Loreena McKennitt - The wind that shakes the barley

Loreena McKennitt in her last album released this beautiful version of the ancient Irish ballad by Robert Dwyer Joyce about the Irish rebellion of 1798.

Loreena McKennitt - The wind that shakes the barley

I sat within a valley green,
Sat there with my true love
My heart strove to choose between,
Me old love and the new love
The old for her, the new that made,
Me think on Ireland dearly
While soft the wind blew down the glade,
And shook the golden barley.

Twas hard the mournful words to frame,
To break the ties that bound us
But harder still to bear the shame,
Of foreign chains around us
And so I said, “The mountain glen,
I’ll seek at morning early
And join the brave united men”,
While soft wind shook the barley.

Twas sad I kissed away her tears,
Her arms around me clinging
When to my ears that fateful shot,
Came out the wildwood ringing
The bullet pierced my true love’s breast,
In life’s young spring so early
And there upon my breast she died,
While soft wind shook the barley.

I bore her to some mountain stream,
And many’s the summer blossom
I placed with branches soft and green,
About her gore-stained bosom
I wept and kissed her clay-cold corpse,
Then rushed o’er vale and valley
My vengeance on the foe to wreak,
While soft wind shook the barley.

Twas blood for blood without remorse,
I took at Oulart Hollow
I placed my true love’s clay-cold corpse,
Where mine full soon may follow
Around her grave I wondered drear,
Noon, night and morning early
With aching heart when e’er I hear,
The wind that shakes the barley.

Sufjan Stevens – Jacksonville

Such a beautiful song from Sufjan Stevens. My second favourite after "Chicago". For some reason, I love this song and it makes me feel happy, calm and in good mood :)

I'm not afraid of the black man running,
He's got it right, he's got a better life coming.
I don't care what the captain said,
I fold it right at the top of my head.
I lost my sight and the state packs in,
I follow my heart and it leads me right to Jackson.

Oh, Keller, oh, oh, oh, oh.
She gave us a medal, she gave us a map.
Oh, Canner Row, oh, oh, oh.
If seeing is right, then look where you're at.

I'm not afraid of Nichol's Park,
I ride the train and I ride it after dark.
I'm not afraid to get it right,
I turn around and I give it one more try.
I said things that I meant to say,
The bandstand chairs and the Dewey Day parade.
I go out to the golden age,
The spirit is right and the spirit doesn't change.

Oh, Keller, oh, oh, oh, oh.
She gave us a mirror, she gave us a map.
Oh, Canner Row, oh, oh, oh.
If seeing is right, then look where you're at.

Andrew Jackson, all I'm asking,
Show us the wheel and give us the wine.
Woohoo! Woohoo!
Raise the banner, Jackson hammer,
Everyone goes to the capitol line.
Woohoo! Woohoo!
Colored preacher, nice to meet you!
The spirit is here and the spirit is fine!
Woohoo! Woohoo!
Education, ask the nation,
You gave us our sight and the hearing is fine.
Woohoo! Woohoo!
Andrew Jackson, all I'm asking,
Give us the wheel and give us the wine.

In the river...

Vetusta Morla comes back with their new album “Mapas” (Maps). My favorite song from this LP is “En el río”, meaning “In the river”.

This song is about a basket full of ideas that you leave on a river. Then the current of the society moves it around and creates a complex weave of thinkings and emotions. A real mesh which is hard to unwind...

 

Vetusta Morla - En el río (lyrics) 


Antes de ir
Se hacen y deshacen planes, culpas y cadenas.
Forman un telar
Que han tejido eternamente Aracne y Atenea.

Ya no estás,
Te dejé al borde del río metidito en esa cesta.
Y ahora tu vacío
Gira y gira para siempre dentro de una rueca.

En el río, en el río…
La orilla es una jaula hay muchos gallos de pelea.
Suenan cantos de sirena…
Se dan muerte a garrotazos, una estampa muy goyesca.
En la noche, en la noche…
Gira el mundo, gira el hambre y un revólver en la mesa.
En el río, en el río…
Se oyen gritos en el río, alguien no saldrá de esta.

