Welcome to my song
To the seed and the fruit of the bards
To the harvest that's been waiting
Since the days of youth
Welcome to my landscape
The pure and unspoilt western island
To the place that will always find
It's meaning and truth
Locked away in my heart
Welcome to my language
The one I learned as a child
The huge dignified language of the Gael
That stands like a banner
For me daily
Although they tried to destroy us
My children will see
The landscape of generations
Although the language
Has been wounded in its struggle
In this land, she will live on
Come and walk with me
By the side of the ocean
Let me show you
Eighteen teams of horses
On the field of Aird a Mhorrain
the young men were ploughing
On the day the Sleat people came
Black was the colour of the blood
That flowed like a flood to the land
The arrow, the long sword
Through the generosity of the Udal people
Generation to generation
From one name to another
My time is now
To walk this corner of Uist
The geneology of Goraidh
The sons of Ruairi
The sons of Ranald
The children of Donald
Failte gu mo dhan
Siol is means nam bard
Am foghar bha feitheamh orm
Bho an la a bha mi og
Failte gu mo thir
Eilean geal an iar
An t-ait a chi gach tuigse is firinn
Glaiste 'na mo chridhe
Failte gu mo chainnt
Is i dh'ionnsaich mi 'nam phaisde
Canan uasal mor nan Gaidheal
Mar bhratach dhomh gach la
Is ged a dh' fheuch iad ri cur as dhuinn
Chi mo theaghlach cnoc nan linn
Is ged tha ar canan leoint le stri
'S an tir seo bidh i beo
Trobhad is coisich rium
Ri taobh a' chuain
Is seallaidh mi dhuit
The snow lies high around my door
And beyond the Great North Road
There calls this restless soul
To journey home
The wind blows coldly through the trees
But I will feel no fear
To the ones you call your own
Is where I'm going
This time of year
This time of year
At this time I think of you
Sometimes it's hard to close a door
The future can be cold
Another year has turned
And you're not here
A yellow moon runs deep and bright
Where the mountains stand on ice
And a million stars
They fire the skies tonight
You can tell me, flowers never bend
Or that this world's at an end
But don't tell me
Between the shifting shadows
In the no-man's zone
There's a bar at the end of the street
Some poor country music
One or two sixty's songs
This is the place where the night owls sleep
Oh, lonliness
You're a hard earned crust
You're the night at the end of the day
'Cause you pay your dues
On the road you choose
With the price you have to pay
Down the neon aisles
And the twilight miles
Where the world takes comfort in shame
And all I can hear
Is a voice in my ear
And its calling out your name
Still the silence glows
The four winds blow
And a dark moon rising above
To rest by your side
In the heat of the fire
In the sleep of the night of love
When darkness hangs
On the dirty city
Winter falls on a foreign town
And it's all I can do
To be with you
Tonight as the sun goes down
But I would cross
The ocean wide
I'd walk the mighty foam
If I could lie
In your arms tonight
The old boys are leaving
Leaving one by one
Where young birds go flying
Spread your wings and run
But over the fields by the drystone walls
An eagle will come no more
Welcome were the headlands
St valery behind
No medals worth wasting
On memories of sand
But sweet is the breeze over Raasay
The morning awaits you there
What kind of heroes
Here for us now
Stone leaders, stone preachers
Minnows on flow
But low hang the lights over viewfield
And this night will day see no more
The old boys are leaving
Leaving one by one
Where young birds go flying
Spread your wings and run
But over the fields by the drystone walls
I walked out, one morning fair
By the ocean road to linger there
And the sun was up, I saw the blue
But it night in my heart for you
And the turning wave filled my empty thoughts
With a homing power that washed a sea of loss
I saw my light, I held the flame
That we should take this road again
Still the ocean rolled round this smallest sphere
Through an endless void, to fade and disappear
Our fickle hearts sat down in time
For the fleeting beat of a last divide
One more, and I can see it all again
Like I was young
Strong in heart and dreams
Once more I’m staking all that’s real
Where the waters washed us clear
Soaring like a bird
Where do we go
Where do we go
On and over all we know
Where do we go
We grew up in the spaces
Where the four winds blow
We left these glens and valleys
Traitors to the plough
We thought we knew the answers
thought we had it made
We kissed down in the city
Swore we'd never change
We grew up young
And we played the years
Held out for love like it was fire
Now I can't wait any longer
Down that line
Going to walk with you
That final mile
Today there's gold an your finger
Today you're dressed in white
Today we stand alone together
Proud of you for life
Now the hurt is gone
Now the doubt is gone
I'm walking down
Life support genius at the end of time
The greatest living brain alive
A breath of chance matter from a fallen star
The power is on and reaches far
The apple came down it had to fall
Where man grew wise minds grew small
Newton and Adam lost and found
The apple must fall to the ground
There's not long left it's a race against time
They say he's close he could lose his mind
Like he lost his body here on planet Earth
Where he holds the key to the universe
The apple came down it had to fall
Where man grew wise minds grew small
Newton and Adam lost and found
The apple must fall to the ground
A mighty spark to keep him there
Triggered to power wired to pain
Direct inject pleasure when the going gets rough
Don't believe in God and all that stuff
The apple came down it had to fall
Where man grew wise minds grew small
Newton and Adam lost and found
The apple must fall to the ground
The apple came down
Watching the morning come in on the land
See the moon roll over Skeabost
See the young men late in the glen
All with camans in hand
Sea winds out on the wilds
Sea waves crash onto Uig
See the black homes strung out on a line
Across the island of Skye
Should have been home before daylight
But it's not easy when you're down and hungry
One man from the late run rolled up in a coat
I make my way across the moor
For a late summer in '84
But now there's a new day dawning
I've heard the Braes men talk in Portree
The news from Glendale
Still the morning comes in on the land
See the new sun red and rising
See the corn turn ripe in the fields
See the growth of the glen
And MacPherson's in Kilmuir tonight
What a night for a people rising
oh God not before time
There's justice in our lives
And I can't believe
That it's taken all this time
I can't believe
My life and my destiny
After the clans, after the clearings
Here I am
Breath of my life,
Breath of my existence
Breath of my life
Proclaiming in my soul,
Uplifting my heart
Uplifting my heart
I am standing before you
Without fear or desire
I am standing before you
The concerns of the morning will come
When the sun rises
When the sun rises
Song, sacred, eternal
Lift on high the voice of the people
Song, I am reconciled
Let it rise up from the moorlands
The psalm is like a flame,
Illuminating all around
The psalm is like a flame
My lips opened
When the day began
When the day began
Song, sacred, eternal
Lift on high the voice of the people
Song, I am reconciled
Let it rise up from the moorlands
Sing, Sing, Sing
A new song, a song of the dust
Spoken Passage: (unofficial translation)
Looking out the window of morning
From the evening to the door of night
I asked the question
And the answer was in the water of dawn
[of the lake?]
Twelve o'clock at night
Streets of many corners
The lunar river winds
Down the closes and the lanes
The night skips the sleeping years
And reawakes the memory
Takes me along the way
To the places of the heart
The days of summer came
Days of many heartache
Not to love is not to live
Not to live is not to feel no pain
So unlock this heart of stone
Teach me the ways of mystery
In the places where they say
Only the brave can walk alone
You took me through this town
And you took me to the moment
That makes angels lose their wings
And makes poets lose their wonder
But I have found in you
A love line pure and lasting
May your heart hold true
When were young and of independent spirit
We started singing in Gaelic language
Making music, writing songs
Playing in a band for our livelihood
There is much deception in the world
We left the islands of the west
And started playing throughout Scotland
And all was well
Until the big man from London appeared
There is much deception in the world
"This music has potential
Why don't you consider letting me take control
And we will make great progress in the world
Just sign your name at the bottom of this page"
There is much deception in the world
"I will not change the nature of your music
I will not alter your attitude to Gaelic language songs"
But all we heard at the end of the day
Were lies and empty words
There is much deception in the world
Now all of you that are young and of independent spirit
Take heed before you sign any contract
And keep a good look out for the `big' talkers
From a cold world that makes profit its only goal
In there, Out there (repeat several times)
Then I began to see the sun and the moon
As I wandered round in orbit
On this land that I called home
No Messiah up in the sky
That I could ever see, that I could ever know
To find my soul
Standing in the face of the gale
A raging night on the island
I passed an old man with a dog
On a hillside
Head bent in the weight of years
Headed back indoors
Lost myself in a T.V.
Three women in a kitchen in Chechnya
Staring at the world with frightened eyes
And all I had done below the sun
Would count for nothing
In the turning of the world
When there is nowhere left to go
You walk alone and watch the void
Eclipse it all
Nothing but the sun
Nothing but the sun
Nowhere to run
By the mountainside, by the ocean blue
Where the struggle broke my heart in two
River of millions flow downstream
A golden highway to the sea of dreams
Morning comes, turn on the light
Deceive the day, delay the night
Ideologies come, ideologies go
A waste of words, and endless flow
Great people come, take the stage
Famous moments vanish without trace
Trees grow tall, fields grow wheat
Woman grows older, man grows weak
But now you're here
I feel no fear
I can't believe
The news from heaven
You close your eyes
On a world inside
A spark of life
On a wire from heaven
In the state of a miracle
State of a miracle.
