1. The mystic's dream
2. The bonny swan
3. The dark night of the soul
4. Marrakesh night market
5. Full circle
6. Santiago
7. The two trees
8. Prospero's speech
The mystic's dream - 7:40
Words and music by Loreena McKennitt
Hangs upon the crescent moon
A voiceless song in an ageless light
Sings at the coming dawn
Birds in flight are calling there
Where the heart moves the stones
It's there that my heart is calling
All for the love of you
A painting hangs on an ivy wall
Nestled in the emerald moss
The eyes declare a truce of trust
And then it draws me far away
Where deep in the desert twilight
Sand melts in pools of the sky
When darkness lays her crimson cloak
Your lamps will call me home
And so it's there my homage's due
Clutched by the still of the night
And now I feel you move
Every breath is full
So it's there my homage's due
Clutched by the still of the night
Even the distance feels so near
All for the love of you.
Music by Loreena McKennitt. Words
traditional, arranged and adapted by Loreena McKennitt
a hey ho bonny
And he had daughters one, two, three
The swans swim so bonny
These daughters they walked by the river's brim
a hey ho bonny
The eldest pushed the youngest in
The swans swim so bonny
Oh sister, oh sister, pray lend me your hand
with a hey ho a bonny
And I will give you house and land
the swans swim so bonny
I'll give you neither hand nor glove
with a hey ho a bonny
Unless you give me your own true love
the swans swim so bonny
Sometimes she sank, sometimes she swam
with a hey ho and a bonny
Until she came to a miller's dam
the swans swim so bonny
The miller's daughter, dressed in red
with a hey ho and a bonny
She went for some water to make some bread
the swans swim so bonny
Oh father, oh daddy, here swims a swan
with a hey ho and a bonny
It's very like a gentle woman
the swans swim so bonny
They placed her on the bank to dry
with a hey ho and a bonny
There came a harper passing by
the swans swim so bonny
He made harp pins of her fingers fair
with a hey ho and a bonny
He made harp strings of her golden hair
the swans swim so bonny
He made a harp of her breast bone
with a hey ho and a bonny
And straight it began to play alone
the swans swim so bonny
He brought it to her father's hall
with a hey ho and a bonny
And there was the court, assembled all
the swans swim so bonny
He laid the harp upon a stone
with a hey ho and a bonny
And straight it began to play lone
the swans swim so bonny
And there does sit my father the King
with a hey ho and a bonny
And yonder sits my mother the Queen
the swans swim so bonny
And there does sit my brother Hugh
with a hey ho and a bonny
And by him William, sweet and true
the swans swim so bonny
And there does sit my false sister, Anne
with a hey ho and a bonny
Who drowned me for the sake of a man
the swans swim so bonny
The dark night of the soul - 6:44
Music by Loreena McKennitt. Words by St. John of the Cross and arranged and adapted by
Loreena McKennitt
the flame of love was burning in my breast
And by a lantern bright
I fled my house while all in quiet rest
Shrouded by the night
And by the secret stair I quickly fled
The veil concealed my eyes
while all within lay quiet as the dead
Chorus:
Oh night thou was my guide
of night more loving than the rising sun
Oh night that joined the lover
to the beloved one
transforming each of them into the other
Upon that misty night
in secrecy, beyond such mortal sight
Without a guide or light
than that which burned so deeply in my heart
That fire t'was led me on
and shone more bright than of the midday sun
To where he waited still
it was a place where no one else could come
(Chorus)
Within my pounding heart
which kept itself entirely for him
He fell into his sleep
beneath the cedars all my love I gave
From o'er the fortress walls
the wind would his hair against his brow
And with its smoothest hand
caressed my every sense it would allow
(Chorus)
I lost myself to him
and laid my face upon my lover's breast
And care and grief grew dim
as in the morning's mist became the light
There they dimmed amongst the lilies fair
there they dimmed amongst the lilies fair
there they dimmed amongst the lilies fair
Words and music by Loreena McKennitt
the lamps light their faces
The crescent moon rocks in the sky
The poets of drumming
keep heartbeats suspended
The smoke swirls up and then it dies
Would you like my mask?
would you like my mirror?
cries the man in the shadowing hood
You can look at yourself
you can look at each other
or you can look at the face of your god
The stories are woven
and fortunes are told
The truth is measured by the weight of your gold
The magic lies scattered
on rugs on the ground
Faith is conjured in the night market's sound
Would you like my mask?
would you like my mirror?
cries the man in the shadowing hood
You can look at yourself
you can look at each other
or you can look at the face of your god
The lessons are written
on parchments of paper
They're carried by horse from the river Nile
says the shadowy voice
In the firelight, the cobra
is casting the flame a winsome smile
Would you like my mask?
would you like my mirror?
cries the man in the shadowing hood
You can look at yourself
you can look at each other
or you can look at the face of your god
Words and music by Loreena McKennitt
as prayers rose softly, petals at dawn
And as I listened, your voice seemed so clear
so calmly you were calling your god
Somewhere the sun rose, o'er dunes in the desert
such was the stillness, I ne'er felt before
Was this the question, pulling, pulling, pulling you
in your heart, in your soul, did you find rest there?
Elsewhere a snowfall, the first in the winter
covered the ground as the bells filled the air
You in your robes sang, calling, calling, calling him
in your heart, in your soul, did you find peace there?
Santiago - 5:58
Traditional music arranged and adapted by Loreena McKennitt
Ce he mise le ulaingt? / The two trees - 9:06
Music by Loreena McKennitt. Words by William Butler Yeats
Pipe intro (Ce He Mise Le Ulaingt?) composed and performed by Patrick Hutchinson.
The holy tree is growing there;
From joy the holy branches start
And all the trembling flowers they bear.
The changing colours of its fruit
Have dowered the stars with merry light;
The surety of its hidden root
Has planted quiet in the night;
The shaking of its leafy head
Has given the waves their melody.
And made my lips and music wed,
Murmuring a wizard song for thee,
There the Loves a circle go,
The flaming circle of our days,
Gyring, spiring to and fro
In those great ignorant leafy ways;
Remembering all that shaken hair
And how the winged sandals dart
Thine eyes grow full of tender care;
Beloved, gaze in thine own heart.
Gaze no more in the bitter glass
The demons, with their subtle guile,
Lift up before us when they pass,
Or only gaze a little while;
For there a fatal image grows
That the stormy night receives,
Roots half hidden under snows,
Broken boughs and blackened leaves.
For all things turn to bareness
In the dim glass the demons hold,
The glass of outer weariness,
Made when God slept in times of old.
There, through the broken branches, go
The ravens of unresting thought;
Flying, crying, to and fro,
Cruel claw and hungry throat,
Or else they stand and sniff the wind,
And shake their ragged wings: alas!
Thy tender eyes grow all unkind:
Gaze no more in the bitter glass.
Beloved, gaze in thine own heart,
The holy tree is growing there;
From joy the holy branches start,
And all the trembling flowers they bear.
Remembering all that shaken hair
And how the winged sandals dart,
Thine eyes grow full of tender care;
Beloved, gaze in thine own heart.
Music by Loreena McKennitt. Words by William Shakespeare
And what strength I have's mine own
Which is most faint; now t'is true
I must here be released by you
But release me from my bands
With the help of your good hands
Gentle breath of yours my sails
Must fill, or else my project fails,
Which was to please. Now I want
Spirits to enforce, art to enchant
And my ending is despair,
Unless I be relieved by prayer
Which pierces so that it assaults
Mercy itself and frees all faults
As you from your crimes would pardon'd be
Let your indulgence set me free.
| back |