4 Beloved Love Songs — But No One Knows Who Wrote Them

When it comes to love songs, there are so many that it may seem like certain artists make these tunes their bread and butter. They are everywhere, from '70s dancefloor romantic faves to under-the-radar love songs worth more consideration. Yet, of those that have risen to the top and commanded attention for generations, some of the most famous have no known authors. Perhaps there was a paper trail that's now lost, or something was written back in the days when copyright would have been treated as a fantastical notion. In many cases, it appears that the love song in question is just one link in a long musical chain of tunes that inspired one after another. Whatever the case, the true identity of who first wrote these love songs will likely remain a mystery forever.

Now, not all love songs are blithely happy things. Quite a few of the authorless ones included here sing of unrequited romance, complicated partnerships, and thwarted love stories. Listen to a few, and you'll soon encounter someone weeping by the banks of a river somewhere or at least complaining about a lover who hasn't managed to return their affections. But what's love without some speed bumps along the way? Whether they reflect an unhappy romantic turn or point towards true affection, these songs remain beloved even with no name attached to them.

Nina Simone's version of "Black is the Color of My True Love's Hair" is now a standard, with her dreamy, powerful voice and moody piano playing. The song is much older, though, likely with Scottish origins, given its mention of the River Clyde. One of the first known versions was collected by Cecil Sharp in 1916 in North Carolina and published with musical notation in "English Folks Songs from the Southern Appalachians."

A 1941 recording by John Jacob Niles became a foundational track for following musicians, while others point to a later Pete Seeger version as another key track that promoted the ballad's popularity. Appalachian folk musician Jean Ritchie recorded it for her 1952 album, "Singing the Traditional Songs of Her Traditional Kentucky Mountain Family."

Though many have engaged with the romantic and intense meditation on a love interest's looks and movements, no one has managed to pin down a single writer for "Black is the Color of My True Love's Hair." The many different versions of the song, which mix up lyrics, tunes, and even perspectives, further muddy the authorial waters. Some versions recount a lost or thwarted love, while others even hint at a betrayal ("I couldn't do you like you did me" goes one version). The general consensus is that immigrants to Appalachia took the song across the Atlantic, then kept adapting it as time went by. After so much time in the United States, the exact origin of the love song was lost to even its most dedicated singers.

"Scarborough Fair" was made all the more famous by folk duo Simon and Garfunkel in the '60s. However, they were really using guitarist Martin Carthy's arrangement. Carthy was certain that Simon and Garfunkel had stolen his work for years, only to learn that his publisher had been selling the rights to his arrangement all this time. Carthy eventually let go of his grudge and even performed "Scarborough Fair" with Simon in 1998.

But beyond a copyrighted arrangement, no one owns this song. The history of "Scarborough Fair" goes back to at least the 17th century and shares themes of arguing lovers and seemingly impossible riddles with even older ballads. Many were collected by American scholar Francis James Child and deemed Child Ballads. The earliest known Child Ballad that could be linked to "Scarborough Fair" is "The Elfin Knight," in which a young woman answers an otherworldly knight's riddles to gain his affections. In "Scarborough Fair," a lover (or ex- or potential lover) is meant to prove themselves by accomplishing a series of confounding tasks, like making a seamless shirt or washing it in a dry well.

Even if the author of this ballad is lost to time, we know there was a yearly Scarborough fair held in the northern English seaside town of the same name. A royal charter gave permission for the event in the 13th century. It became a sprawling 45-day affair held from August to September, drawing international visitors and much commercial activity. The actual fair ceased operation in 1788, leaving old-timey lovers to quarrel elsewhere.

It's true that "The Water Is Wide" isn't the most cheerful of love songs. This ballad has beautiful lines like "Give me a boat that can carry two / And both shall row, my love and I." That's an idyllic image, but later verses reference the sad fact that sometimes "love grows old, and waxes cold / And fades away, like summer dew."

Perhaps the original songwriter got another chance at love, though we'll likely never know who wrote this song. Still, it's proven highly compelling for many musicians, including folk rock superstar Bob Dylan, who has released a solo version of the song as well as a 1975 duet with Joan Baez (though Baez, who'd been performing it since the '60s, likely didn't enjoy Dylan's pre-show temper tantrums). Pete Seeger also recorded it in 1958, simplifying the meter, rearranging and cutting some lines, and changing the earlier title of "O Waly, Waly" to "The Water Is Wide." To be fair, one of the first known uses of that phrase in the song came from a Somerset woman, Mrs. Elizabeth Mogg, whose version was written down by folklorist and musician Cecil Sharp in 1904.

Sharp appears to have cobbled together "Waly, Waly" from bits of other Scottish ballads, some of which had already been published as broadsides long ago, and even then claimed it was an old tune. Some have linked the song to the crumbling marriage between 17th-century Scottish nobles Barbara Erskine and James Douglas, the 2nd Marquess of Douglas. The two separated in 1681, with rumors alleging that Erskine was falsely accused of adultery and never remarried.

Henry VIII, he who married six unfortunate wives in succession, had nothing to do with this old school ballad. He was an accomplished musician, but given that "Greensleeves" only reached England after Henry's demise, musicologists and history professors everywhere beg you to recognize that he couldn't have written it. The English-language version appears during the reign of Elizabeth I, around 1580, when a ballad known as "A newe northen Dittye of ye Ladye Green Sleves" was published in London, though early versions were likely learned by rote and not via sheet music. 

In English-language form, it's often understood that "greensleeves" is a fickle female lover. Some interpretations say that the lady is a woman of ill-repute who got those green sleeves from cavorting in the grass with various partners. Then again, green is sometimes associated with young women and blooming romance — it is the color of growing plants, after all. Other interpretations suggest that the song, with lyrics describing a series of gifts to a lady, followed by whining about how she isn't reciprocating, may reflect the viewpoint of a guy who just doesn't get it. Lady Greensleeves simply isn't into you, man.

Whether it's about a love in bloom or unwanted romance, "Greensleeves" has really stuck around. In the intervening centuries, it's become a cozy holiday tune (its melody was co-opted for "What Child is This?"), the siren call of British Mr. Whippy ice cream trucks, and hold music that has wormed its way into the ears of many aggrieved telephone callers.