Publication date somewhere between 1660-1680 based on the fashions of the woodcuts or illustrations that accompany the original version.
So I thought I might look at something actually kinda sweet this week and talk about not only a song that remains popular today but one of the longest-serving tropes of storytelling as well, the lover at the window.
So let’s look at the lyrics of what we can call “One Night as I lay on my Bed”
ONE night as I lay on my bed,
The thoughts of love came in my head;
I was sore oppressd, could take no rest,
Away to my own true-love Ill go.
Unto my loves window I came,
I boldly calld her by her name;
Tis for thy sake that I came here,
Thro the bitter frost and snow.
So open me the window my love do,
My Dad and Mammys both awake,
And if they chance to hear you speak,
There will be no excuse, but sore abuse.
With words and many a blow,
And its go from my window my love do,
Thy Daddy and thy Mammys fast asleep,
And in their window I made bold to peep.
Without the door I heard them snore,
And their breath it was not low,
And its open me the door my love do;
My love she arose and opend me the door.
Like an angel bright, she stood upon the floor,
Her eyes shind bright and the stars gave light,
Like diamonds in her brow,
And still she cries my jewel whisper low.
To creep the room it was our doom,
Though our foot steps was but slow;
And still she cries jewel whisper low,
Its you must stay till the break of day.
Ill freely give consent and straight to the pastime they wen[t]
It was just in the breaking of the day,
My love awakd and bid me go away,
My Daddy dear should chance to hear.
He will us both undo so its rise my dear jewel and go,
It was underneath yon shady green tree,
Where my true love and I did first agree,
What we did there Ill never declare,
No mortal man shall know,
For Ill love the girl while Ive got breath to draw.
Hearing what he said; she stood like one amazed,
Wiping the tears from off her beautiful Eyes:
Said she my dearest Jewel how could you be so Cruel,
Tis doubtful I had died if Id never seen you more.
Now this happy Couple they are joined together,
The Bells they did ring and the Music did play;
Now they live together, like two loyal lovers,
Blessd be this Couple untill their dying Day.
So the idea of the lover, so impatient and love sick that they can’t help but sneak out at night to see their love. Every time you’ve stayed up too late texting someone because they were all you thought about… that’s modern lover at the window energy.
For the majority of human history that wasn’t an option, and desperate for contact the lover ventures into the dark, a time of danger and predators for even a chance to see his love.
Now, from a Jungian perspective, there’s a blatant metaphor of the young man going into the darkness or subconscious in order to have just a moment with his love or anima. So a quick Jungian primer, just in case.
So, according to Jungian psychology every man, or animus, has inside him a feminine side called his anima. The same goes for women, but our hidden side is the animus. Whatever the case, they are subconscious.
In the case of the lover at the window, he’s risked a lot of danger to get to his anima or the things that represent femininity to him. Ideas are usually formed from the relationship with the mother. The girl at the window comes to present all the positive feminine things that men crave. Things like comfort, compassion, sustenance… all things that mothers give their children. Something we all continue to crave on a deep level in terms of brain chemistry…. Looking at you oxytocin.
So when the anima is positive due to strong mother-child bonds, the male tends to have healthy views of femininity, but when there are issues with that bond, the male can become more like some of the other men we’ve read about, and that I’m sure all of you have dealt with.
We get to see that directly reflected in his willingness to stand for her hand the morning after having her. There are a lot of songs out there where that is not the case…. Hell, we just did “Pretty Polly.”
So, as I was trying to find information on the “lover at the window” trope or archetype and came across a by-line about it as a trope to avoid, and all I could do was call bull-shit. As humans, we live for these moments. Listen, if writing about those first moments of passion is “overdone” we may as well all just give up now because there’s no damn point continuing is there?
That feeling… that need… that motivates most of what we do. We keep searching for the person who fits our anima/animus that we’ve built in our heads.
Every time we sell sex, it goes to these moments. It’s not so much the raw rumpy-pumpy that sells billions in random shit. It’s the chase and pursuit. It’s the feeling of being wanted and desired.
It’s the hope of finding that lover at the window energy. When people talk about “getting that spark back” or “keeping that spark alive” they are talking about this same energy.
It’s unsustainable of course, and perhaps that’s why the most famous example is Romeo and Juliet… which sidenote… kids today do not react the same way they used to. The first time I taught it and showed the movie one of the boys in the back hollered “Yeah yeah boo-hoo they bumped uglies now they’re dead.” Another time a girl yelled “Bye-Felicia” when Juliet killed herself.
Perhaps they see the core of the story for what it is. Two horny teenagers who let their hormones get a bunch of people including themselves killed. It’s a bit more complicated than that, but we aren’t talking about Shakespeare today, but I promise he’s inevitably going to come up… as he does.
The first version of “One Night as I Lay On My Bed” I heard was the Steeleye Span version, which remains one of my favorites, but let’s bring things over to the U.S, my home state in fact, and talk about one of my favorite modern variations of this archetype, “Steal Away” by Alabama man Jimmy Hughes.
This song was part of the very early days of FAME studios and the Muscle Shoals music era, which saw greats such as Hughes’ cousin Percy Sledge, Aretha Franklin, The Rolling Stones, Etta James, and of course… Skynard.
Hughes’ credits the spiritual “Steal Away” as his inspiration, but it is clearly coming from the lover at the window archetype. This brings me to another reason for this podcast, I have this curiosity to know how many other lover at the window songs are out there, but I’m one person and there’s a lot of music out there. Sooo… if you know of lover at the window songs, send them over to Bawdyballads@gmail.com, even if they are in another language. Then we can start building the resources on the site to further the inspiration… and with that I big all you bawdy bastards a sauce goodnight.
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