Loreena McKennitt - All souls night

Somewhere in a hidden memory
Images float before my eyes
Of fragrant nights of straw and of bonfires
And dancing till 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 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 -- photo
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 - 2x

This piece was inspired by the imagery of a Japanese tradition which celebrated the souls of the departed by sending candle-lit lanterns out on waterways leading to the ocean, sometimes in little boats; along with the imagery of the Celtic All Souls Night celebrations, at which time huge bonfires were lit not only to mark the new year, but to warm the souls of the departed. - L.M.

Music and lyrics by Loreena McKennitt
From: The visit (1991).

A live version appears on Live in Paris and Toronto (1999)
and on Live at the Royal Albert Hall (2019)

The song can also be found on The journey so far - The Best of Loreena McKennitt (2014).

 
Bonfires dot the rolling hillsides
JPEG version of this photo (16 kb)       GIF version of this photo (71 kb)

 
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last modified: 11 January 2020