Loreena McKennitt - Skellig

O light the candle, John
The daylight has almost gone
The birds have sung their last
The bells call all to mass
Sit here by my side
For the night is very long
There's something I must tell
Before I pass along
 
                     
 
I joined the brotherhood
My books were all to me
I scribed the words of God
And much of history
Many a year was I
Perched out upon the sea
The waves would wash my tears
The wind, my memory
 
 
I joined the brotherhood
It's books were all to me
I scribed the words of God
And much of history
'Twas not my place to lead
This life of solitude
Until the day there came
A boat of the brotherhood
 
I'd hear the ocean breathe
Exhale upon the shore
I knew the tempest's blood
Its wrath I would endure
And so the years went by
Within my rocky cell
With only a mouse or bird
My friend; I loved them well
 
 
 
And so it came to pass
I'd come here to Romani
And many a year it took
Till I arrived here with thee
On dusty roads I walked
And over mountains high
Through rivers running deep
Beneath the endless sky
 
 
 
Beneath these jasmine flowers
Amidst these cypress trees
I give you now my books
And all their mysteries
Now take the hourglass
And turn it on its head
For when the sands are still
'Tis then you'll find me dead
 
 
Now beneath these jasmine flowers
Amidst these cypress trees
I give you now my books
And all their mysteries
Harken, John, my word
Let not these keys be lost
The secrets lie within
The writers of the past
 

O light the candle, John
The daylight has almost gone
The birds have sung their last
The bells call all to mass

 
 


music and lyrics: Loreena McKennitt
From: The book of secrets (1997).

A live version appears on Live in Paris and Toronto (1999),
with slightly different lyrics in two stanzas,
given in italics in the right column.

Thanks to Ashli McBee for providing the lyrics of the live version.

 
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last modified: 29 August 2006