I watch this miracle unfold
In the state of a miracle
State of a miracle
Looking out on all that's been
On all that is and all that's beyond time
I close my eyes in isolation
Here's where the word was sown
All that's grown and all that's passed like ghosts
Through the child to highland generations
Now we walk in empty glens
Rushes blowing in the wind
A voice that's calling you again
To come back home
Where have they gone, where have they gone
Gone to illusion everyone
In the darkest heart, the pride of man
Will walk alone
Science breaking down the door
And all the hoardes go rushing through for more
All the thrills of the world, and all her idols
Here the water washed us clean
A deeper peace for all our keenest sins
Washed in these clear, clear crystal fountains
Now we walk in empty glens
Rushes blowing in the wind
A voice that's calling you again
To come back home
Where have they gone, where have they gone
Gone to illusion everyone
In the darkest heart, the pride of man
How can't you see
The wilderness growing free
Time wounded and scarred
Stroking away the years
It's hard to believe
But memories are old ghosts
Mountains of black and gold
Sunsets falling over the moor
Oh take me there
'S na horo eile, horo bho
'S na horo bho, hillean o
'S na horo eille ho. Take me there
You take your dream
You make life what you feel
Appearances lead to deceive
This drama so far from me
Destiny
On facts aching wings
Wild geese fly low over your shores
Hearts sailing over the trees
Oh take me there
'S na horo eile, horo bho
'S na horo bho, hillean o
'S na horo eille ho. Take me there
Chi mi'n t-eilean uaine
Tir nam beanntann arda
Ceo a'tuiteam tron a'ghleann
Ochd deug seisreach
Air raontainn Aird a' Mhorrain
Na fir a' treabhadh
An la a thainig na Sleitich
Dubh dath na fala
A dhoirt 'na tuil gu talamh
Saighead claidheamh
Tro chairdeas corp an Udail
Siol Ghoraidh
Mac Ruairidh
Clann Raghnaill
Clann Dhomhaill
Linn gu linn
Ainm gu ainm
Air an sgiath seo dh 'Uibhist
'S mi beo an drasd
Clann mo theaghlaich
She's late in years in the olden world
Sharing the old morality with the olden girls
Her only guide was the life in her hands
Ways that only the wise could understand
So they take you down to the global stream
With the third and the fourth worlds, the world extremes
Then they home their lasers in on you
And when they hit you they stick like glue
Video beats and the suicide smile
Sex in the wilderness mile on mile
Every hotel room and every bar
American girls and American cars
Satellite flood
It's a world crusade
And it's pouring down
From the skies like rain
Satellite flood
From a nuclear town
If you don't stem the tide
When I'm away please take good
care of my heart. And when I'm
gone say a prayer for love.
'Cause there's cities and clouds
in my eyes. The empty streets
and the raining nights. Wherever
the highway unwinds I'll keep
coming home. Love on a wire.
Strangers walk out on the town.
Long distance words. Outside
leave the night to the young.
Cause its touchdowns runways and
roads. The bright lights the
silver and gold. Wherever the
moment goes cold I'll keep
coming home. I'll keep coming
From the north came a warrior
Baring burdens dark and deep
I've a will and I've a wanting
And miles to go before I sleep
I have horses in my stable
I have sons fit to fight
I will bring this to your table
If you ride with me this night
From the north came a warrior
Baring burdens dark and deep
I've a will and I've a wanting
And miles to go before I sleep
Blood red wine, a toast for heroes
And harping till the morning light
Come the dawn the road will lead us
Can anyone explain
I shared your truth today
So far away the rains
And the ocean
I see your flower growing
I see your rivers flowing
I see your skies open
In the year of the flood
You may walk and you may run
You leave your footprints all around the sun
And every time the storm and the soul wars come
You just keep on walking
It’s been this way from the start
Everybody walking round with holes in the heart
Everybody holding up skies in the dark
As the stars keep falling
It’s coming clear as day
Like comets blazing trails
Through the shadows and the veils
All along the valley
In every sunrise spent
All our beginnings end
All our doves sent
For the hour of knowing
You may walk and you may run
You leave your footprints all around the sun
And every time the storm and the soul wars come
You just keep on walking
It’s been this way from the start
Everybody walking round with holes in the heart
Everybody holding up skies in the dark
As the stars keep falling
Can anyone explain
I shared your truth today
So far away the rains
And the ocean
You may walk and you may run
You leave your footprints all around the sun
And every time the storm and the soul wars come
You just keep on walking
It’s been this way from the start
Everybody walking round with holes in the heart
Everybody holding up skies in the dark
The wheels keep turning. The
road stretches north and south.
The wheels keep moving. Like the
globe they keep turning around.
The wheels keep turning. Through
each country land and sea.
Through the glents and the
cities towards the place that
you call your own. This is the
big wheel that never stands
still. Turning our youth to old
age. Tonight the road reaches
out before us and the present
time is the only time we have.
Many are the days that have
gone. The wind blowing through
the dust of the earth. Many are
the days that the sun rose on us
Standing in the barley when we
were young. Joyful. Joyful.
Running through the fields as
they grew. Ripe. Golden. Looking
towards the open skies waiting
for the journey. Glasgow.
Edinburgh. Invernes. Stirling.
Stornoway. Aberdeen.
Fort-William. Dundee. London.
Germany. Ireland. America. The
How can we close our eyes
Watch our world break down and die
How can we let it be
Slaves to world economy
How can we be like wood
Watch our world cry out for food
How can't we start to see
A glimpse of world simplicity
The hands of wealth are tied
Men of power run and hide
But we're players you and me
In the game of world duplicity
World appeal
World appeal
This is our planet
Let it heal
The earth, the rain, the air, the seas
This is our future
Since I was young I've faced this pill
I've worked this land and I always will
Through life and death I've learnt the hill
A worker for the wind
I fake my sheep and cattle days
The endless storm, the months of rain
But this land holds me ball and chain
A worker for the wind
You need heart, you need dreams
Laughter, joy, you need beliefs
But without love you sow an empty field
A worker for the wind
In the night the light grows thinner
The lust for love cuts like shiver
I need to hold you through the winter
A worker for the wind
Mary, I'll wait for you
When all the world is quiet and still
And doubts run deep as the ocean
Through troubled years and broken dreams
To the place where all silence has spoken
So wonderful, too wonderful
Immeasurable, invisible
The moment golden before me
I will walk with you through the beautiful gate
My hands and heart wide open
They say the wall of China's seen from the moon
They keep building empires to mortal fools
But where the world goes small you stood alone
To face Goliath and the might of Rome
Where the rock sets hard your arms hit strong
Digging out your road ten thousand paces long
Fragments of survival in the driving rain
With the blood and tears that bear your name
On and on the meek the strong
On and on the meek the strong
They built the wall of China with a million men
Thought that broken promises would wear you thin
But they didn't count on things they couldn't see
One island man with heart of steel
On and on the meek the strong
On and on the meek the strong
On and on the meek the strong
We stood in the moonlight and the river flowed
And God walked through the garden
A mist came falling down to the ground
I watched it all with no obligation
This is your sister, this is your brother
This is your mother, not somebody's dream
And all our lifetimes drifted through the trees
To that place of moments where all was certain
Travellers on an olden road
With all the baggage of our days and years
We're life's carriers to the next unborn
And I'll carry you
Till this great race is over
We stood in the garden
The skies above London are
neither clear nor dark. The great
candle of daylight and the stars
of the night cannot be seen. In
this city that never sleeps there
is no quit no stillness.
Footsteps keep moving. The river
in full flood. The relentless
wheels keep turning without
pause. Many worshipping wealth at
the world's altar. Others without
hope or home on streets that hold
no love. With the various races
creeds and languages from all
corners of the globe. Each
question and answer rushing down
the river to the ocean. The need
I could tell you about the moon
That's rolling 'cross the sky
I could show you all the stars
But it's much too late at night
I'm driving home on the silver run
The last to move on through
And this is not a love song
No matter what I do
Words are few but the heart is true
Still the world keeps turning round
For me and you
If I could only make you see
One reason to believe
I would open up my heart
It's so easy to deceive
Footsteps fall through open doors
Across a darkened room
And this is not a love song
This is no moon in June
Words are few but the heart is true
Still the world keeps turning round
For me and you
You know for you I'd give my life
In you I will be strong
We went off looking for the light
But it was right here all along
Now we wait her passing nightimes
Until every morning comes
And this is not a love song
This is no easy tune
Words are few but the heart is true
Still the world keeps turning round
This Day
They’ll be gathering together
Sharing hearts and hand as first rays fall
All our connected lives
Arriving down by the mission wall
And sometimes it’s not easy
To take a step outside and face the day
‘Cause part of you for ever
In this place will always stay
Take away the pages
Keep them locked up in your memory
We all open morning doors
Go walking out with destiny
All around. Familiar faces
Voices ringing out warm and near
They take us to the moment
And the dance that leads us
You’ll be frozen in your moment
You’ll be beautiful for all of time
Waiting on the wonder road
Where saints and angels walk the line
And somebody much, much older
You’ll look back and chance to dream aloud
Was there a moment greater
Than one to make someone proud
Bless this day
I say, I pray
We’ll take this day
On a long dark loch
On a Uist moor
Before the winter turned
We watched the circle round the moon
And the storm clouds gather round
So I turned to you
But you were gone
So I turned for home alone
Over last year's rotting corn I walked
Where the harvest winds had blown
[Chorus:]
The Blinding Lines
Have turned away
Shadows from your door
And my worn heart
Is young today
This darkest winter gone
Where the darkness whines
On an eerie wind
In the hour before the dawn
We scanned this wasted land for life
All seemed void and without form
So I turned to you
But you were gone
So I stood and watched alone
Where the doubtless clouds of firstlight formed
Their shapes across the soul
[Chorus]
So I turned by collar
To the wind
And I asked myself in vain
Did I walk out there with you today
Or did I come alone?
