HEART OF AMERICA
Heart of America
I see the flags in the morning rain as they
Flutter out the road at the start of a new day
Where in the light of the morning runs
Sharon Springs and the old hotel feel my heart rise
With the hope they felt on their journey
When they moved on to glory
They dared to dream their dreams
In the heart of America
They dared to face their fears
In the heart of America
From Europes shores where they fled in droves as they
Left darklands and broken homes for a new dawn
We're awaiting the Angel
Ellis Island stand in line hide the weakness in this child of mine
As she stumbles out in search of a reason
To put out all her dreams
In the heart of America
To search amongst her fears
In the heart of America
To end the veil of tears
In the heart of America
Forgiving those that ever brought her down
The windscreen wipers slappin' time Bobby sang the blues as
We stepped out on the line
We stepped out in the line
Empty faces heavy loads station wagons dusty roads
As we move on, right on out to the Prairie
Where they planted fields of hope
In the heart of America
Where the seeds they've sown won't grow
In the heart of America
The dustbowl thet we've known
In the heart of America
Where a man must make hie own way through this world
Strangers To The Pine
From Brother's Point I walk the shore
Watched the raging surf of Score
Memories they turn once more
To Prince Edward Island
They cleared the land, they worked the soil
Built their homes through sweat and toil
Pledged their lives, true'n loyal
To Prince Edward Island
Called them strangers to the pine
The blood runs deep and the ties they bind
Hands across the Maritime together
Called them strangers to the pine
The blood rune deep and the ties they bind
Hands across the Maritime together
Scattered to the wind and tide
Out across the great divide
Carried all our dreams with pride
To Prince Edward Island
From Pointe a Prime to Orwell Bay
In Charlottetown the old man say
You may wander but never stray
From Prince Edward Island
Molaidh sinn ar càirdean treun
Na h'eilthirich 'san dùthaich fhèin
'S molaidh sinn ar dachaidh fhèin
An t-Eilean Sgitheanach
We will praise our heroic people
The emigrants in their own place
We will praise our own homeland
The Isle of Skye
Winds of Our Time
On the morning clouds roll
Where the moorland's on fire
Where the turn on the road meets the sky
And your heart its burning desire
Where the cold night is gone
On the Kingsburgh fields
Where the hopes of a thousand young lovers
And mothers held on to their dreams
On the waste of the days
Where that innocence walked
The language of love and the times
Forever carved into the rock
And we all come back
Oh we'll all come back
Oh we'll all come back
To where the heartbeat first began
Now we stand on its shores
In the winds of our times
With the uncertain pride of a stranger
Returned to its curious skies
Where the sacrifice fell
On the altar of change
The young birds have fallen like heroes in battle
Before they could rise
And we all come back
Oh we'll all come back
Oh we'll all come back
To where the heartbeat first began
And as it stands out here before us
We feel the ghosts of another time
Where all the roads we have travelled
Lead us back
And as we search the here in the morning
Or at the closing of the day
The message of the journey
Leads me back
We can walk through the our days
Through the light of our lives
The shadows are cast down before us
Where hunters move on through the night
In the end it is truth
No deception no lies
No template for reason, no gurus
Just spirit moved into the light
A'Coiseachd Tràth
A’coiseachd tràth air ràthad a bhàigh
A ghrian a’deàrrsadh sios air toiseach làtha
‘S tu nam mhiann, ‘s tu nam chridhe
‘S tu falbh bhuamsa gu alta fada bhuam
B’u tu mo nàdur ’s tum o smuain
B’u tu m’eòlas fad mo thuras cràdh
An làn a’tionndadh air a chladach dhorch
Na sgòthan a’tuiteam bho’n lar bho’n d’thaìnig thu
Tillidh mi thugad nam dhùsgadh tràth
Bruinnidh mi riut nam bruadhar dh’oidhche ’s làtha
Ruithidh mi mar ri cheile tro ghrian mo laithean buan
Bi mi gad ghiùlain gu bràth ann am beatham o chlann
Ann an neart ’s an àille ann an call ‘s am buann
Ann an dòchas, tuigsinn ann an aoibhneas ‘s ann am pion
Theid sinn còmhla tro na raointinn ghrianach
Gu glòir as àirde far’eil goal a tighinn mar aon
Walking early on the road toward the bay
The sun pouring down at the start of another day
You are with me in my heart
But gone from me now to a place beyond my reach
You were my nature, you were thoughts
You were the centre on my journey through uncertainty
The tide now turning from me on the darkening shore
The clouds falling heavily from the West from whence you came
I will return to you in all my wakening hours
I will speak with you in the silence of my dreams
I will run, as if together, through the sunlight of my remaining days
I will carry you forever in the life of my children
In strength and in beauty
In loss and gain
In hope and understanding
In joy and pain
We will walk together out through the sunlit fields
to a greater glory beyond where all love becomes as one
Mo Chruinneag Bhòidheach
Fill-iù oro hù o
bu tu mo chruinneag bhòidheach
Fill-iù oro hù o.
