u/SongsFromTheDead

The Hurrian Hymn is supposedly the oldest surviving song with notation, around 3,400 years old.

I find it hard to know how to listen to it. On one hand, it is incredible that anything like this survived at all. On the other hand, every version we hear now is partly a reconstruction, so it is not quite the same as listening to an “old song” in the usual sense. But I guess this is true for all folk songs.

Some recordings sound like early music. Some sound more like ambient or experimental music. Some feel more like archaeology than performance.

Have you heard versions you like?
Do you treat it as music, history, or both?
And do you know any modern songs or pieces that use it or are inspired by it?

I wrote a piece about it and collected some versions here, if anyone wants more:
https://songsfromthedead.substack.com/p/ep-21-hurrian-hymn-what-does-a-3400

I’ve been thinking about Scarborough Fair lately, and Simon and Garfunkel are obviously the version most people know. Fair enough. But once you put that one aside, there’s still a huge range of very different takes on the song.

So I’m curious what people here would pick if that version is off the table.

Which version do you like most?
Which one did you hear first?
And do you prefer it sung very simply, or arranged more heavily?

I collected some thoughts and versions here, if anyone’s interested:
https://songsfromthedead.substack.com/p/ep-19-scarborough-fair-a-love-song

I’ve been thinking about songs of leaving lately. Not travel songs, but songs about emigration, exile, selling up, or leaving home because staying has stopped being possible.

The song that sent me down this rabbit hole was an old Swedish emigrant song called Vi sålde våra hemman. I wrote up some thoughts and collected versions here, if anyone’s interested:
https://songsfromthedead.substack.com/p/ep-18-we-sold-our-land-when-leaving

I’m curious what other songs I should listen to.

1. Are there emigrant or immigrant songs you really love?
2. Are there ones that feel especially true?
3. And are there any versions you would point people to first?