“The Water Is Wide”

With roots in the 1600s and popularized by Pete Seeger in the 1960s, this song has been recorded by Barbra Streisand, Cowboy Junkies, U2, and many others. It’s a classic tale of love unfulfilled.

My double-strung harp arrangement uses a different rhythmic pattern to accompany each of four verses, utilizing both hands for doubling effects that are complicated or impossible on a single-strung. The rhythm and harmonies of the accompaniment evoke the feel of rowing a boat, driving the oars on the measures with more notes, recovering on the measures with fewer.

This arrangement is debuting in print at the Harp Gathering

My arrangement is currently only available for sale in hard copy at the 2024 Harp Gathering➚ in Archbold, Ohio, Friday, May 17, through Sunday, May 19. It will be available as a PDF by the end of the month. Follow me on Facebook➚ for the announcement.

Harp: Double-strung.

Key and range: C major (all naturals). 24x2 strings. C below middle C through E.

Lever changes: None.

Level: Intermediate because of the extended arpeggios with cross-unders and the contrary motion in the interlude.

Good for: Performance, therapeutic settings.

Double-strung effects: Echoed rhythms using the same notes on both sides. Rolled chords that share strings are impossible on a single-course. Paired, overlapping hand positions create an easier way to play a complicated rhythm.

Characteristics: Some two- and three-note chords. A few four-note chords (all of them are F major). Neither hand needs to place more than an octave spread between finger 1 and finger 4. Some sixteenth notes. No syncopation. The only cross-under is a LH pattern that occurs several times.

Finger placement: Finger number suggestions are provided throughout. Numbers above the notes are suggestions for the RH (marked with “R” or “R#” when they occur in the bottom staff). Numbers below the notes are suggestions for the LH (marked with “L” or “L#” when they occur in the top staff).

Notation: Chord symbols and lyrics are provided. Treble clef is sometimes used for both staves.

Length: 5 pages. 89 measures. 3:30 minutes.

Page turns: There are two options for page turns. Do them early, as soon as the page’s last RH bracket is placed. Note the chord symbol for the last measure on the page to place the LH after turning. Or, since every new page starts with an F chord in the LH, do them late, potentially delaying the start of the melody on the next page.

Background

The tune and lyrics to “The Water Is Wide” are a messy patchwork quilt sewn from pieces of other quilts, disassembled, and remade into even more quilts. This delightful article on the song’s history by Jürgen Kloss➚ traces its origins through, around, and among the following Scottish, English and Irish pieces, the oldest of which was first published around 1650: “O Waly, Waly, Gin Love Be Bonny” (waly rhymes with wail-y) or “Waly, Waly, Up the Bank,” “A Ship Came Sailing,” “The Seaman’s Leave Taken of his Sweetest Margery,” “Sweet Maggie Gordon,” “Peggy Gordon,” “Jamie Douglas,” “Marchioness of Douglas,” “Lord Thomas and Fair Ellinor,” “Arthur’s Seat Shall Be My Bed,” “Youth and Folly,” “I’m Often Drunk and Seldom Sober,” “Intemperance,” “Must I Go Bound,” “The Wheels of Fortune,” “The Effects of Love,” “Deep in Love,” “Love It Is Easing” or “Pleasing” or “Teasing,” “Love in Despair,” “Hard Is the Fate of Him Who Loves,” “Forsaken Lover,” “The Complaining Lover,” “The Brisk Young Lover,” “The Young Sick Lover,” “The Unfortunate Swain,” “The Distressed Virgin,” “The Maid’s Complaint,” “Farewel [sic] You Flower of False Deceit,” “Picking Lilies,” “The Prickly Rose,” “The Green Willow,” “Down in Yon Meadow,” “The Happy Land,” “The Man that Wouldn’t Hoe Corn,” “The Lazy Man,” “My Blue-eyed Boy,” “The Butcher Boy,” “Little Sparrow,” “Carrickfergus,” and “Come All You Fair and Tender Ladies.”

I was introduced to “The Water Is Wide” by various performers at the Somerset Folk Harp Festival, and I subsequently listened over and over to Pamela Bruner’s version on her A Wild Rose album. Like seemingly every creator before her, Bruner altered the lyrics➚. Unlike the others, she took a positive spin, making small word changes that give the story a happy ending. Thus, in researching the background to the lyrics, I was shocked to discover that almost no other narrator fared well.

My melody is what was settled on by Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, and Sylvia Woods: a 4/4 tune that has long notes in every other measure. I’ve continued the lyric-quilting tradition by choosing snips and snaps from the songs listed above. The words give context to the mood of the song, help you find your place among the five pages, and inspire changes to the phrases to add interest to the four verses.

Analysis

Looking for patterns helps with learning and memorization. The chord progression for each verse is the same:
I (IV) I (IV) vi (IV) V (IV)
C (F) C (F) Am (F) G (F)

I (IV) vi (IV) V (IV) I (IV)
Em (F) Am (F) G (F) C (F)

There are two exceptions: the Em in m75 and the Am7 in m81.

The interlude is not as long, but its chords still match the first half of the verses:
C (F) C (F) Am (F) G (F)

Each section’s accompaniment has its own rhythm and pattern of intervals. That pattern always starts on the root of the chord. This means you don’t have to read every single note of the accompaniment. Learn the pattern, move your hand to the string written in the chord symbol, and play the same intervals.

m1–18: Intro and Verse 1. The introduction establishes the rhythm and intervals for Verse 1: 1-5-8-5-8-8-5-8, then the F chord. The rhythm is all eighth notes followed by a whole note, an even balance between the oars pulling and recovering. We’re just trying to get across at this point. We assume both parties share the same feelings for each other.