Dheighinn dhan a' ghealaich leat
Nan gealladh tu mo phòsadh.
Dheighinn leat a dh'Uibhist
Far am buidhicheadh an t-eòrna.
Dheighinn leat a dh'Èirinn
Gu fèill nam ban òga.
Dheighinn dha na rionnagan
Nam biodh do chuideachd deònach.
Dheighinn leat an ear 's an iar
Gun each, gun srian, gun bhòtainn.
Mise muigh air cùl na tobhta
'S tusa staigh a' còrdadh.
Mi 'g èisteachd ris na diùcannan
A' cur do chliù an òrdugh.
'S ag èisteachd ris na h-iarlachan
Gad iarraidh gus do phòsadh.
'S chuala mi na ministearan
A' bruidhinn air do bhòidheachd.
Chorus:
Fill-iu oro hu o
You are my beautiful young girl
Fill-iu oro hu o
I would go to the moon with you
If you would promise to marry me
I would go to Uist with you
Where the corn is most yellow
I would go to Ireland with you
To the young girls’ fair
I would go to the stars with you
If your people were willing
I would go with you to east and west
With no horse, no bridle and no boots
I outside behind the ruins
And you indoors being agreeable
I listen to the dukes
Putting your reputation in order
And listen to the lords
Wishing to marry you
And I heard the ministers
Talking of your beauty
Where The Roses
We will walk by the roses
Where scent falls on the river
We will walk by the burn
Where the fishers fished the pearl
We'll carry all before us
Through the changing of the seasons
We will carry all our stories
Where the roses.
We will live our lives in freedom
Where the long lochs lie in silver
We will watch o'er Canisp's shoulder
Where she slumbers in the wind
We will walk this country over
The journey of our fathers
We will set out once again
Where the roses.
Cha Till
Cha till mi gu tìr a mhurain
Cha till mi do’m dhùthaich fhèin
Cha till, cha till mi tuilleadh
Chu’n an t-aìt’ a dh’fhàg sinn sgathach ‘s eagail oirm
Cha till mi gu tìr na morair
Cha till mi gu tìr air chall
Cha till mi gu tìr mi-cheartas
Far na dhiobhair iad mo shluagh bochd is geur
Fo na grèine, anns a mhadainn
Tha làtha eile gu bhi beò
A’ deàrrsadh solas air an tràigh gu toiseach ùr
Cha till mi gu gleanntan fàsach
Cha till mi gu tràighean truagh
Cha till mi, cha till mi tuilleadh
Far ‘eil sruth mo lion ‘s mo dhaoin’ a nis ruith fuar
Fo na grèine, anns a mhadainn
Tha làtha eile gu bhi beò
A’deàrrsadh solas air an tràigh go toiseach ùr
Le chèile air ur monadh
Is ur sùilean nise suas
A’coimhead thairis air na beanntan dorch is cruaidh
Cha till mi le cridhe brònach
Cha till mi le m’inntinn sios
Cha till mi, cha till mi tuilleadh
Ach le dòchas, neart is spionnadh ‘son nan Gaidheal
Cha till mi gu àm làn iobairt
Cha till mi gu àm làn sios
Cha till, Cha till sinn tuilleadh
Ach le misneachd ‘son ur cànan, ‘son ur saoghal
I will not return to the land of the marram grass
I will not return to the land of my people
I will never return, I will not return again
To the land we left in fear and dread
I will not return to land of the landlords
I will not return to the land that is now lost to us
I will not return to the land without justice
Where they have left my people poor and embittered
From the sunlight of the morning
Another day is now coming to life
Pouring light onto the shoreline of a new beginning
I will not return to the emptiness of the glens lying fallow
I will not return to these shorelines of poverty
I will not return I will not return again
Where the heart of my people and my lineage now runs cold
From the sunlight of the morning
Another day is now coming to life
Pouring light onto the shoreline of a new beginning
Together on our moor land
With our eyes now uplifted
Looking out far beyond the dark hardness of the mountains
I will not return in a heavy heart
I will not return with my senses downtrodden
I will not return I will never return
But with hope, strength and energy for the Gael
I will not return to a time full of sacrifice
I will not return to a time full of distress and affliction
We will not return we will never again return
But with a confidence in our language and our world
Raglan Road
On Raglan Road on an Autumn day
I met her first and knew
That her dark hair would weawe a snare
That I might one day rue
I saw the danger, yet I walked
Along the enchanted way
And I said 'let grief be fallen leaf
At the dawning of the day'.