But then I saw
A distant sight
A heart behind the grey
Come shining through the darkest sky
Establishing my way
Day was young and desire was
stirred. Summer was all but
gone. Light was fading from the
side of your face. Sinking low
in the corn. All that's constant
and wise I still see in your
eyes it was always this way from
the start. Right here whre I
stand on the last of the land.
Bur you're still breaking the
heart. Now all I have is rushing
right through my hands. Sailing
over the seas. Down that tide
where fresh and salt combine.
All victories are released. We
who wrestle the years have
traded our fears for a glimpse
of ecstasy in the dark. Turning
ice in the fire but still we're
denied. But you're still
breaking the heart. The skies
turned red without failure. They
held their promise and dread
till the last. You put all of my
youth in my future. You put the
future back into my past. So
shine a light and shine it
brightly now. You know it all
takes it's course. And all the
many ways I've tried so hard to
reach this potent source. On the
day behind time across the
divide. Along the cord came all
light out of dark. Now I stand
amaze in this beautiful pain.
But you're still breaking the
She was the fairest
And her eyes shone of blue
I first fell in the autumn term
There was nothing I could do
School lovers swarmed
Around the courtyard wall
Then walked on up
The rapture road aglow
She kept me warm that winter
And winter turned to spring
We never looked round corners
To the changes they could bring
Her love was a dart
And I swore she broke my heart
The world would never turn
The same again
The things that are
And things that never can be
Are things that we must bare
To share our destiny
I saw her again last summer
Where the hard rains fall
The grass grew long around her feet
Where the years took their toll
She once meant the world to me
But we by-passed destiny
On the road not taken
The road unknown
(Chorus)
She was the only one
Eternity blindness could see
Our moments are rush and gone
All our pictures incomplete
(Chorus)
(Chorus)
Oh, the things that are
From the core of the dark
To the spark of the heart
There's a need
Sons falling into souls
Ships breaking on the shore
There's a need
It's the way her eyes were cast
Through the sockets of the past
There's a need
From the west to the east
From the famine to the feast
There's a need
From the strong to the weak
From the desert to the streets
There's a need
From the left to the right
From the darkness to the light
There's a need
From the governors of war
To the pawns who heed the call
There's a need
She's sleepwalking with the damned
A photo etched in her hands
There's a need
We're all waiting in the night
Together for the light to take us there
The promise of a greater fate
With all your dreams complete
In the warm last place
We are many millions more
We have not been here before
There's a need
We've come so far so fast
And the first are now last
There's a need
From the little child in arms
To the leaders of the land
There's a need
Hopes are towers in the skies
Dreams are wings taking flight
There's a need
It started rising round the world
Like any other sun to start a day
The promise of a greater fate
With all your dreams complete
My father came from a Highland home
I was raised in a Lowland town
He fought his life for a heartless soil
I watched the burning wheels go round
I tried to break out I grew my hair
I kicked the ball and I made the grade
The more I kicked the more I wept
This is a hopeless heartless cage
We spoke in silence we cursed in vain
Then I shook the old man's hand
If he could see me now he'd be ashamed
Is this the son that became a man
He knew his place and he knew his pride
They've made a freeman of this slave
No there was never beauty here but there was life
What now for a freeman in his grave
So what will I tell the woman I love
Lying in her arms as the sun goes down
You tell me you can live on love
Rivers of plenty, money to burn
And as I lie across her breasts
I feel the heartbeat of an unborn love
I close my eyes and I pray to God
Make this a daughter not a son
A man must work his hands
A man must bare his brow
A man must hold his head high
The Wire
We listened into the Ice age
And we built up man round the Picts
And the daybreak hammered out warning
To the weak
We dreamed on moor with passion
And on the long lochs bluer than eyes
'Till the mists of bygone ages
heard our cries
I've seen us among thousands
All of one name waiting to run
And when the charge came heather on heartbeat
Steel on gun
The old rock leaves us with fossil
From the ancient pagan rites
From the universal inroads
back to Christ
As we look out over the morning
And the days of this life's spring
And the joy of Gaelic's lifeblood
Made me sing
Watching your beauty on this journey
With the lick of youth in your eyes
Let us sow this olden heartland
Reap in time
Transmitting, transmitting
Breaking down the wire
Transmitting, transmitting
The air was swaying round the first guitar I remember
We crossed the river by the Ostrum wall 'neath the
stars
To where the wedding filled the hall
My father sang a song
Crossing the river, caught in the rain
Crossing the rhythm, caught in the rain
Chased Cathy round the trestles at the edge of the
eightsome
We watched the lovers round the lodge at the edge of
the sea
White lights and wooden boards
We watched the village take the floor
Crossing the river, caught in the rain
Crossing the rhythm, caught in the rain
There is so much I could say to you, but
Tonight I'm sticking to the past like glue
When life gets tough, when times get hard
You have to know exactly who you are
Arm in arm, hand in hand
You take this woman, you take this man
Spirit dancing evermore
Endless circles round the floor
Last night I drove my children down by the river
Past the windows of the hall and the dusts of our years
Then the radio came on
They said "someone's playing our song"
Crossing the river, caught in the rain
Crossing the rhythm, caught in the rain
Crossing the river, caught in the rain
Crossing the rhythm, caught (caught, caught) in the
The Summer Walkers
Sometimes when you journey
Through the pages of a book
You’re taken places beyond words
You let them speak the truth
Today I’ve opened treasures
That my eyes could scarce believe
They’re the words of confirmation
Everything that makes me sing
Summer comes to Sutherland
And you bend the hazel bow
You harness up the ponies
And you head out on the road
By Kilbreck and Altnaharra
You journey to your rest
With the guiding might of Suliven
For the campsites of the West
And it's up by the Shin
And up by the 'Naver
And the long winding shores
Of Loch Maree
By Ben Hope and Ben Loyal
By Stack and by Arkle
The road reaches far
Now the summer is here
Now your words are not of sentiment
Shallow or untrue
But wells of living water
And from their clear deep sides we drew
The songs, the tin, the horses
This country’s great and ancient wilds
Your faith in God and man and nature
And the keenness of your guile
(Chorus)
So have you stood out on Coldbackie
At the time the sun goes down
Or up on the king of campsites
In the hills about Brae Tongue
That's when music filled your evenings
It's all so different now, this world
For you were the summer walkers
And the fishers of the pearl.
