The Story

'S fhada, 's fhada, an ceòl a bha cho binn

'S a' ghrian a' dh'èirich air mo chridhe

Guth nan eun gar dùsgadh bho chadal, àillidh, ciùin

Moch is deiseil 'son an t-slighe

And I'm still dreaming of the Hebrides

And I'm still leaning on the early years

And I can't help feeling it will always be

The story of the life inside of me

Achadh abaich, eòrna 's seagal 'fàs

Loch nan ealachan aig tàmh

B' e siud an dealbh a dh'fhan fad an t-samhraidh sin dhuinn

'S gach uile samhradh eile a dh'fhalbh

And I'm still dreaming of the Hebrides ...

'S mi an-diugh a' streap beanntan àrd nam bliadhn'

Le gach smàl is sgaradh air an t-saoghal

Ach thig le cinnt là na h-aiseirigh dhuinn

mar a thàinig là a chiad-fhairich mi do ghaol

And I'm still dreaming of the Hebrides …

The story, the story, the story

The story, the story, the story

Translation:

So long ago, long ago, the music that was so melodious

And the sun that rose on my heart

The voice of the birds awakening us from the sleep of peace

Early and prepared for the journey

A ripening field, the barley and rye growing

The loch of swans in stillness

That was the image that stayed with us that summer

And every other summer that's since gone

But now I'm climbing the high mountain of years

With each blemish and schism coming on the world

But the day of renewal will come with certainty

Just like the day when I first felt your love

Onar

You are the outer nothing, you are the inner core

You are the memory of everything that's gone before

Ùrlar a-staigh - crùnludh a-mach*

A big wheel and a million moons obliterate the dark

O cha robh mi, cha robh mi, cha robh mi

Cha robh mi nam onar ann

O cha robh mi, cha robh mi, cha robh mi

Cha robh mi nam onar ann

See the blade of nature cut the spinning earth

Warm and wet in a deep green breath

Fragments of colour, shards of chance

Come screaming out of black holes to the rhythm of the dance

O cha robh mi, cha robh mi, cha robh mi ...

I came walking out of nowhere, didn't ask to make this move

You were standing at my milestones in the summers of my youth

You're in the breath I'm breathing, around me like a ring

Photo-bombing all my moments and filling me with wings

O cha robh mi, cha robh mi, cha robh mi ...

And if the waters start abating, go release a dove

And tell me if the savings comes in chaos or in love

Like lighting, it's frightening, a spark to a fuse

All my chips were on a number that was never mine to lose

O cha robh mi, cha robh mi, cha robh mi ...

* Terms used within 'piobrach' - the classical music of the piping

world - they are movements or parts of the arrangement structure

Literal meaning:

Ùrlar a-staigh: The Floor - In

Crùnluath a-mach: The Fast Crown - Out

Translation:

I was never, I was never, I was never

I was never alone

Rise And Fall

I've seen the sunlight shining on the valley

I've seen the shadows darken on the deep

I've seen the young men riding out for glory

And broken in defeat

There was an hour that never knew a gloaming

The whole of life, enchanted in a day

And we'll be there, forever in the places

Where we used to be

Passing the hedgerows, moving through the orchards

Through the bocage and breaking out for Caen

Dealing fear and all our dices loaded

With the courage of the dawn

And some will rise and some will fall

To gain the world or lose it all

And that time was mine to hear you when you called

You were our youngest, brightest flower

Walking side by side through our darkest hour

We'll take this cup, this portion evermore

I've seen the last wave breaking on the beaches

I've seen the angels crying on the wire

I've seen the first star up and brightly shining

Couldn't rise much higher

Now we're waiting here not getting older

But we can dream like we can not believe

With all those fools, those great historic moments

That flatter to deceive

And some will come and some will go

To rise on wings in the skies of gold

Or to fall down to the final, silent cold

When I was young it burned so bright

The only son, a rising Christ

Now I'm left here in the fall out of that light

The rise and fall

Every Beating Heart

There's a synergy that comes like a hand inside a glove

It's the product of one man and one woman in love

She was fragrance all her days and she blew in on a wing

We raised a flower from the dust that she'll scatter on a wind

We laid him down in sunshine on an autumn afternoon

(For every beating heart a home)

A treasure trove of memories lowered to the ground

(For every beating heart a home)

Then we walked the line together where the harvest flowers grow

(For every beating heart a home)

And where the world sung songs of innocence, we gathered in their glow

(Roll away the stone)

It's a truth that came from nothing on a black and starry dawn

(For every beating heart a home)

It's a truth that leaves us blind, it's a truth that keeps us strong

(For every beating heart a home)

But we'll hold it like gold and we'll carry it through time

(For every beating heart a home)

Shooting fast with the denial, romancing the divine

(Roll away the stone)

You can see it with your eyes

Feel it with your touch

Hear it in the silence of the night

But it shadows the divide

It's the all-consuming lie

It's an army on a promise to delight

There's a synergy that comes like a hand inside a glove

There's some that call it energy and others call it love

She was fragrance all her days and she blew in on a wing

(For every beating heart a home)

We raised a flower from the dust that she'll scatter on a wind

(Roll away the stone)

(Roll away the stone)

The Years We Shared

You bloomed like the rose of summer

And I held you in my arms

And in that knowing I found purpose

We walked on the stars

The world changes, we get older

What comes in love must leave in pain

And all the gifts we early treasure

The world takes away

The years we shared

Will find their beating in a heart somewhere

But the traces of our greatest days

Will fade away

From the pier the ships are leaving

The seeds to saplings grow

Saplings first turn to forests

Then ships of oak

Fair winds blow through the journey

And I watch you from afar

Sailing on distant oceans

Of eternal calm

The years we shared ...

