Скачать или смотреть THE OLD WAYS (Loreena McKennitt)

If a favorite absolutely has to be singled out, then this is likely my all-time favorite song by a truly exceptional Canadian musical artist, Loreena McKennitt. It tells the bitter-sweet tale of a young woman strolling along the rugged Irish coastline, just as dusk is turning into night, and she chances to encounter the restless spirit of her long-lost lover. I've always had the sense that he must've lost his life out at sea somehow or other, hence her feeling continually drawn to the shoreline in an effort to feel a little closer to him. Presumably, her grief had been so intense for so long, it miraculously called him back from beyond the grave for one more evening together. And upon his departure, the closing lines might be interpreted (or at least it is by me) as her all-consuming impulse to fling herself into the turbulent sea, so that her spirit might join his.

"THE OLD WAYS"

The pounding sea is calling me home, home to you.
The pounding sea is calling me home, home to you.

On a dark new year's night
on the west coast of Clare
I heard your voice... singing.
Your eyes danced the song,
your hands played the tune.
T'was a vision before me.

We left the music behind and the dance carried on
as we stole away to the seashore
and smelt the brine, felt the wind in our hair
and with sadness you paused.

Suddenly, I knew that you'd have to go.
Your world was not mine, your eyes told me so.
Yet it was there I felt the crossroads of time
and I wondered... why?

As we cast our gaze on the tumbling sea,
a vision came o'er me,
of thundering hooves and beating wings
in the clouds above.

Turning to go, I heard you call out my name.
You were like a bird in a cage, spreading its
wings to fly.
"The old ways are lost...", you sang as you flew
and I wondered... why?

The thundering waves are calling me home, home to you.
The pounding sea is calling me home, home to you.

The thundering waves are calling me home, home to you.
The pounding sea is calling me home, home to you.

The thundering waves are calling me home, home to you.
The pounding sea is calling me home, home to you.