(Chorus)
So as we close another chapter
That we label Archive Gold
Still the Conon flows each morning
And the dew falls from the sloe
But today you took me walking
Through a land that we have lost
While our children sit at websites
With no access to the cost
(Chorus)
April comes to the new grass on the hills of gold
Tha feur ur air bar an tallamh, bar an tallamh, horribh
Where winter falls in the long cold north
Black waters wait in the Ice and snow
Tha feur ur air bar an tallamh, bar an tallamh, horribh
Black waters wait in the Ice and sun
Through the glens where your great rivers run
Back on the stamping ground
to where it all began
Back on the stamping ground
We come again
So we tend and we nurtur all the seeds we've sown
Tha feur ur air bar an tallamh, bar an tallamh, horribh
Through all the frosts and rains the west winds blow
till the fields turn ripe and a harvest stored
Tha feur ur air bar an tallamh, bar an tallamh, horribh
Through all the frosts and rains the west winds blow
We will wait here till the winter's end
Back on the stamping ground
to where it all began
Back on the stamping ground
We come again
So it's blood on blood, our bond, our word
Tha feur ur air bar an tallamh, bar an tallamh, horribh
For the strength and weakness of our days
is to take you there on a journey shared
Tha feur ur air bar an tallamh, bar an tallamh, horribh
So take this thing, make it sparkle and glow
it's much greater than we may ever know
Back on the stamping ground
to where it all began
Back on the stamping ground
We come again
Back on the stamping ground
to where it all began
Back on the stamping ground
I awoke in the dusts of an autumn morning
Faces oil-lit and kneeling round the family chairs
I never knew that a heart could take such filling
Spaces everywhere
All the front doors opened and the men came walking
Suits and shoes, heads of silver and grey
It's one short road from a darkened cradle
To the endless light of day
She walked like a bride down the aisle of her childhood
The shops, the schoolyard, the church on the hill
Where she trembled on the day she was touched and
broken
Marie was born again
All ears to the trawler-band in the evenings
Forty crans and the spirits run wild
The storms. the drownings. the tables, the drinking
The sea had claimed their lives
There's peat smoke rising from the village chimneys
You take your chances with the red haired girl
All the boats take their rest in the heart of the
harbour
That night in a changing world
And the ship come's round
And she's waiting at the harbour
Be prepared to get on board
Be prepared
I never knew that the light of ages
Breaks the way before us
Sail away
The roll of the wind
As we sail across the water
The roll of the sea
As we're taken through the night
The dimming lamp of day
Leaves the crimson foam and spray
Across the face of the mighty Atlantic
In this cradle we found love
In our lifetimes we were broken
By the spirit we were turned
Here we touched the hope divine
And in the rapture and the charm
Came the tranquil and the calm
On the rage of the mighty Atlantic
Deepest grave, supreme deceiver
Brave new worlds and cursed emotion
Let your people go, bring me a saviour
White doves rise above the ocean
The brightness of the lights
As they stretch across the water
The excitement of the night
As we're carried through the seas
There's a welcome lies in store
The strongest arms I've ever known
In the homes of the mighty Atlantic
For the roll it is gentle
As the waves, they guide you over
Full new moon across the stern flag
Our different worlds in constant motion
The roll of the wind
As we sail across the waters
The roll of the sea
As we're taken through the night
I'm coming home it's late
And you know I just can't wait
For the shores of the mighty Atlantic
For the shores of the mighty Atlantic
The Message
I'm going to dance you round the floor
Drink you under the tables
Going to take that last flight home
To Balivanich in the month of June
Go racing up the south ford
Turning midnight in the cars
Waiting up late with the Greenock girls
Single every song that made us
You take your message to the waters
And you watch the ripples flow
Now somewhere out on the ocean
It says Mary please don't go
We're going to lie down on the grass
Your lipstick in the clover
Going the marry Mary in the summertime
The Atlantic round our shoulders
Skies are dawning ound the Langass Barpa
Stopped off at the white bridge waters
It's all crossroads lined with telegraph poles
A rise of larksong fills the morning
You take your message to the waters
And you watch the ripples flow
Now somewhere out on the ocean
Lies our fear should we grow old
You take your message to the waters
And you watch the ripples flow
Now somewhere out on that ocean
It says Mary please don't go
And when we've wasted all our young years
Who's to say we never tried
To live fast and honour our pledges
Here we vowed to stay young till we die
We drank the life from the last of the bottle
We wrote our message out like a prayer
Then we threw away the message with all our hearts
Then we watched our lives disappear
You take your message to the waters
And you watch the ripples flow
Now somewhere out on that great beyond
Lies our fear should we grow old
You take your message to the waters
And you watch the ripples flow
Now somewhere out on that ocean
Like shadows on the wall
You come and you go
Through the streets
And the rain that falls down
On our sin
No more good-byes
Forever this way
Whenever the greatest flame in the world
Starts burning
This is our life, and our time
And nothing, is ever going to break us
Now we're on our own
Always in your eyes
A waking of souls
We gaze out on the road
That brought us up
To this place
The signposts never change
We'll go where they lead
Whenever the day to break us comes
We'll not give in
This is our life, and our time
And nothing, is ever going to break us
Now we're on our own
This is our place, in our lives
And no one can ever change this moment
Or pull this mountain to the ground
Live the day when the flame is strong
Live the day when the flame is strong
Come the day when love is gone
Take it over, Take it over
Live the day when the flame is strong
Live the day when the flame is strong
Come the day when love is gone
Take it over
This is our life, and our time
And nothing, is ever going to break us
Now we're on our own
This is our place, in our lives
And no one can ever change this moment
Well the captain called from ship to shore
And the green light slipped away
The captain called for another song
The day was getting late
For the distant light of the Weavers Point
The Lochmor faced the gale
With your Gaelic sons in the city long
Round the saloon by the stairs
She tossed around the sun went down
And she fought her way to the shore
The fever of this sea believes
Beside the braes of dawn
One clear new morning
Down where the lilies stood in bloom
I knew that I was just a stranger in this world
A wind just passing through
So we dared to stay
In these golden ways
We never never knew what to do
And the world kept coming screaming
All it's news at me
Well, now I've got news for you
So let me take you down to the dancing floor
You can walk out on the crowd
Let us waltz away what's left of the living years
In celebration of the loved
No nothing's all that it seems
In the strands and the waves
Our steps renewed our lips confess
We were stranded at the alter of unknown delights
Down on the road to happiness
And as the sunlight fills
The highland hills
It's all become so clear somehow
That the days we spend
Were not made to end
We stand forever in thier glow
So let me take you down to the dancing floor
You can walk out on the crowd
Let us waltz away what's left of the living years
In celebration of the loved
It's all glitz and sparkle down on the dancing floor
We can turn our lives around
Just leave behind that wretch that you have been
With the fool that I'd become
Now the hours are few
And the days can be so cruel (so cruel)
Yes, the night are getting long (the nights are getting
long)
And that joy that you would always bring
It'll always keep me strong
So let me take you down to the dancing floor
You can walk out on the crowd
Let us waltz away what's left of the living years
In celebration of the loved
It's all glitz and sparkle tonight on the dancing floor
We can turn our lives around
Just leave behind that wretch that you have been
When you arrived in Canada you walked the streets
Out of work out of money, prospects bleak
Now the plane comes down from the morning sky
And you touch the land where the fire won't die
Johnny, you're home, man
It's a long road
You drove us down
It's only a moment
Since the diesels turned
Now the blade cuts clean through the island soil
The years roll back and the world grows small
You stand on the banks in the wind and the rain
And all of your money now can't hide this pain
So you hold your mother and you bless the air
With the tears of the emigrant, tongue of the Gael
And the plane takes off in a clear blue sky
Life's a long lost list of last goodbyes
The heath flame is burning bright
Burning every night
It's winter in Ontario
The wheels that turned us village kids
Still carry through the heaths
(Original in gälisch)
Choimhead mi ri m’chul
Gun neimh gun truas
Larach mo chasan mu sgaoil
'S iad a triall tron an uir
Gu toiseach 's gu deireadh uair
'S gu na laithean soilleir buan
Thairis Air a ghleann
Thainig thu nuas
Gu fasach truagh
'S thog thu am faileasbhon a ghleann
Buidheachas is naire
An tomhas air gach lamh
Togaidh sinn do chliu an aird
Air slighe Dhia
O mollaidh sinn
An gaol 's an gras
A thug dhuinn bith
Cho umhail fo ghrein
'S i dealradh sios
Air reultan cein.
Übersetzung (englisch)
BEYOND THE VALLEY
I looked behind me
Whithout rancour without pity
To where my footprints were scattered
On their journey through the dust
From the beginning to an end of time
And to the bright everlasting days
Beyond the valley
You came down
To a barren wilderness
And you raised the shadow
From the valley
Gratitude and shame
The measure in each hand
We will proclaim your name in voice
On Gods way
We will praise
The love and the grace
That gave us our existance
So lowly beneath the sun
As it poured out ist light
In the slipstream of luck and democracy
A victim of chance and geography
I reap and I sow the face of the earth
While big guns play games with the land of my birth
I walk these hills and I sail the seas
I've weathered the storms of history
Created to live, created to share
With the fish of the sea, the birds of the air
I'm not too hot on Dukes or Earls or Graces
But I love respect and exhalted places
Give me the people with sod on the knee
The higher the monkey climbs the more he reveals
Tear down these walls
All men were born the same
You came here with nothing
But naked and a name
A name
Tear down these walls
Sometimes when you journey
Through the pages of a book
You're taken places beyond words
You let them speak their truth
Today I've opened treasures
That my eyes could scarce believe
They're the words of confirmation
Everything that makes me sing
Summer comes to Sutherland
And you bend the Hazel bow
You harness up the ponies
And you head out on the road
By Kilbreck and Altnaharra
You journey to your rest
With the guiding might of Suilven
For the campsites of the west
No, your words are not of sentiment
Shallow or untrue
But wells of living water
From their clear deep sides we drew
The songs, the tin, the horses
This country's great and ancient wilds
Your faith in God, and man, and nature
And the keenness of your guile
So have you stood out on Coldbackie
At the time the sun goes down
Or upon the king of campsites
In the hills about Brae Tongue
That's when music filled your evenings
It's all so different now this world
For you were the summer walkers
And the fishers of the pearl
So as we close another chapter
That we label archive gold
Still the Conon flows each morning
And the dew falls on the sloe
But today you took me walking
Through a land that we have lost
While our children sit at websites
With no access to the cost
And it's up by the Shin
And up by the Naver
And the long winding shores of Loch Maree
By Ben Hope and Ben Loyal
