When asked to identify my favorite song, this one is always my choice. There is something mystifying about it. This version here has a first verse which I had never heard before and could not find the exact lyrics for. I was pleased to find it involved an apple. I think part of what makes the song powerful is that the riddle illusions (apple, cherry, chicken, baby) are all things we have personal experience with or reference to. Without that common text, the song would likely be less moving.
I gave my love a cherry
That had no stone
I gave my love a chicken
That had no bone
I told my love a story
That had no end
I gave my love a baby
With no crying.
How can there be a cherry
That has no stone?
And how can there be a chicken
That has no bone?
And how can there be a story
That has no end?
And how can there be a baby
With no crying?
A cherry when it's blooming
It has no stone
A chicken when it's piping
It has no bone
The story that I love you
It has no end
A baby when it's sleeping
It's no crying.
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