When it all started, it came like poetry

A vision our truth awakened

When The Beauty

I have seen the morning sun light up your face

Filled with nature's perfect promise in a day

We walked along the pier road

To the gathering of souls

When the beauty's in the place

We walk away

There's an altar lit with candles wet with tears

And blessed among women she will stay

And eternity was breathing

Its sleeping masquerade

When the beauty's in the place

We walk away

Air sgàth glaodh an airm

Os cionn tuinn na mara

Tha a' ghrian goirt le mulad gu h-àrd

'S fhada bhuainn gaol nam mnathan

'S an òige mhaiseach

Sin an ginealach de ghillean òga a dh'fhalbh

Translation:

For reasons of the army's call

Above the waves of the sun

The sun on high, sore with sorrow

So far from us the love of the wives

And the beautiful young girl

We are the generation of the young men that left

18th July

It was a summer sun, all the leaves were greening

Within one day it all had changed

On the evening news, all the skies were falling

Your single light, a global fuse

Can we ever stop believing in the night behind the blue

On the day when love was leaving, all that's left belonged to you

When it's your flesh and blood, well that takes some bleeding

And it's shed on the road you choose

The needle and the gun - guns and needles

Life is all you have to lose

Can we ever stop believing in the night behind the blue

On the day when love was leaving, all that's left belonged to you

Can we ever stop believing on the spiral in the dark

When strangers bond together in the glue of broken hearts

And you will remember, the laughing of a child

And all the stars that were shining

Dying in their prime

Can we ever stop believing in the night behind the blue

On the day when love was leaving, all that's left belonged to you

Can we ever stop believing on the spiral in the dark

When strangers bond together in the glue of broken hearts

Can we ever stop believing on the spiral in the dark

When strangers bond together in the glue of broken hearts

The glue of broken hearts

An-Diugh Ghabh Mi Cuairt

Today I Took A Walk

An-diugh ghabh mi cuairt

Ri taobh nam beanntan àrd'

Tro na raointean ùr'

Le lus a bhith a' fàs

Abair adhbhar 'bhith giùlain

Buidheachas is gràdh

An tìodhlac brèagha

Os cionn gach àite

Cò mhìneachas àill

No an gaol dìomhar buan

Cò thuigeas neart na gaoithe

Nuair a thilleas madainn chiùin

Abair aobhar 'son taingealachd

Ùmhlachd 's àgh

Fhad 's tha 'n cùbhraidheachd beò

Gach plathadh, gach là'

Fon a' ghrian ri teachd

'S a' ghrian a dh'fhalbh

Còmhla sa bhlàths

Gu deireadh là'

Translation:

Today I took a walk

Beside the high hills

Through the new fields

Where the flower of life was growing

What a reason to carry

Gratitude and love

With the beatiful gift

Around each place

Who can explain desire

Or the mystery of eternal love

And who can understand the strength of the wind

When the stillness returns in a morning

But what a reason for thankfulness

Humility and joy

While the fragrance exists

Passing instant, each day

Below the future sun

The suns that have since gone

We will be together in the warmth

Till the end of our days

The Place Where The Rivers Run

I'm backing up the lorry, can't wait for night to come

I'm sweeping out the back yard on a Friday afternoon

We'll gather round the players and we'll head off for the stars

Pack the van with poetry, drums and the guitars

We'll take Billy for the whisky, Willie for the door

We'll take Mary Kate and Lizzy for the dancing round the floor

We'll turn this empty hall into city full of lights

And lift the summer spirits through the passing of the night

There was laughing, and there were tears

There were so many shattered hopes and dreams

But there was treasure and 40 years

In the place where the rivers run

We'll hammer on the two-step, we'll lay it on the snare

Romancing the accordion, waltzing out the aires

These sacred swaying anthems, within our lover's grasp

Stripping down the willow to the footsteps of the past

There was laughing, and there were tears …

We were kings and queens, the reels go round

It's the badge of our culture, say it loud

And it's all in the gift of the young and the proud

In the place where the rivers run

We're loading out the back door, now the hour is come

Driving through the black hills with the red and rising sun

There's a river and a distance, far as eyes can see

Home by Kyle and Broadford round by Memphis Tennessee

There was laughing, and there were tears

There were so many shattered hopes and dreams

But there was treasure and 40 years

In the place where the rivers run

In the place where the rivers run

In the place where the rivers run

Somewhere

Somewhere on the arc of ages

We are born, we cry

On this spinning orb of wonder

We live, we die

Still the moon and the stars will shine

When we've both had our time

Somewhere in the dark I'll find you

Somewhere in the light, I'll meet you there

Where immortal souls collide

Somewhere out there

Can't bear to leave this path of years

And the joys that it unfolds

Can all this just be ground to dust

Without meaning, resolve, untold

This love is gold, can't let it go

It's for all of time

Somewhere in the dark I'll find you

Somewhere in the light, I'll meet you there

Where immortal souls collide

Somewhere out there

Somewhere out there

On the arc of ages

On this orb of wonder

Where the light is growing

Where the sun goes under