Jos van Geffen --
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Long as the day in the summer time
Deep as the wine-dark sea
I'll keep your heart with mine
Till you come to me
There like a bird I'd fly
High through the air
Reaching for the sun's full rays
Only to find you there
And in the night when our dreams are still
Or when the wind calls free
I'll keep your heart with mine
Till you come to me
Now that the time has come
Soon gone is the day
There upon some distant shore
You'll hear me say
Long as the day in the summer time
Deep as the wine-dark sea
I'll keep your heart with mine.
Till you come to me
music and lyrics: Loreena McKennitt
From: An ancient muse (2006).
A live version appears on Troubadours on the Rhine (2012).
The song can also be found on The journey so far - The Best of Loreena McKennitt (2014).
Source of the lyrics: the official website.
Loreena McKennitt's commentary on the song, taken from the
transcript of an audio interview:
"Penelope's Song" is a piece of music that I wrote inspired from a few different travels and experiences. Certainly the one that comes to mind was a week that I spent in May of 2005 on the Greek island of Chios, which is not far actually from the Turkish mainland. And I stayed in this beautiful bed and breakfast in this compound. There was an orange orchard in my -- my residence was actually like a garden hut at the far end of this orange orchard. And because it was May, all the orange blossoms were out -- I'd walk through this stunning environment and smell this gorgeous aroma of these orange blossoms. And during that week I listened to an audio recording of Homer's Odyssey which one certainly could consider as one of the most significant travel narratives of history. And it got me thinking about, once again, this business of travelling, this business of journeying and the experiences that one encounters when one is travelling but also the fact that in many circumstances over the course of human history, yes, there have been people who have left and there have also been people who've been left behind. And I wanted to create a song from the perspective of the individual or individuals that were left behind. And it is a story that certainly is universal in its theme, that when I think of some of Irish history and the time during the famine, and there were people that emigrated to, let's say, Canada or the United States on these horrible coffin ships. And that there were families that were also left behind and their loved ones would be heading over to the New World. And you can't help but think of those, there have been people who have left their loved ones for all kinds of circumstances. And the pain of seeing them go off and not knowing if they'll ever return. So I wanted to create a song that captured some essence of that sentiment, of waiting for your loved ones to return. And "Penelope's Song" was a gesture towards this.© 2006, Quinlan Road Ltd.
Jos van Geffen --
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