23rd entry - Celtic Music
Some pieces of celtic music have a surreal, enchanting and mysterious quality. Its unlike anything I've ever heard before and yet sounds so familiar - as if I heard them in a dream. I feel that celtic music seem to be a fusion of ethnic oriental (indian/arabic) and western religious (gregorian chanting) music (especially the drumbeat and rhythm, as well as the flute). Celtic songs have been used in the epic movie, Lord of the Rings - they can even pass off as songs from an imaginary, fantasy world.
I like many of Loreena McKennitt and Enya's songs. They are quite well-known artistes whose music are inspired by the celts.
Two of my favourite songs of McKennitt's are "The Mystic's Dream":
...and "All Souls Night" which was also sung by Chyi Yu, another one of my favourite artistes from Taiwan:
I've loved Enya's timeless music since I was in school... Many films and documentaries use her songs as theme or background music. My favourite are Book of Days:
... and China Roses
The lyrics dont seem to make any sense to me but are interestingly poetic...
E.g. The Mystic's Dream:
A clouded dream on an earthly night
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
there that my heart is longing for
All for, for the love of you
A painting hangs on an ivy wall
Nestled in the emerald moss
The eyes declare a truce of trust
then it draws me far away
deep in the desert twilight
Sand melts in pools of the sky
darkness lays her crimson cloak
lamps will call, call me home
And so it's there my homage's due
Clutched by the still of the night
now I feel, feel you move
And every breath, 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, for the love of you
A clouded dream on an earthly night
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
there that my heart is longing for
All for, for the love of you
... and All Souls Night lyrics:
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
Dancing 'til the next sunrise.
CHORUS:
I can see the lights in the distance
Trembling in the dark cloak of night
Candles and lanterns are dancing, dancing
A waltz on All...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
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 TWICE
Another characteristic is that sometimes we cant really make out what they are singing unless we read the words of their lyrics. E.g. Book of Days:
One day, one night, one moment,
my dreams could be, tomorrow.
One step, one fall, one falter,
east or west, over earth or by ocean.
One way to be my journey,
this way could be my Book of Days.
Ó lá go lá, mo thuras,
an bealach fada romham.
Ó oíche go hoíche, mo thuras,
na scéalta nach mbeidh a choích.
No day, no night, no moment,
can hold me back from trying.
One flag, One fall, One falter,
I'll find my day may be, Far and Away.
Far and Away.
One day, one night, one moment,
with a dream to believe in.
One step, one fall, one falter,
find a new earth across a wide ocean.
This way became my journey,
this day ends together, Far and Away.
This day ends together, Far and Away.
Far and Away.
... China Roses lyrics:
Who can tell me if we have heaven,
who can say the way it should be;
Moonlight holly, the Sappho Comet,
Angel's tears below a tree.
You talk of the break of morning
as you view the new aurora,
Cloud in crimson, the key of heaven,
one love carved in acajou.
One told me of China Roses,
One a Thousand nights and one night,
Earth's last picture, the end of evening:
hue of indigo and blue.
A new moon leads me to
woods of dreams and I follow.
A new world waits for me;
my dream, my way.
I know that if I have heaven
there is nothing to desire.
Rain and river, a world of wonder
may be paradise to me.
I see the sun.
I see the stars.
I like many of Loreena McKennitt and Enya's songs. They are quite well-known artistes whose music are inspired by the celts.
Two of my favourite songs of McKennitt's are "The Mystic's Dream":
...and "All Souls Night" which was also sung by Chyi Yu, another one of my favourite artistes from Taiwan:
I've loved Enya's timeless music since I was in school... Many films and documentaries use her songs as theme or background music. My favourite are Book of Days:
... and China Roses
The lyrics dont seem to make any sense to me but are interestingly poetic...
E.g. The Mystic's Dream:
A clouded dream on an earthly night
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
there that my heart is longing for
All for, for the love of you
A painting hangs on an ivy wall
Nestled in the emerald moss
The eyes declare a truce of trust
then it draws me far away
deep in the desert twilight
Sand melts in pools of the sky
darkness lays her crimson cloak
lamps will call, call me home
And so it's there my homage's due
Clutched by the still of the night
now I feel, feel you move
And every breath, 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, for the love of you
A clouded dream on an earthly night
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
there that my heart is longing for
All for, for the love of you
... and All Souls Night lyrics:
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
Dancing 'til the next sunrise.
CHORUS:
I can see the lights in the distance
Trembling in the dark cloak of night
Candles and lanterns are dancing, dancing
A waltz on All...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
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 TWICE
Another characteristic is that sometimes we cant really make out what they are singing unless we read the words of their lyrics. E.g. Book of Days:
One day, one night, one moment,
my dreams could be, tomorrow.
One step, one fall, one falter,
east or west, over earth or by ocean.
One way to be my journey,
this way could be my Book of Days.
Ó lá go lá, mo thuras,
an bealach fada romham.
Ó oíche go hoíche, mo thuras,
na scéalta nach mbeidh a choích.
No day, no night, no moment,
can hold me back from trying.
One flag, One fall, One falter,
I'll find my day may be, Far and Away.
Far and Away.
One day, one night, one moment,
with a dream to believe in.
One step, one fall, one falter,
find a new earth across a wide ocean.
This way became my journey,
this day ends together, Far and Away.
This day ends together, Far and Away.
Far and Away.
... China Roses lyrics:
Who can tell me if we have heaven,
who can say the way it should be;
Moonlight holly, the Sappho Comet,
Angel's tears below a tree.
You talk of the break of morning
as you view the new aurora,
Cloud in crimson, the key of heaven,
one love carved in acajou.
One told me of China Roses,
One a Thousand nights and one night,
Earth's last picture, the end of evening:
hue of indigo and blue.
A new moon leads me to
woods of dreams and I follow.
A new world waits for me;
my dream, my way.
I know that if I have heaven
there is nothing to desire.
Rain and river, a world of wonder
may be paradise to me.
I see the sun.
I see the stars.
posted by sunshine wallflower at 11:33 PM
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