Comin’ Thro’ the Rye - 1914 recording - Alma Gluck - Catcher in the Rye - lyrics

“Comin’ Thro’ the Rye“ is a poem written in 1782 by Robert Burns (1759–96). The words are put to the melody of the Scottish Minstrel Common’ Frae The Town. The title of the novel The Catcher in the Rye (1951) by J. D. Salinger comes from the poem’s name. Holden Caulfield, the protagonist, misinterprets a part of this poem to mean “if a body catch a body“ rather than “if a body meet a body.“ He keeps picturing children playing in a field of rye near the edge of a cliff, and him catching them when they start to fall off. Publication date 1914 Gin a body meet a body Comin’ thro’ the rye Gin a body kiss a body Need a body cry? Chorus: Ilka lassie has her laddie Nane, they say, hae I Yet a’ the lads they smile at me When comin’ thro’ the rye. Gin a body meet a body Comin’ frae the town Gin a body kiss a body Need a body frown? (Chorus) Gin a body meet a body, Comin