By Stack and by Arkle
It was winter on the Mersey
Snow was falling on New York
The boats were coming in from Ireland
A nation drinking round the docks
What do you do when the rain is falling
What do you do when the rain is falling down
Young men were heading back to Europe
Rocking the Reeperbahn at night
We watched the airwaves over Eval
Angels were dancing in the light
What do you do when the sun is sinking
What do you do when the sun is sinking low
The chains, slaves, praise and gospel
Burn like the sun in tortured mouths
A hurricane blew out of Memphis
Revolution in the south
What do you do when the sun is beating
What do you do when the sun is beating down
Spirits drink the milk of nations
Singing freedom and release
Cries of mercy rise like rockets
Trough the paths of the redeemed
What do you do when the guns are turning
What do you do when the guns are turning round
What do you do
Sing a song of the earth
Song the earth
Song the earth
A singer in my bloodstream
Stayed mainline all my life
His voice filled my Atlantic
A Celtic fire, a soul of white
What do you do when your homes are burning
What do you do when your homes are burning down
He wore the beauty of his people
Came to tell it to the world
Human tears, human oceans
The greatest song I've ever heard
What do you do when your hope is raging
What do you do when your hope is raging strong
It was winter on the Mersey
Through the museum on the docks
Through my years, through my failures
To where the white piano stood
What do you do when the rain is falling
What do you do when the rain is falling down
Saw all the singers of the Gaidhealtachd
And all the world could understand
I heard, maybe I'm a dreamer
I was not the only one
What do you do when the song you're singing
What do you do when the song you're singing's gone
What do you do when the song you're singing
What do you do when the song you're singing's gone
Song the earth
Sing a song of the earth
Song the earth
Song the earth
Sing a song of the earth
Sona
Joyful
“On the other side of the (prison) door there was no sun
There was no food and there was no wine”
But the day of release has now arrived
Like a flood, like a bird on the wing
“Keep your eyes open and listen”
There is a well of riches at the Feis
Our children today, with the voices of yesterday
Champions of youth, with joy, with respect
Joyful
I have no worries now
A new era has risen up
From a bleak and an arid wilderness
She is lovely, she is beautiful
Something's Got To Give
She walked into the room
Leaving all her lovers in her trail
And all that glitters fades
With the garlands round her fame
Out where the journey turns
Another river runs and I’m amazed,
You’re the one, locking on
Like a memory
And it’s good to feel you near
So burn anther dawn
And your tired and empty eyes look to the sun
But grace won’t come
Before this night is done
Somewhere down that road
You’ll look round and realize that it’s all gone
Empires rise, and they fall
I’ve played my part
Holding on
But if this is the way
We love and we live
So let it be
But brother, can’t you see
(But it just seems to me)
That something’s got to give
Sometimes I can’t easy see or believe
Tell me where oh where has summer gone
It hasn't come this year
You always cry when swallows fly
With doubts in search of dreams
He's a working man
Can't you understand
And he sweats for a mans release
But you've seen the lie
In the children's eyes
As heroes turn to tears
It's the same old scene it's always been
Men flex muscle fast
And men pull punches after hours
When the moments spell is cast
So you take your chance
At the smalltown dance
Where romances is up and gone
It's Friday night
You're another man wife
And you waltz that lie till dawn
Tell me where oh were has summer gone
It hasn't come this year
You always cry when swallows fly
They confirm your darkest fears
When a bottle strikes
Down one mans life
And his children's lives as well
The full moon pulls you
Many times
To the outer edge of hell
Tell me how
This life won't let you go
Tell me how
This same old fool
Walking out on the revelation trail
Going nowhere slowly
In the face of a terminal wind
I look over my shoulder to glory
For all that around me is lost and changed
The moon and the stars and the feelings remain
As long as I draw emotion in breath
I will never forget, I'll never forget
The light of the world keeps shining
Bright in the primal glow
Bridging the living dust to dust
Such a long long way to go
Going down to the memory well
No romance, no warning
Breaking the land with the saints of your soil
In the light of all constant dawning
I'm held in the grasp of the blessed and the old
The hand that civilisation's forgotten to hold
Rushing onwards racing in chains
I'm chasing the days, chasing the days
(Chorus)
Saints of the soil, saints of the soil, saints of the
soil
I see you laughing round the fires of harvest
Flame grabbing and your arms entwined
Dying tribe take a righteous glance
To the sharing days and the common wine
There's a shrine on an Assynt hillside
It's made of earth and salt and rain
Now you walk out in the morning
With your sacrifice of change
Saints of the soil
Saints of the soil
Saints of the soil
Saints of the soil
Saints of the soil
Running round the sacred mountain
The rushing stream
Feel the power
In everything
By the water. where the air is clear
Surrender everything
Old hearts grow younger again
They promise bring
The greenest. plants are tender
They're full of sap in spring
Empty the places of the mind
Running to the light
Running to the light
Those who stride too far too soon
Will not hold pace
Only the calm
Will win the race
Through the forest, the sea of mountain pine
Surrender everything
Only those who
Greatness see in little things
Worthy are the simple
They're happy in their ways
Self will wither out of sight
Running to the light
Running to the light
Arise soul
Soar above the singing river
Go lying down
Into the ground
Quickened by the stream
When all is said and done
The race moves on
Here hangs an open landscape
A wild and huge frontier
From a harsh and a barren wasteland
Through the grave to the promised field
You came, you trapped, you charted
You laid the railraods and the schemes
And you tamed this land by enterprise
And by the power of your dreams
From the olden coasts of Ireland
From the Hebridean shores
With the forgotten chosen ones
Running from Europe in droves
There's a town in Manitoba
They say the windows touch the sky
But across the brine the shipyards close
In this garden flowers die
Still the homelands divide us
Like your blood red brothers of the plains
But where they grieve a candle still burns
A prayer from a flicker to a flame
But you made this Clan great
And you made this nation bloom
And you rose
With your people through the new world
Take heart: cheat the dark
Get driving with the lark
As cities sleep,
Steal a march before the sun
It’s all philosophy
On an open motorway
Chasing break of day
Somewhere on a border town
I’ve packed my ceilidh boots
I’ve got my “once was” looks
I’ve got my tubes and hooks
Reel, drogue, priest and bung
Throw away your fears
Peel away the years
I’ve seen too many leaves
Falling down
‘Cause we’ll get old
Before this night is done
So get far away
So come with me
Everything you see
Is everything you need
Take a road trip
Go soul deep
Unwind: touch the brine
Take some bread: break some wine
I can see the water line
Red below the Lewis sun
Where the ocean rolls
Aboard the ship of souls
The healing wind blows
So why crawl when we can run
Go find your other life
One road: steeper climbs
Where the river winds
Straight into the west
Fade away like rust
Vanish like the dust
‘Cause, baby, tramps like us
were born with cianalas
So come with me
Everything you see
Is everything you need
Take a road trip
Go soul deep
Get free: Believe: Go real
Everything you ever need
Is waiting for you here
Get Free; Believe: Go real
Could this be the living glimpse
Of all that’s meant to be
‘Cause we’ll get old
Before this night is done
So get far away
So come with me
Everything you see
Is everything you need
Take a road trip
My love
The winter night is frozen and cold
The years are moving away from us
And from the day when I first vowed to you
We lived through the journey of that first year
And through every other winter in a warmth
Young girl to whom I gave my love
One new spring
My love
This day and age is impoverished in love
Scarce is the heart that does not reject
And the vow that binds eternally
Graceful, gentle girl
There is no other I could put in your place
I would walk with you to the back of the sun
And to the ends of time
Young girl
Brown haired girl
I would walk with you to the back of the sun
And to the ends of time
My love
As usual as I am in the solitary
Writing songs
This is the way of my people
I will sing your praises
In song secured to the tradition
And supposing I stood on every star
I would place you higher
Young girl
Brown haired girl
And supposing I stood on every star
Across the street the river runs
Down in the gutter life is slipping away
Let me still exist in another place
Running under cover of a helicopter blade
The flames are getting higher in effigy
Burning down the bridges of my memory
Love may still be alive somewhere someway
Where they're downing only deer
A hundred steel towns away
Oh rhythm of my heart is beating like a drum
With the words 'I love you' rolling off my tongue
No never will I roam for I know my place is home
Where the ocean meets the sky
I'll be sailing
Photographs and kerosene light up my darkness
Light it up, light it up
I can still feel the touch of your thin blue jeans
Running down the alley I've got my eyes all over you
baby
Oh baby
Chorus
Oh I've got lightning in my veins
Shifting like the handle of a slot machine
Love may still exist in another place
I'm just yanking back the handle
No expression on my face
Word came like a hammer
Night fell down like a shroud
And it's caught me drinking, trying to turn back the
clock
Through this industrial ghost town
I've known graft and I've voted well
Trying to keep the Lowlands red
But all I gets control in foreign hands
Other colours instead
All I want is a roof over my head
All I want is a steady job
All I want to do is say I love you
With every penny I've got
And all I think about are Debbie and Jane
To give them some kind of chance in life
But the long road running out the strip mill gates
Has got me walking that line
We never stretched our dance hall dreams
We got it just about right
There's little escape from a working town
And from a working life
I placed my future in the palm of your hand
One autumn Friday at the Church of All Saints
There's no investment here in life or in love
And now it's getting too late
All I want is a roof over my head
All I want is a steady job
All I want to do is say I love you
With every penny I've got
And all I think about are Debbie and Jane
To give them some kind of chance in life
But the long road running out the strip mill gate
Has got me walking that line
Has got me walking that line
As I walk along these shores
I am the history within
As I climb the mountainside
Breaking Eden again
Dark the day, dark the night
The warring dust, the morning tribe
Crushed by a million suns
Hear the heart of you lies
Over land and sea
I'll come fighting for you
Over land and sea
A dawn is breaking before us
Proterra, take this hand
The open wound, the promised land
Breaking the waves, spread the oars
The red hot sun burns up the hill
The winter's bride, the summer's king
I tramp these acres and I feel
Once upon a time
Then it seemed that everything
You saw and touched and felt was real
You turned the tap and you turned the wheel
Breathing free
Now you search the open evening sky
Trace the memory in your eyes
For the prophet's hard rain and the deluge
Lie in tears around your door
Once there were trees and livestock here
A mother's love, the warnings clear
But you chose to turn away from fear
Breathing free
Now there's a faceless cross on a distant hill
A wasted voice, a silent scream
Where the lovers love and the dreamers dream
You stand and dream alone
You took your sacrifice to the gods of war
Traded your children's lives for a mess of gold