Take note of the change to treble clef in the bottom staff and back again.

m19–36: Verse 2. The measure with the last word of Verse 1 sets up Verse 2’s rhythm and intervals: 1-5-8-9-10-12-12-10, then the F chord. The rhythm is no longer even. The narrator is head-over-heels in love and is perhaps a little desperate from it.

Halfway through the verse, the treble clef comes back in the bottom staff again.

m37–54: Verse 3. The last word of Verse 2 sets up Verse 3’s pattern: 1-5-8-9-10+12+9+10+12, then the F chord. The LH fingering is exactly the same as Verse 2, even though the last two notes are played as a chord.

The rhythm is back to eighth notes (fast), then a rolled chord (really fast), which is held for the rest of the measure (slow), followed by the F’s whole note (really slow). This section is played in the highest register in comparison to the rest of the song. What do the rhythm and register contribute to the song’s feeling here?

m55–65: Interlude. The end of Verse 3 sets the pattern for the interlude: 1-5-8-9-10-12-10-9, then the F6 chord’s F-C-C+D+F. Most of the LH fingering is still the same as Verses 2 and 3. Use your RH on the F chord so that you don’t have to rush to get your LH in place, plus the repeated C will ring out more.

Every other measure of the first three pages is a whole note F chord, usually F+C+F. Starting in m56, the measures that were previously limited to a whole note F chord now add rhythm and a D note. The increase in motion indicates a desire to hurry through the grieving process. But the relentless return to the new chords and rhythm argues that grieving cannot be rushed.

The interlude’s chords are the same as the first half of the verses. The melody uses the notes from one of the many songs in history that is related to “The Water Is Wide:” “Come All You Fair and Tender Ladies,” Version E, from English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians➚, Olive Dame Campbell and Cecil J. Sharp, 1917.

m66–80: Verse 4. We jump right from the interlude directly into Verse 4 with no introductory measures. The pattern is 1-5+8-5+8, then F-C-C-D-D. The notes echo like a tolling bell.

Pairing the C major chord in m67 with the reveal that “my love’s dead” is an attempt to defy grief. But the Em chord unique to m75 for “I sewed her up” is like the hitch in your voice when trying not to sob.

The RH helps with both accompaniment measures now, making the melody phrases more compact and the accompaniment phrases more even. We have arrived at the destination, still rowing, but with control as we prepare to land. And yet, the casual reference to the new lover in “have another now” makes us wonder at the cost of this passage.

m81–end: Outro. Measure 81 deviates from the prior chord progression by landing on Am7 instead of C. This signals to the listener that this verse is different from the others. An extra phrase confirms that difference and ends on C to complete the pattern. The final measures recall the rhythms from the previous verses. The narrator is standing on the shore, reflecting on what it took to get here.

Performance notes

Keep the accompaniment at a lesser intensity than the melody.

Accompaniment overlaps the melody? Melody still needs to dominate.
Right hand (RH) is helping with the accompaniment? Tone it down to accompaniment level.
Left hand (LH) is helping with the melody? Make it dominate.

What I changed

There is no definitive version of this song. This is a list of the most distinctive choices that I made:

4/4. Many versions of this song are in 3/4.
Every other measure is a IV chord. Most harmonies use more variety.
The lover is dead. The implications in most of the other lyrics are that the lover was false or was never in love with them in the first place.

Suggestions for your own changes

Don’t stop now! Everybody has made their own changes to this song. Why not you?

Melodic phrasing. I include lyrics as inspiration for the melody’s rhythm. Please feel free to change how you would “sing” these syllables through your fingers, or “sing” to other words entirely.
Your own accompaniment rhythm. Create your own rhythm for a verse. Substitute for one of my verses, or add another verse.
Varying the accompaniment within verses. What happens if you don’t use the same accompaniment rhythm for the entire verse? Change it drastically, or just leave off a note here and there.
Interlude. Do your own solo during the interlude.
Lower notes. If your harp has lower strings than are used in this arrangement, see if it sounds appropriate to utilize them.
Finger placement. The reason I don’t include brackets is to allow you to more easily change any placements you disagree with. Once you settle on the fingering, draw the brackets in.

Or just make it a little easier

The rhythm of the melody doesn’t really matter. I’m giving you permission not to fret over whether it’s ♩♩♩, 𝅘𝅥𝅮♩.𝅘𝅥𝅮, ♩𝅘𝅥𝅮♩., ♩♩.𝅘𝅥𝅮, or something else. Just keep the accompaniment steady, and choose whatever rhythm is easiest for the melody in the moment.
If any run has too many notes for your current abilities, drop some notes. Choose which to eliminate, and mark them so that you play consistently “as written…” you’re just playing as you have written.
In that mindset, eliminate doubled (LH) melody notes, or play them with the RH.
For the interlude, you could keep the melody but drastically reduce the accompaniment. You could keep the accompaniment but only play two or three notes per measure for the melody. You could do a combination of those options. Or you could eliminate it altogether.
Eliminate RH chords; just play the note on the top.
Eliminate the LH cross-unders. Playing the entire tune with 1-5-8 chords is beautiful.
The chord symbols are provided so that you can ignore the bottom staff and use the top as a lead sheet. Go ahead and use any rhythm for the accompaniment.
Make it shorter by eliminating any verse(s).