On Grafton Street in November
We tripped lightly along the ledge
Of the deep ravine where can be seen
The worth of passion's pledge
The Queen of Hearts still making tarts
And I not making hay
Oh I loved too much and by such by such
Is happiness thrown away.
I gave her gifts of the mind. I gave
Her the secret sign that's known
To the artists who have known
The true gods of sound and stone
And word and tint, I did not stint
For I gave her poems to say
With her own name there
And her long dark hair
Like clouds over fields of May.
On a quiet street where old ghosts meet
I see her walking now
Away from me so hurriedly
My reason must allow
That I had wooed not as I should
A creature made of clay
When the angel wooes the clay he'd lose
His wings at the dawn of day.
Love Will Never Die
We could have loved much better
If time was on our side
But on the other side of lonely
I just feel we never tried
You go walking on the shoreline
Where it rises to the tide
On the other side of emptiness
Our love will never die
I see you n the night
With the fire-light in yur eyes
The morning light grows colder
As another ember dies
When we started on this journey
On broken wings thet couldn't fly
On the other side of heartache
Our love will never die
Across the years the worn out dance floors
Show-bands play their glitzy lies
The final words a disappointment
That always ended with a sigh
The barren fields of expectaton
The constant river running dry
The open road runs out before me now
But my love will never die
Harvest Wind
I’ve been watching the days as the sunlight turns
And your face pales in the wind
On an island shore where your heartbeat lies
And your journey now begins
But the summer rains is colder now
Than on the harvest we once knew
On the empty road where we took our chance
And I chased my dreams with you
Down on the sloping fields with their stacks in line
In our summers gentle gaze
Where we ran the boats on a turning tide
On the ling loch’s shimmering haze
Where the old men held the tiller hand
And the young men took the oars
We would turn for shore in the falling light
To stand by open doors
At the gable end where the sunlight danced
His gnarled hands worked the weave
Had he lost his time at a bottles end
Had he lost his chance to dream
Where the righteous stand in judgement
And the sinner they are few
On the road to his redemption
He has broken faith with you
I can see you now on the darkening hill
Like a shadow moving through
On the path to the moor where the rocks stand cold
I parted there from you
Where our hopes had fired eternal
On that night of a million stars
Where the harvest winds had warmed us
Outside our dance hall cars
Chorus:
Harvest wind out across the waves
Harvest wind leads me to this day
Harvest wind warms the cooling sea
Harvest wind has taken you from me
October Song
I’ll sing you my October song
There is no song before it
The words in tune are not my own
My joy and sorrow bore them
The fallen leaves have strewn the ground
They know the art of dying
And leave with joy their glad gold hearts
In scarlet shadows lying
I met a man whose name was Time
He said ‘I must be going’
But just how long ago that was
I have no way of knowing
Chorus:
Beside the sea, the brambling briar
Amidst the still of evening
Birds fly out from behind the sun
And with them, I’ll be leaving
I’ll sing you my October song
There is no song before it
The words in tune are not my own
My joy and sorrow bore them