And you beat your ploughshares into swords
Breathing free
Once in a lifetime
You live and love
Once in a lifetime
You die
Once in a lifetime
The sun goes down
I still hear the snares in the square
Colours ablaze in the evening
The air was still
Down the stormy hill
It's good to be young and daring
I still see the blood on the knees
The camans swing without warning
The lads in white
At the speed of light
It's good to be young and daring
Across the bay I still hear thee strains
The two step loud and Blair-ing
We walked hand in hand
To the accordian band
It's good to be young and daring
She was the pride of the summer that year
She was my sweetheart, my lady
We walked the black rock
And we stopped by the loch
It's good to be young and daring
Beat the drum
Beat the drum
Liek a heartbeat
Lonely and strong
It's all over now, no more summers in heaven
After World War Two wed and a life of ups and downs
I see it now, precious even on paper
A young man and his bride and someone to make time stand still
All things remain to ignore and outlive you
From the man in the moon to the greenhills outside your door
Alone you came so alone you must go now
There's no mountain on earth can ever outlive your soul
I know you well, you'll be nothing but grateful
Never let it be said they were spent in thoughtless ways
Warm winds blow 'cross the ties that bind forever
For a place in the sun and for the hearts of love a home
But now I know and I don't want to believe it
Where does it leave you now
(Original in Gälisch)
An saoghal, sia uairean
Obair la ri culTeaglach gabhal dhan a 'mheasa
Pailteas, slainte, is gaol
An Ruis a tuiteam sios mu'm chluasan
An Ear Mheadhain am brot cho dorch
Is thusa, uilc is a mhuirt is a shabaid
Na mo bheatha a h-uile oidhche
An greim cho teann 's cho araid
Mar ord na mo dhorn
A 'ghealach bha cho soilleir
'S a gheall a leithid dhuinn
Bha sinn mar longan seolaidh
Air cuan buidhe og a 'chridhe
Mu coinneamh clann an t-saoghil 's a theaglaich
Gun ghuth no gaire, Dia, no biadh
Co as an dainig na reultan, thuirt miCo as an dainig grian
Tha sinn cho leointe fo na ghealach seo
Anam craidhte seachad air ifrinn fheinn
Ach tha thusa brosnaichadh nam bliadhnaichean
Le saidhbreas seachad air mo dhith
Cho cheal ri sneachd gach uile gheamhradh
An t-oran gaoil m'fhaosaid chiontach fheinn
O luaidh be siod an gradh
A dh'fhag mi ceangailte ruit an drasda
Co shaoileadh an rud a dh'fhas
Bho phog aon oidhche earraich
Translation:
BEYOND THE VALLEY
I looked behind me
Whithout rancour without pity
To where my footprints were scattered
On their journey through the dust
From the beginning to an end of time
And to the bright everlasting days
Beyond the valley
You came down
To a barren wilderness
And you raised the shadow
From the valley
Gratitude and shame
The measure in each hand
We will proclaim your name in voice
On Gods way
We will praise
The love and the grace
That gave us our existance
So lowly beneath the sun
As it poured out ist light
Across the skies the monuments stand
Shrines of wonder, man worshipping man
Computer ethics mock a dying land
Down below like rats in a cage
Success, survival, two needles in hay
It's Romans One facing satan's stare
Pull down the forests we need more wood
Extend the grazing we need more food
Burning our bridges before the flood
Out on the oceans where it's relatively safe
It's not so easy being big as a whale
We're all in a race on a bigger scale
Homosapien, I've had enough
Homosapien, I'm giving up
At best your wisdom's a shot in the dark
So make yourself pretty, make yourself rich
Leopardskin, sealskin, money and sex
Apartheid, genocide, thalidomide, life
It's your choice
But mountains
Are holy places
And beauty is free
We can still walk
Through the garden
There's a place
Where the rocks of Caithness
Lie beside the ocean
On summer days, a waiting grave
In the layers
With the pains of generations gone before us
Uranium, your age has come
There's salt and spray
On the beaches of the island that I came from
Caesium, the change will come
Across the waves
From Sellafield you came in unseen wonder
A life begun, a chain undone
And from the hollow mouths of grey
It's the future and it's safe
So let the children play
Move a mountain
Fill the ground
Take death on wheels
Re-create the land
One glance away
Civilisation on the streets of California
The burning nights, before my eyes
Savage times
In the courtrooms and the subways of frustration
Crucify, crucify
'cause man rules the waves
The rock, the road, the lanes
And all the cities of the plains
Move a mountain
Fill the ground
Take death on wheels
Re-create the land
Move a mountain
Fill the ground
Take death on wheels
Re-create the land
And we'll all be long blown rushes
When all the world's a flame
Move a mountain
Move a mountain
Fill the ground
Take death on wheels
Re-create the land
Move a mountain
Fill the ground
Take death on wheels
I'm standing here
In a long row
Farewells
And a future hanging low
Waving out
In the morning grey
A burning heart
That keeps tearing me away
Morning tide
Morning tide
You're taking me
For all my life
Morning tide
Morning tide
You're sailing me away
Precious
Morning still
My wealth falls in
All around the island hills
Dying out
Across the bay
The pier runs out
And the Minch waves roll
Away
(Chorus)
I'm standing here
In a long row
Farewells
And a future hanging low
Waving out
In the morning grey
A burning heart
That keeps tearing me
I'm alive again on a Maymorning
Going to wipe the slate clean
Follow my dreams
All the yearning buds are here again
With the the promise of a new life to come
Spring is here again
The sun is melting over the hills
All our roads are waiting
To be revealed
For this in history has brought us to here
Now it's all there for the taking
The day is what you see
The light's returning, the work is in hand
All the cynics have vanished
From where we stand
All the chances wasted are drawing me near
And all around there's new life rising
From the winter fields
I'm alive again
This world's not my home
I'm a stranger to the storm
Save me, save me
Where the race is quickest
The tide runs strong
Save me, save me
A big sky above my
West winds blow
Sailing long distance
Breaking the foam
There's a lighthouse
Shining in the dark
A lighthouse
Standing in the dark
All the world's a ship
Shipwrecked on the seas
Breaking up in pieces
We're clinging to the reef
There's a lighthouse
There's a sky full of trouble
Lifetimes and fear
Save me, save me
Talking the soundings
Now the tempest is here
Save me, save me
And daylight is breaking
On out-streched hands
Lost on the ocean
Reaching for land
There's a lighthouse
Shining in the dark
A lighthouse
Standing in the dark
All the world's a ship
Shipwrecked on the seas
Breaking up in pieces
We're clinging to the reef
There's a lighthouse
There's a lighthouse
Shining in the dark
A lighthouse
Standing in the dark
All the world's a ship
Shipwrecked on the seas
Breaking up in pieces
We're clinging to the reef
There's a lighthouse
A lighthouse
A lighthouse
Holdin' on (repeat three times)
You got to keep
holdin' on
holdin' on
holdin' on
holdin' on
Oh, you got to keep
holdin' on (repeat three times)
You got to keep
Hear the call of the wind
Feel the dying answer
Steel on the mind
Cold in the veins
Torture and trial
Sunrise over the limits
Conquest and fire
I'm alive
I'm alive
I'm alive on a lifeline
I'm alive
I'm alive
Spirits provide
I'm alive
I'm alive
I'm alive on a lifeline
Come to the mountain and climb
You cry in the wilds
Hope on the ledges
Your heart's in the stars
Night's in your eyes
The rockface inclines
hold her, leave her
Rise to glory
Over mankind
(Chorus)
Life Is
Life is hard, somehow
Life is cold, somehow
It can make you, it can break you
In pieces all around
There is no return
Once the seal's undone
Morning dawning with life abounding
But in time we all must fall
And it seems to be this way
Hearts change and brightness fades
And it leaves you facing the days
When your hope is blown apart
Life is hard
I walk you down that road
It's the only road we know
Nights so blinding, the world denying
That love so loved the world
What words to ease the pain
A life to live again
What can lift you up from this place
Where you hold a broken heart
Pick up the broken pieces from the ground
All your diminishing returns
And take a good look at the master plan
'Cause down here every candle burns
You are as gentle as the morning dawn
Torment can't wash away your grace
In search of angels with the Uist eyes
So many suns light up your face
Tonight the skies are red
So red they fill my eyes
Sundown on barren words that can't describe
Your island paradise
But I know that all's well with the world
Don't worry anymore
Don't worry now
Mm Mm Mm
Too many seas to cross, too many roads
You leave me with my higher need
This one horizon in our borrowed hour
Such little lives we lead
Tonight the skies are red
So red they fill my eyes
Sundown on barren words that can't describe
Your island paradise
But I know that all's well with the world
Don't worry anymore
Don't worry now
Another sun will rise
Mm Mm Mm
Mm Mm Mm
In Scandinavia
I saw something in your eye
As the night came down in a Nordic sky
Walking in ways of summers past
Touching other lands
The wind filled sails
She stayed to make the moment last
There’s nothing new beneath the sun
We watched it rise
In morning skies of fire and wine
The boats that carried us
Young golden lives
Leaving on a rising tide
Here we stand in Scandinavia
We stand right now
Hold my soul
Head of ribbons running down the brae
In the morning, In the morning,
Bare-foot sisters and a milking pail
Turning around
At the weekend the boats come in
From the herring, From the herring
Wives and families and the table laid
Turning again
Forever you'll be eyes blue
In the circle of your youth
Picking every blade of truth
Down the Newton road
War is over and the boys come home
From the fighting, From the fighting
Letters and a great unknown
Turning around
Counting your blesings at the village hall
To the dancing, To the dancing
Alittle loving and a lot of soul
Turning again
Forever you'll be eyes blue
In the circle of your youth
Picking every blade of truth
Down the Newton road
You took your beauty and your heart of gold
To the Altar, To the altar
Bound forever in an August vow
Turning around
The skies of summer shone round your door
Little children, Little children
Three men who couldn't love you more
Turning again
Forever you'll be eyes blue
In the circle of your youth
Picking every blade of truth
Down the Newton road
One door opens and another closed
Oh the parting, Oh the parting
New arrivals and a family grown
Turning around
Head of ribbons running down the brae
In the morning, In the morning
Pulling moments from the clock of faith
Turning again
Forever you'll be eyes blue
In the circle of your youth
Picking every blade of truth
Down the Newton road
Forever you'll be eyes blue
In the circle of your youth
Picking every blade of truth
There's thunder clouds
Round the hometown bay
As I walk out
In the rain
Through the sepia showers
And the photoflood days
I caught a fleeting glimpse
Of life
And though the water's
Black as night
The colours of Scotland
Leave you young inside
There's a vision
Coming soon
Through the faith
That cleans your wound
Hearts of olden glory
Will be renewed
Down the lens
Where the headlands stand
I feel a healing
Through this land
A cross for a people
Like wind through your hands
There must be a place
Under the sun
Where hearts of olden glory
With the eyes of a child the
wonder of it all. I used to
search the stars at night and I
felt so safe and small. Sweet
sounds from a Merseytown and my
nursery God. I wanted to ride
with Yuri Gagarin as he circled
all around my world. Lying under
the covers. Radio on. Settle
down with Caroline as she sailed
all summer long. Sweetheart of
the Rodeo. Mining Hearts of
Gold. I think it was somewhere
post Rubber Soul. There was the
first caress. There were the
Labour years. There was the man
that walked the moon something I
never really believed. The Di
Stefano twists the Charlton
goals. Now I'm still here with
the eyes of a child the wonder
never grows old. Hearthammer.
