“John Riley”

E515340

"John Riley" is a traditional folk ballad popularized in the 1960s folk revival, notably through Joan Baez’s recordings.

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Observed surface forms (1)

Surface form Occurrences
John Riley 0

Statements (46)

Predicate Object
instanceOf folk ballad
traditional song
featuresCharacter John Riley (a young man who goes to sea or war) NERFINISHED
a faithful young woman
hasAlternativeTitle John Reilly NERFINISHED
The Broken-Hearted Lover NERFINISHED
The Lost Lover NERFINISHED
The Rambling Boy NERFINISHED
hasCulturalContext British and American folk music
hasForm ballad
hasGenre folk
traditional folk
hasLyricalFeature dialogue between lovers
narrative storytelling
strophic form
hasMotif lover returns after long absence
lover tests partner in disguise
promise to wait
hasNarrativePerspective third person
hasNotablePerformer Joan Baez NERFINISHED
Judy Collins NERFINISHED
Pete Seeger NERFINISHED
The Byrds NERFINISHED
Tim Hardin NERFINISHED
hasPeriodOfOrigin traditional (pre-20th century)
hasTheme disguise
faithfulness
love
reunion
separation
testing a lover’s fidelity
influenced 1960s American folk repertoire
isBasedOn older British Isles folk song material
isCataloguedAs traditional folk ballad (various regional indexes)
isCommonlySungAt folk clubs
folk festivals
isPartOf Anglo-American folk song tradition
isPerformedWith voice and acoustic guitar
isTraditional true
language English
plotSummary A young man leaves his lover, asking her to remain faithful; he returns years later in disguise to test her fidelity, then reveals himself when she proves true.
wasIncludedOnAlbum Joan Baez, Vol. 2 NERFINISHED
wasPopularizedBy Joan Baez NERFINISHED
wasPopularizedIn 1960s folk revival
wasRecordedBy Joan Baez NERFINISHED
wasRecordedInDecade 1960s

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

album "Joan Baez in Concert" hasPart “John Riley”
subject surface form: Joan Baez in Concert