Loreena Mckennitt - All Souls Night

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcjLAoEYhBo

Bonfires dot the rolling hillsides

Figures dance around and around

To drums that pulse out echoes of darkness

Moving to the pagan sound.

Somewhere in a hidden memory

Images float before my eyes

Of fragrant nights of straw and of bonfires

And dancing till the next sunrise.

CHORUS

I can see lights in the distance

Trembling in the dark cloak of night

Candles and lanterns are dancing, dancing

A waltz on All Souls Night.

Figures of cornstalks bend in the shadows

Held up tall as the flames leap high

The green knight holds the holly bush

To mark where the old year passes by.

CHORUS

I can see lights in the distance

Trembling in the dark cloak of night

Candles and lanterns are dancing, dancing

A waltz on All Souls Night.

Bonfires dot the rolling hillsides

Figures dance around and around

To drums that pulse out echoes of darkness

Moving to the pagan sound.

Standing on the bridge that crosses

The river that goes out to the sea

The wind is full of a thousand voices

They pass by the bridge and me.

CHORUS

I can see lights in the distance

Trembling in the dark cloak of night

Candles and lanterns are dancing, dancing

A waltz on All Souls Night.

CHORUS

I can see lights in the distance

Trembling in the dark cloak of night

Candles and lanterns are dancing, dancing

A waltz on All Souls Night.

Loreena McKennitt - The Old Ways 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OGST44Bq_I&feature=share

The Old Ways

The thundering waves are calling me home to you

The pounding sea is calling me home to you

On a dark new year's night

On the west coast of Clare

I heard your voice singing

Your eyes danced the song

Your hands played the tune

T'was a vision before me.

We left the music behind and the dance carried on

As we stole away to the seashore

We smelt the brine, felt the wind in our hair

And with sadness you paused.

Suddenly I knew that you'd have to go

My world was not yours, your eyes told me so

Yet it was there I felt the crossroads of time

And I wondered why.

As we cast our gaze on the tumbling sea

A vision came o'er me

Of thundering hooves and beating wings

In clouds above.

As you turned to go I heard you call my name,

You were like a bird in a cage spreading its wings to fly

"The old ways are lost," you sang as you flew

And I wondered why.

Loreena McKennitt - The Lady of Shalott

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MU_Tn-HxULM&feature=share



On either side the river lie
Long fields of barley and of rye,
That clothe the wold and meet the sky;
And thro' the field the road runs by
To many-tower'd Camelot;
And up and down the people go,
Gazing where the lilies blow
Round an island there below,
The island of Shalott.
Willows whiten, aspens quiver,
Little breezes dusk and shiver
Through the wave that runs for ever
By the island in the river
Flowing down to Camelot.
Four grey walls, and four grey towers,
Overlook a space of flowers,
And the silent isle imbowers
The Lady of Shalott.
By the margin, willow veil'd,
Slide the heavy barges trail'd
By slow horses; and unhail'd
The shallop flitteth silken-sail'd
Skimming down to Camelot:
But who hath seen her wave her hand?
Or at the casement seen her stand?
Or is she known in all the land,
The Lady of Shalott?
Only reapers, reaping early,
In among the bearded barley
Hear a song that echoes cheerly
From the river winding clearly;
Down to tower'd Camelot;
And by the moon the reaper weary,
Piling sheaves in uplands airy,
Listening, whispers, " 'Tis the fairy
Lady of Shalott."
There she weaves by night and day
A magic web with colours gay.
She has heard a whisper say,
A curse is on her if she stay
To look down to Camelot.
She knows not what the curse may be,
And so she weaveth steadily,
And little other care hath she,
The Lady of Shalott.
And moving through a mirror clear
That hangs before her all the year,
Shadows of the world appear.
There she sees the highway near
Winding down to Camelot;
There the river eddy whirls,
And there the surly village churls,
And the red cloaks of market girls
Pass onward from Shalott.
Sometimes a troop of damsels glad,
An abbot on an ambling pad,
Sometimes a curly shepherd lad,
Or long-hair'd page in crimson clad
Goes by to tower'd Camelot;
And sometimes through the mirror blue
The knights come riding two and two.
She hath no loyal Knight and true,
The Lady of Shalott.
But in her web she still delights
To weave the mirror's magic sights,
For often through the silent nights
A funeral, with plumes and lights
And music, went to Camelot;
Or when the Moon was overhead,
Came two young lovers lately wed.
"I am half sick of shadows," said
The Lady of Shalott.
A bow-shot from her bower-eaves,
He rode between the barley sheaves,
The sun came dazzling thro' the leaves,
And flamed upon the brazen greaves
Of bold Sir Lancelot.
A red-cross knight for ever kneel'd
To a lady in his shield,
That sparkled on the yellow field,
Beside remote Shalott.
The gemmy bridle glitter'd free,
Like to some branch of stars we see
Hung in the golden Galaxy.
The bridle bells rang merrily
As he rode down to Camelot:
And from his blazon'd baldric slung
A mighty silver bugle hung,
And as he rode his armor rung
Beside remote Shalott.
All in the blue unclouded weather
Thick-jewell'd shone the saddle-leather,
The helmet and the helmet-feather
Burn'd like one burning flame together,
As he rode down to Camelot.
As often thro' the purple night,
Below the starry clusters bright,
Some bearded meteor, burning bright,
Moves over still Shalott.
His broad clear brow in sunlight glow'd;
On burnish'd hooves his war-horse trode;
From underneath his helmet flow'd
His coal-black curls as on he rode,
As he rode down to Camelot.
From the bank and from the river
He flashed into the crystal mirror,
"Tirra lirra," by the river
Sang Sir Lancelot.
She left the web, she left the loom,
She made three paces through the room,
She saw the water-lily bloom,
She saw the helmet and the plume,
She look'd down to Camelot.
Out flew the web and floated wide;
The mirror crack'd from side to side;
"The curse is come upon me," cried
The Lady of Shalott.
In the stormy east-wind straining,
The pale yellow woods were waning,
The broad stream in his banks complaining.
Heavily the low sky raining
Over tower'd Camelot;
Down she came and found a boat
Beneath a willow left afloat,
And around about the prow she wrote
The Lady of Shalott.
And down the river's dim expanse
Like some bold seer in a trance,
Seeing all his own mischance --
With a glassy countenance
Did she look to Camelot.
And at the closing of the day
She loosed the chain, and down she lay;
The broad stream bore her far away,
The Lady of Shalott.
Lying, robed in snowy white
That loosely flew to left and right --
The leaves upon her falling light --
Thro' the noises of the night,
She floated down to Camelot:
And as the boat-head wound along
The willowy hills and fields among,
They heard her singing her last song,
The Lady of Shalott.
Heard a carol, mournful, holy,
Chanted loudly, chanted lowly,
Till her blood was frozen slowly,
And her eyes were darkened wholly,
Turn'd to tower'd Camelot.
For ere she reach'd upon the tide
The first house by the water-side,
Singing in her song she died,
The Lady of Shalott.
Under tower and balcony,
By garden-wall and gallery,
A gleaming shape she floated by,
Dead-pale between the houses high,
Silent into Camelot.
Out upon the wharfs they came,
Knight and Burgher, Lord and Dame,
And around the prow they read her name,
The Lady of Shalott.
Who is this? And what is here?
And in the lighted palace near
Died the sound of royal cheer;
And they crossed themselves for fear,
All the Knights at Camelot;
But Lancelot mused a little space
He said, "She has a lovely face;
God in his mercy lend her grace,
The Lady of Shalott."

