Lovely Joan is a traditional English folk song/ballad (Roud #592), and the tune to which it is sung. Its melody was used as the counterpoint tune used in British composer Ralph Greaves's arrangement of Fantasia on "Greensleeves" from Ralph Vaughan Williams's opera Sir John in Love.[citation needed]
The words to "Lovely Joan," as printed in The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs,[1] are as follows:
Sung by C. Jay, Acle, Norfolk (R.V.W. 1908).
The melody for Lovely Joan was used by Emerson, Lake & Powell on the track Touch and Go of their eponymous album Emerson Lake & Powell in 1986 (uncredited).[2] This traditional English folk song/ballad was integrally covered by Bristol-based teenage folk quartet Folkal Point and released on their self-titled studio album in 1972 through Midas Recordings.[3]
The melody was used for a set of variations commissioned for the 2017 Presteigne Festival from a number of composers, who each wrote one variation. The composers were Thomas Hyde, David Matthews, Adrian Williams, Michael Berkeley, Christopher Gunning, Huw Watkins, Sally Beamish, and Matthew Taylor.[4]