Traffic, "John Barleycorn (Must Die)"

What an ancient, intriguing story inside this epic song!!

John Barleycorn (Must Die) is a ballad found in the first decade of the twentieth century in Cecil Sharpe's collection, but it boasts very ancient origins, with an estimated one hundred and forty versions from the sixteenth century onwards, conceived in Oxfordshire, Sussex, Hampshire, Surrey and Somerset. The most accredited interpretations of this ancient song are linked to the metaphor of the reaping of barley corn, with the subsequent production of beer and whisky, and to the attempt - unsuccessful, in fact, in the end it could be defined as a 'drinking song' - to give up alcohol addiction, here personified in John Barleycorn, nomen omen, who 'must die', but there are many variants, which add that quid of mystery. Traffic, for their part, contribute a ghostly pseudo-rural aura with acoustic guitar and piano, timid but alienating percussion, and a piercing flute, with a crescendo groove.

Photo taken from Steve Winwood official Facebook page