Black Is the Colour

The song is traditional (Roud 3103) and believed Scottish in origin; Cecil Sharp and Maud Karpeles collected a version from Mrs Lizzie Roberts in 1916, John Jacob Niles wrote a new melody by 1941, and Luciano Berio used it in Folk Songs (1964). Others who recorded it include Burl Ives, Jo Stafford, Pete Seeger, Nina Simone, Joan Baez, Christy Moore, Sinead O'Connor, The Corrs and Gregory Porter. Dillon told Hot Press in June 2002 that people call such songs overdone but they have stood the test of time. Her arrangement is credited to Dillon and Lakeman, runs 4:04 and won Best Traditional Song at the 2002 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. A trance remix by the Derry DJs 2Devine appeared on Anjunabeats in March 2007, and Mixmag ranked it the top trance track of 2006. It is a staple of her concerts, often the opener. We could not confirm whether our upload is the studio track.