There's a watcher waiting on the
edge of the world with the
thoughts that nver darken whn the
lights go down. In the rhythm of
living and the shifting tribe
through the cities of destruction
in these graceless times. In the
smallness of one heartbeat power
overthrow. In the oneness of the
journey for a homing soul. With
the spirits of the mighty here
since day began. A shadow rushes
through the grasslands to the
dying sun. For the universe and
the stars are around you now. But
the healer in your heart is only
a breath away. For there's
silence and there's blindness in
a raging world. But the healer in
The headlights swing across the
naked headth. Through the silent
miles the empty spaces. With the
drinking boys. The dancing wine.
Somewhere outside the laughing
glass burns in your eye. Elvis is
still the king the long road home.
The flushed caress the trmbling
heart. She's in your arms
Sons and daughters of the dust
Strangers of time and place
For a while your limbs entwine
Holy marriage of the flesh
But I know your ways
Your ways are not mortal thought
Till the day breaks and shadows run
Run away
So shine on harvest moon
Cast your might on the ripening corn
And I look at your life
Hold you in my arms
With all the power in the days of youth
In the fullness of love
Fields run deep in golden swards
Hot summer winds blow through the corn
Cast off your sorrows now you stand
In the presence of the Lord
And your radiance shines
Like the moon of all innocent grace
To know that we dared breathe belief
To love again
(Chorus)
In the distant day was dawning
Comes to me the early morning
Something tells me that I’m going home
The brand new sun was shining bright
From the darkness fields of light
Something tells me that I’m going home
Going home
Where the summers coming in
And the moonlight on the river
Shows me where I’ve been
Soft the rain is gently falling
Light across the city morning
I get the feeling that I’m going home
Across the moorland, past the mountains
O’er the rivers beside the new stream
Something tells me that I’m going home
(Chorus)
(Chorus)
As the trains rolling nearer
Ah, the feeling just to be there,
Something tells me that I’m going home
Now the skylines reach my eyes
The ridge stands out in highland skies
I just can't believe I’m going home
In the middle of the schoolyard
Where the bombs have lain to rest
There's a child in the darkness waiting
But the answers in the history books
Are slowly burning down
And the words that spell forgiveness
Wear a thorny crown
There is much that I have seen
In this world they say is free
That would make it almost seem untrue
Many times I've walked the line
Longing for the other side
The only thing that changed my mind was you
Gabriel's sword will pierce me no more
I'll let my spirit soar so high
Sure as it all comes
From the father to the son
We've got to learn to speak the truth to fly
Head of ribbons running down the brae
In the morning, in the morning
Barefoot sisters and a milking pail
Turning around
At the weekend the boats come in
From the herring, from the herring
Wives and families and the table laid
Turning again
Forever you'll be eyes of blue
In the circle of your youth
Picking every blade of truth
Down the Newton road
War is over and the boys come home
From the fighting, from the fighting
Love letters and a great unknown
Turning again
Counting your blessings at the village hall
To the dancing, to the dancing
A lot of loving and a lot of soul
Turning again
Forever you'll be eyes of blue
In the circle of your youth
Picking every blade of truth
Down the Newton road
You took your beauty and your heart of gold
To the alter, to the alter
Bound forever in an August vow
Turning around
The skies of summer shone around your door
Little children, little children
Three men who couldn't love you more
Turning again
Forever you'll be eyes of blue
In the circle of your youth
Picking every blade of truth
Down the Newton road
One door opens and another closed
Oh the parting, oh the parting
New arrivals and a family grown
Turning around
Head of ribbons running down the brae
In the morning, in the morning
Pulling moments from the clock of faith
Turning again
Forever you'll be eyes of blue
In the circle of your youth
Picking every blade of truth
Down the Newton road
Forever you'll be eyes of blue
In the circle of your youth
Picking every blade of truth
Sunburst. The morning moar. The
light of God. The heart of
youth. I look around me. My eyes
find their rest on this garden
the flower of the west. Sunrise.
The colour frontier. The ageing
light. The sight that knows no
fear. I look over Orinsay to the
Trumisgarry shore. To Aloter.
And the road to Ahmore. The
silent skies. An innocent heart
Holding the moment away from
time in the dark. All I see. All
I know. Is touching the sacred
earth warming the hallowed
ground. I survive the childhood
universe and I step the naked
heath where the breathing of the
vanished lies in acres round my
feet past Loch Scadavagh Loch
Fada and the flatlands to the
east where the dark blue mass of
Eval meets the rising Rock of
Lee. Between the Crogary and
Mairi I started to descend Loch
Aongais on my left hand side I
look across to Clett. Collies
barking on the outrun Dunlin
dancing on the sand. Breakers
show round Corran Vallique and
empty the Atlantic on the
Ruith's a mhonadh
Ruith nam beann
'S mar sin dhan sgoil aig deireadh samhraidh
'Nar clann
Aig coig bliadhna dh'aois
'S gun facal beurla 'nar ceann
Seo do leabhar
Sea do pheann
"Dean do leasan," thuirt iad riumsa
" 'S gunn eirich sibh suas anns an t-saoghal
'S gheibh sibh an adhart ann
Fichead bliadhna'airson firinn
B'fheudar dhomh feitheamh
'S b'fheudar dhomh lorg
Fichead bliadhn' de bhreugan
Thug iad eachdraidh air falbh bhuainn
Dh'ionnsaich sinn a leithid ann
Canan's bardachd, bardachd Bheurla
Ceol na Gearmailt
Eachdraidh na Spainnt
'S b'e sin an eachdraidh mheallt
Bhon sgoil do'n oilthigh chaidh sinn ann
A' leantail foghlum, tuilleadh foghlum
Mar amadan air deiradh streang
Seorsa de dh'fhoghlum 'nam cheann
Fichead bliadhna'airson firinn
B'fheudar dhomh feitheamh
'S b'fheudar dhomh lorg
Fichead bliadhn' de bhreugan
Thug iad eachdraidh air falbh bhuainn
Ach dh'eirich mi suas anns an t-saoghal
Fhuair mi deise, 's fhuair mi leine
Fhuair mi aite ann an suilean dhaoin
Fada bhon mhonadh mi'n drasd
Carson a chum iad eadchraidh bhuainn
Innsidh mi dhut, tha iad gealltach
Mas eirich clann nan Gaidheal suas
Le ceistean sireach is cruaidh
Fichead bliadhna'airson firinn
B'fheudar dhomh feitheamh
'S b'fheudar dhomh lorg
Fichead bliadhn' de bhreugan
Thug iad eachdraidh air falbh bhuainn
Nuair a thoisich mi air lorg
Cha do chreid mi mo shuilean
This song is on the following albums:
Proterra
Tha faileas air an airigh
Faileas air an airigh
Tha 'n long a-muigh 'ceann a bhaigh
Air madainn cheitean trath
Tha grian ar cuimhne ag eiridh
Grian ar cuimhne ag eiridh
A' siubhal sraidean duthaich ghalld'
Tro bhailtean saoghal chein
Tha'm feasgar cuin 's na siantan blath
Tha grian 's an iar mar mheall de'n or
An cuan mar sgathan gorm gun sgleo
Is bu mhor mo mhian bhi 'n uibhist leat
Togaidh sinn ar fonn an ard
Togaidh sinn ar fonn an ard
`s ged' tha mi fada bhuat
Cha dhealaich sinn a' chaoidh
-oOo-
There's a shadow on the sheiling
A shadow on the sheiling
The ship is waiting
At the head of the bay
Early on a may morning
The sun of our memory is rising
The sun of our memory is rising
Walking the streets of foreign countries
And the cities of another era
The evening is calm and the skies are warm
The sun is in the west, a great ball of gold
The ocean is like a mirror, blue without blemish
And great is my desire to be in uist with you
We will lift up our voices
We will lift up our voices
Although I am now so far from you
You ask me to believe in magic
Expect me to commit suicide of the heart
And you ask me to play this game without question
Raising the stakes on this shotgun roulette
But you came to me like the ways of children
Simple as breathing, easy as air
Now the years hold no fears, like the wind they pass over
Loved, forgiven, washed, saved
Every river I try to cross
Every hill I try to climb
Every ocean I try to swim
Every road I try to find
All the ways of my life
I'd rather be with you
There's no way
What makes me walk through Ireland's shrines
And Ireland's holy shores
To see a country crucified
Your beauty crowned in thorns
And as I watch that wonderous cross
That's been hewn down and severed in two
There's something here
That draws me near
To wear the green for you
To see you there blood brother Gael
The face, the tongue my own
Many places in my own country
Could not make me feel more at home
Laughter and music through the night
Your freedom in the dark
Tonight I swear I'd gladly wear
The green next to ma heart
From the long and rolling Antrim hills
Through the wilds of Donegal
The songs of history are sung
Every stone on every wall
But here in our land how can we stand
And wash our hands of shame
When the sins of generations fall
Across the green like rain
Here one world window opens wide
And demons they show face
Some of your men have taken seeds of truth
And planted fields of hate
This way has never won a war
And I fear that when the harvest comes
You'll see your freedom fall on stoney ground
All the homes on the globe are
like the television in your
eyes. A cross guarding your
heart the living years a
sacrifice. A shiver at the door
in the night, clouds cross a
black moonlight. Rushing on down
to the sound of a turning world.
