Long blurb!
I wrote the lyrics for this song in the spring of 2024 after researching its historicity as I didn't understand what it was about as in all of the 20th Century versions it appeared to be part love song, part gibberish. So first re the historicity:

The song's roots are in a Scottish ballad called "The Elfin Knight" which dates back to at least 1670. In that version an Elfin knight comes across a Scottish maiden and he, being a magical being, tells the girl that if she can't complete some impossible tasks he sets her then she'll have to marry him. She realises that it's impossible to complete the impossible tasks, so she turns the tables on him and says that she will marry him if he can complete impossible tasks which she sets him. Two years ago the Wikipedia page on the song listed later English versions in which the antagonist became other entities such as "The Fairy King" and others, but since then there's less of such information, probably due to lack of sources. It was only later that the song was sung at various English fairs and took on various titles such as "Whittingham Fair" as well as Scarborough and other places.

It was the idea of the impossible tasks which appealed to me, so I initially wrote the 'naughty rock version' more as a joke - it's not so much a parody as a completely different comic and very 21st Century take on the subject - but shortly after, I put it to music and decided to make a recording of it. A couple of months later I decided I wanted to upload it, but that required rewriting some of the lyrics to make them less naughty, but since then and re personal limitations I was unable to record the amended lyrics until February this year. I also decided that the song would be improved with some female backing vocals, but re the 1st set I received (from Lucy Rod along with two of her friends), one of my ideas didn't work and the parts that did weren't enough. So as Lucy became ill I hired Denisse Ferrara (of "Flowing Lady Deya [rock version]"), and then for better effect I combined the two sets of stem files. Denisse's make up the bulk, but The Silverada's (Lucy, July & Paz) are used in combination in the opening and closing backings, plus in two other places.

Not mentioned above, which is essentially the YouTube blurb, the delay in getting the vocals redone until this year was due to the limitations of where I live - only plasterboard walls separating me from my neighbour, so there's very little opportunity to make any noise - but just after Easter I had 2 days alone here. The first day of recording - this song, plus 2 other demos for later female vocals - was a disaster, then on the 2nd day I concentrated only on this naughty song, but since 2024 my emphysema has gotten worse and I was running out of breath by the 4th line of each verse, plus I had to take loud in-breaths between each verse. Luckily I was able to edit out all of the in-breaths, plus I cut and pasted the best parts of each recording to get the above, but my voice still tends to peter out towards the end of each verse.

For those abroad, Scarborough is on the east coat of Yorkshire, Whitby a little further north, while Skeggy and Skeg are common abbreviations of Skegness, my birth town, which is a very popular resort further south on the Lincolnshire coast. Nearby is an annual SkegVegas VW show.

Vocals: Me.
Primary BVs: Denisse
Secondary BVs: Lucy, July & Paz, aka The Silveradas

Sampled Styles:
Drums: Jovian Divine Alt Rock Soloing ~ Shannon Forrest
Bass: Jovian Divine Alt Rock Soloing ~ Dow Tomlin
1st Rhythm Guitar: Astound Chugging Ev8 Grunge Solo ~ Dave Cleveland
2nd Rhythm Guitar: Astound Chugging Ev8 Grunge Solo ~Mike Durham
3rd Rhythm Guitar: Nashville Radio Power Bal Solo ~ Danny Rader
4th Rhythm Guitar: Nashville Radio Power Bal Solo ~ Danny Rader
Tabla: Tab Tabla Pop ~ Shobhit Banwait
Marimba: Cay Island Steel Drum Soloist ~ Todd London
*Lap Steel Guitar Solo: Ten Step Ctry Boogie Solo ~ Eddy Dunlap
5th Rhythm Guitar: Centaur Gtr Solo Hard Rock Bal ~ Darin Favorite
6th Rhythm Guitar: Centaur Gtr Solo Hard Rock Bal ~ Murray Atkinson
2nd Drums: Clouds Danceable Reggaeton ~ Ed 'Great Oz' Clare
2nd Guitar 1 Solo: Nashville Radio Power Bal Solo ~ Danny Rader

4/4 ~ G ~ 110 bpm ~ 96 bars ~ 3:39

*The Lap Steel Guitar Solo is a hybrid of 3 samples which I chopped about a lot to get the channel changes.

"Scarborough Fair [naughty rock version]" lyrics and arrangement © 2024 & 2026 Chay Tana.
Although I can't find any chord structure identical to mine I classify this one as Public Domain as it's based on traditional music going back at least 356 years.

Some favourite Waoist Adages:
#1: Play on the Way.
#13: Ask not for whom the flower blooms, it blooms for you.
#58: Bring consciousness to it.
#63: On the road to effortlessness, effort must be made.
#92: Be Love Now, the rest will come on its own.