral interlude from Vaughan Williams' 1928 opera Sir John in Love; the fantasia also incorporates the folk song "Lovely Joan" as its middle section.
A rendering of the tune, titled the "Lassie Theme" was used extensively in the Lassietelevision show, especially the ending credits.
In the contemporary British musical Six, Anne Boleyn is reimagined in a more modern viewing. The musical makes use of the belief that the poem was written by King Henry in the opening title, "Ex-Wives", and the closing song, "Six". Additionally, an instrumental techno version of "Greensleeves" is incorporated into part of the music.
