When the moon on a cloud cast night Hung above the tree tops' height You sang me of some distant past That made my heart beat strong and fast Now I know I'm home at last You offered me an eagle's wing That to the sun I might soar and sing And if I heard the owl's cry Into the forest I would fly And in its darkness find you by. And so our love's not a simple thing Nor our truths unwavering But like the moon's pull on the tide Our fingers touch our hearts collide I'll be a moonsbreath by your side
Moon cradle When the moon-cradle's rocking and rocking Where a cloud and a cloud go by Silently rocking and rocking The moon-cradle's out in the sky.
Then comes the lad with the hazel And the folding star's in the rack 'Night's a good herd' to the cattle, He sings, 'She brings all things back.'
But the bond woman down by the boorie Sings with a heart grown wild How a hundred rivers are flowing Between herself and her child.
'The geese, even they trudge homeward That have their wings and the waste, Let your thoughts be on Night the Herder, And be quiet for a space.'
The moon-cradle's rocking and rocking, Where a cloud and a cloud go by, Silent rocking and rocking The moon-cradle out in the sky.
The snipe they are crying and crying Liadine, liadine, liadine Where no track's on the bog they are flying: A lonely dream will be mine! Where no track's on the bog they are flying: A lonely dream will be mine!
Harking is bonny and there lives my love My heart lies on him and cannot remove It cannot remove for all that I have done And I never will forget my love Annachie For Annachie Gordon he's bonny and he's bright He'd entice any woman that e'er he saw He'd entice any woman and so he has done me And I never will forget my love Annachie.
Down came her father and he's standing at the door Saying Jeannie you are trying the tricks of a whore You care nothing for a man who cares so much for thee You must marry Lord Sultan and leave Annachie For Annachie Gordon is barely but a man Although he may be pretty but where are his lands The Sultan's lands are broad and his towers they run high You must marry Lord Sultan and leave Annachie.
With Annachie Gordon I beg for my bread And before I marry Sultan his gold to my head With gold to my head and straight down to my knees And I'll die if I don't get my love Annachie And you who are my parents to church you may me bring But unto Lord Sultan I'll never bear a son To a son or a daughter I'll never bow my knee And I'll die if I don't get my love Annachie.
Jeannie was married and from church was brought home When she and her maidens so merry should have been When she and her maidens so merry should have been She goes into her chamber and cries all alone.
Come to my bed my Jeannie my honey and my sweet To stile you my mistress it would be so sweet Be it mistress or Jeanne it's all the same to me But in your bed Lord Sultan I never will lie And down came her father and he's spoken with reknown Saying you who are her maidens Go loosen up her gowns And she fell down to the floor And straight down to her knee saying Father look I'm dying for my love Annachie.
The day that Jeanne married was the day that Jeannie died And the day that young Annachie came home on the tide And down came her maidens all wringing of their hands Saying oh it's been so long, you've been so long on the sands So long on the sands, so long on the flood They have married your Jeannie and now she lies dead.
You who are her maidens come take me by the hand And lead me to the chamber where my love she lies in And he kissed her cold lips till his heart it turned to stone And he died in the chamber where his love she lies in.
In one of these lonely Orkney Isles There dwelled a maiden fair. Her cheeks were red, her eyes were blue She had yellow, curling hair. Which caught the eye and then the heart Of one who could never be A lover of so true a mind Or fair a form as she. Across the lake in Sandwick Dwelled a youth she held most true, And ever since her infancy He had watched these eyes so blue. The land runs out to the sea - It's a narrow neck of land - Where weird and grim the Standing Stones In a circle where they stand. One bonny moonlight Christmas Eve They met at that sad place. With her heart in glee and the beams of love Were shining on her face When her lover came and he grasped her hand And what loving words they said They talked of future's happy days, As through the stones they strayed. They walked toward the lovers' stone And through it passed their hands. They plighted there a constant troth Sealed by love's steadfast bands He kissed his maid and then he watched her That lonely bridge go o'er. For little, little did he think He wouldn't see his darling more. Standing Stones of the Orkney Isles Gazing out to sea Standing Stones of the Orkney Isles Bring my love to me. He turned his face toward his home That home he did never see And you shall have the story As it was told to me.When a form upon him sprang With a dagger gleaming bright It pierced his heart and his dying screams Disturbed the silent night. This maid had nearly reached her home When she was startled by a cry. And she turned to look around her And her love was standing by His hand was pointing to the stars And his eyes gazed at the light. And with a smiling countenance He vanished from her sight. She quickly turned and home she ran Not a word of this was said,For well she knew at seeing his form That her faithful love was dead. And from that day she pined away, Not a smile seen on her face, And with outstretched arms she went to meet him In a brighter place
I hear some distant drumbeat A heartbeat pulsing low Is it coming from within A heartbeat I don't know A troubled heart knows no peace A dark and poisoned pool Of liberty now lost A pawn an oppressor's tool. Oh my heart be strong And guide when eyes grow dim When ears grow deaf with empty words When I know there's life within. A gunfire shatters silence Where birds once sweetly sang A mother cradles a child now dead Now death where life began From the troubled heart of South Africa Nicaragua's festering sore The turmoil on the streets of China Death crying out for more A change is slow in coming My eyes can scarcely see The rays of hope come streaming Through the smoke of apathy But oh my heart be strong And guide when eyes grow dim When ears grow deaf with empty words When I know there's life within. May the spirit never die Though a troubled heart feels pain When the long winter is over It will blossom once again