There's a south by sou'westerly
force eight coming in strong.
Across the continental shelf
from the cold grey Malin beyond.
The need to keep control. The
need to stand alone at the edge
of the world. The adrenalin
infrastructure bringing on it's
troubles some more. All the laws
of the jungle stranded on your
latest shore. But the waves hold
the healer force. The years
disappear like a ghost.
Somewhere out of the sight of
the night and the light of day.
Now civilisation groans and the
news reel cries. Like a drowning
man his life in front of his
eyes. But the need to keep
control. The need to bare the
soul at the edge of the world.
And the man from St. Kilda went
over the cliff on a winters day.
At the edge of the world. At the
So lead me to the river
Blood runs thicker than the water
Wrap me in your sheets together
Where my earth heart lies forever
The Lowland Scot with English habits
Has brought me to his lowland manners
No they can't understand
The hole that is in my heart
I've lived my life here with the others
I long to live with you my brothers
And my drum will beat this day
Pounding for the Gael
An end to sighs, all hands unite
In the spring that lies behind this sorrow
Deep the faith and pure the light
That shines inside and guides your people
Oh I do believe
Dust will turn the seed
You can talk the tongue of angels
You can walk the thin white line
Raid your heart's imaginations
Let your thoughts live and run wild
But now all I see is the station
And the boats with the sun in their wake
Looking out on Scalpay dawning
And you drenched in the rain of grace
Walked down the pier road to the deep sea
It was a long confused embrace
But I have seen an awesome beauty
I've seen the tears turn to wine on your face
And I wondered and I trembled
As you held me so close in your arms
With a love that held more learning
Than I could ever understand
I crossed the big years and the waters
For a new and happy land
Trading all that fire of living
For the fickle and the bland
Now I know that there's nothing
Can evermore put worth in your time
If the spirit never wooes
Or moved your paths divine
Grass grows tall in the dream fields
But after all is said and done
The only thing that ever matters
We sailed on sun soaked seas
And we sailed
Late on the day of days
Desire and pride and anger
Fade away
Washed on the sea of change
We came. in search of saviours
Round the world
And through the cities and the towns
There was a crowd no man could number
Walking down
Taking the chosen road
We passed through the last aurora
And we rise
Soul kites in a diamond sky
Boarding the morning of the free
Re-born in the dawning, complete
I knew a man who couldn't see
I knew a man who couldn't feel
I knew a man whc couldn't talk
I knew a man who couldn't walk
I knew a man, I knew a man
On sun soaked seas
Baiting the hand lines
Neoscan at the oars
Turning the bows into the Morea wake
For the thrill of it all
Across the middle of the bay
A line of faces in the waiting hour
And I could see
The other world was here
Can you hear it now
We're just on the brink
Returning homewards
Together on
Alone
O mollaidh sinn
An gaol 's an gras
A thug dhuinn bith
Cho umhail fo ghrein
'S i dealradh sios
Air reultan cein.
And it was all there waiting
Just as we reached the door
The landlords came
The peasant trials
To sacrifice of men
Through the past and that quite darkly
The presence once again
In the name of capital
Establishment
Improvers, its a name
The hidden truths
The hidden lies
That once nailed you
To the pain
They did a dance
Called America
They danced it round
And waited at the turns
For America
They danced their ladies round
To the candles
Of enlightenment
Once lit they say don't burn
To turn the darkest room of suffering
To a greater state of pain
Don't tell me that's behind you now
Don't greet me
Don't meet your dying blind
It's our very last stand together
So lets sever
No regrets
(Chorus)
There were days
That once held confidence
Strength of will and mind
The camouflage that once washed your fathers
Your sons and daughters time
Another Tounge
My love, my island
You've gone international
With all the praying men of God
Who stood
And watched it all go on
(Chorus)
Hey, now boys there’s something not right
Did anyone see Willie at the dance last night
Let’s pick up Boa without a fuss
Chuck him in with caimans at the back of the bus
‘Cause we’re running late, it’s way past ten
We’re driving through the straths and glens
Come on, Johnny Bulla, make it fast
For the 12 noon throw-up
And the clash of the ash
Well we’d better make change now it seems
Geek to the centre, Weed to the wing
The Rocket’s old and slow and due to retire
Stick him right on the sawdust ready to fire
But if we do all that and there’s no-one spare
Tell me who’s gonna mark the Kinlochsheil Bear
He’s hard as nails, quick as a flash
He comes down from the caves
For the clash of the ash
This story started long ago
With heroes forges and legends told
And for every fighting highland man
Stand by your brother, die for the clan
But when the whistle blows and the battle’s done
These shinty boys shine like the sun
We don’t play for fame, we don’t play for cash
We just play for the glory
I arrived in the city of lights
Enchanted ballrooms where I lost my life
I've closed my eyes
On your fairground smile
Seedy heroes and silver tills
Sinking suns on a sea of thrills
I place my bets
Trading with strangers in silhouette
I drink your health, son of the earth
Passing ships in the modern death
We're all still fired
Old emotions still burn inside
On solid ground, round the mother tongue
A tower of hope, a joyful sound
You take your time
A hand of aces in a pack of lies
I found my song and I started to sing
Took me away on an olden wing
So far from home
Standing so lonely but not alone
In this empire of ache and rhyme
Lovers and best friends are running blind
I grasp your hand
Is this the only world I understand
There's a sadness
There's a joy
There's a place
There's a song that will never die
Book of golden stories
Days of open roads
Now the autumn leaves are falling
We'll meet on the edges
Memories, no regrets
Now the minstrel boy is calling
You took me through the pages
Good happiness is shared
Lost in a web of changes
This could be the last dance
Waltzing in the wind
Till the mistrel comes to save us
But as long as I can see the morning
In miracles much more than I can say
It's enough to keep me still believing
In drifting hearts so far away
But as long as I can see the morning
And blossom comes to bud again in spring
It's enough to keep me still believing
The light is on me
all time is here
i’m going down to clachnan
to stem the rush of years
Big sky above me
Powerline overhead
I get lifted up enraptured
I keep falling at your feet
I’m looking over colourfields
Past the white sands
And our human years
And it’s all waiting here
Breaking the seed
It’s coming againGathering the windReturning to claim a harvest
I’m lifted where i stand
On the never-ending land
I’m coming to sense of home
wind through the barley
your early dream
A rising choir of birdsong
your fields of summer green
It’s all passing over
I’ve no complains
We’re just a row of unlit candles
Waiting the gate of saints
I’m living on the borderline
Between the moment
And the shining miles
The far streching stones
All the lines of the sown
It’s coming againGathering the windReturning to claim a harvest
I’m lifted where i stand
On the neverending land
I’m coming to sense of home
The light of ancient shine
On your ordinary lives
We joyed went to the lines of harvest
So open up the land
Open up the sand
Throw open all the doors
There’s a warm wind blowing through
Let the gifts of ages
Pour over you
Let it rise within you now
Let the shine light up your way
Chasing all your doubts and clouds
Far away
Every time it happens
Atoms scatter on the road ahead
So don’t look away, don’t let it stay
To other schemes instead
Don’t wait too long
Can’t you see that summer’s come
And this world that’s lipped it’s crown
It took some saving
There’s a sky of newest blue
Way beyond this burning sun
A clear and perfect view
On and on
Every time it happens
Atoms scatter on the road ahead
So don’t look away, don’t let it stay
To other schemes instead
Don’t wait too long
Can’t you see that summer’s come
And this world that’s lipped it’s crown
It took some saving
So don’t wait too long
Can’t you see that summer’s come
Every time it happens
Atoms scatter on the road ahead
So don’t look away, don’t let it stay
To other schemes instead
Don’t wait too long
Can’t you see that summer’s come
And this world that’s lipped it’s crown