Loreena McKennitt - The Dark Night Of The Soul

Loreena McKennitt - The Dark Night Of The Soul

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhOraC2XGWI

Upon a darkened night
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

Loreena Mckennitt - The Gates Of Istanbul

Loreena Mckennitt - The Gates Of Istanbul


See there, past that far-off hill
A tower held in the sky
Hear there, in that dark blue night
The music calling us home

See there, in that far-off field
Flowers turned to the sky
Feel there, in that dark blue night
The music calling us home

Stars may always guide our way,
From desert sands where winds blow harsh and long
But here's where our hearts will pray
And all our loves will slumber with a song

Stars may always guide our way,
From desert sands where the winds blow harsh and long
But here's where our hearts will pray
And all our loves will slumber with a song

So now, if our hearts be true
And like a pool of truth reflect the sun
We will find right honour there
And keep us safe and lead us from all harm

Then come love, let us dance all night
Until birds they waken at the dawn
Then come love, let us sing all night
And all our loves will slumber with a song

Then come love, let us dance all night
Until birds they waken at the dawn
Then come love, let us sing all night
And all our loves will slumber with a song

Lullaby - Loreena McKennitt

Lullaby

Oh for a voice like thunder,

And a tongue to drown the throat of war!

When the senses are shaken,

And the soul is driven to madness,

who can stand?

When the souls of the oppressed

Fight in the troubled air that rages,

Who can stand?

When the whirlwind of fury

Comes from the throne of God,

When the frowns of his countenance

Drive the nations together,

Who can stand?

When sin claps his broad wings over the battle,

And sails rejoicing in the flood of Death,

When souls are torn to everlasting fire,

And fiends of Hell rejoice upon the slain,

Oh who can stand?

Oh who hath caused this?

Oh who can answer at the throne of God?

The Kings and Nobles of the Land have done it!

Hear it not, Heaven, thy Ministers have done it!

Canção de Ninar

Oh, para uma voz como trovão,

E uma língua para submergir a garganta de guerra!

Quando os sensos são abalados,

E a alma é dirigida à loucura

Quem poderá aguentar?

Quando as almas da opressão

Lutarem no ar turvo que se enfurece,

Quem poderá aguentar?

Quando o vendaval de fúria

Vier do Trono de deus,

Quando as carrancas do semblante dele

Dirigirem juntas as nações,

Quem poderá aguentar?

Quando o Pecado aplaude as asas largas dele em cima da batalha,

E veleja regozijando na inundação da Morte,

Quando são rasgadas almas ao fogo perpétuo,

E demônios do Inferno se alegram a custa dos mortos

Quem poderá aguentar?

Oh, quem tem causado isso?

Oh, quem pode responder ao trono de Deus?

Os Reis e Nobres da Terra fizeram isto!

Não ouça isto, Céu, os teus Ministros fizeram isto!