En el río, en el río
Suenan cantos de sirena
Que en la noche, que en la noche
Todavía me despiertan.

En el río, en el río…
Antes de ir
Suenan cantos de sirena…
Se hacen y deshacen planes, culpas y cadenas.
Que en la noche, que en la noche…
Forman un telar
Todavía me despiertan…
Que han tejido eternamente Aracne y Atenea.

 

 

Sinking Stone...

Untying this sinking stone…

ALISON KRAUSS – Sinking Stone

I called you today
wanting a change.
I never meant to hurt anyone,
never meant for you to pull out your guns.

But feelings won't stay
in this meager parade.
You're beating to a different drum
in this lack of all luster we've become.

Save your breath,
you know we've both tried our best
but it's leaving.

This might as well be done.
I'm falling with the sun,
when the hours getting sour,
won't save with time.

And I'm waving off the one
who wouldn't let me run.
Though we try, it's a lie.
I can't keep dragging on.
I'm untying this sinking stone...

Don't sit on the fence,
living past tense,
holding on to wishes and words,
folding out a picture we blur.

Cause here in the end
I'm losing a friend.
Fighting back a tear when it burns,
dividing up the pieces that we were.

Save your breath,
you know we've both tried our best
but it's leaving.

This might as well be done.
I'm falling with the sun,
when the hours getting sour,
won't save with time.

And I'm waving off the one
who wouldn't let me run.
Though we try, it's a lie.
I can't keep dragging on.
I'm untying this sinking stone...

I can't say you're all alone.
I'm accepting what I own,
here lies a blanket, not a bandage.

I'm unable to restrain,
when the wake that we became
is drawing me under.

This might as well be done.
I'm falling with the sun,
when the hours getting sour,
won't save with time.

And I'm waving off the one
who wouldn't let me run.
Though we try, it's a lie.
I can't keep dragging on.
I'm untying this sinking stone...

This might as well be done.
I'm falling with the sun,
when the hours getting sour,
won't save with time.

And I'm waving off the one
who wouldn't let me run.
Though we try, it's a lie.
I can't keep dragging on.
I'm untying this sinking stone...

 

Seal - Kiss From A Rose

This is a song that remained in my head for many years. I didn't know which melody it was or where I listened to it. Finally, I determined myself to search for it. I had a feeling that I heard it in a movie. Then, I realized it could be a Batman movie... and so I got it! "Kiss from a rose", a very romantic song... and also quite cloying. Anyway, it stayed for so many time in my head that it deserves this little place in my blog.




There used to be
a graying tower
alone on the sea.

You became
the light on the
dark side of me.

Love remained
a drug that's the high
and not the pill.

But did you know
that when it snows,
my eyes become large and
the light that you shine
can be seen?

Baby!
I compare you to
a kiss from a rose
on the grave.

Ooh,
The more I get of you,
the stranger it feels,
yeah.

And now that
your rose is in bloom
a light hits the gloom
on the grave.

There is so much
a man can tell you,
so much he can say.

You remain
my power,
my pleasure,
my pain.

Baby!

To me you're like a
growing addiction
that I can't deny.

Won't you tell me
is that healthy, baby?

But did you know
that when it snows,
my eyes become large and
the light that you shine
can be seen?

Baby!
I compare you to
a kiss from a rose
on the grave.

Ooh,
The more I get of you,
the stranger it feels,
yeah.

Now that your
rose is in bloom
a light hits the gloom
on the grave.

I've been
kissed by a rose
on the grave.

I've been
kissed by a rose
on the grave.

I've been
kissed by a rose
on the grave.

And if i should fall
along the way.

I've been
kissed by a rose
on the grave.

There is so much a
man can tell you,
so much he can say.

You remain
my power,
my pleasure,
my pain.

To me you're like a
growing addiction
that I can't deny.

Won't you tell me
is that healthy, baby?

But did you know
that when it snows,
my eyes become large and
the light that you shine
can be seen?

Baby!
I compare you to
a kiss from a rose
on the grave.

Ooh,
The more I get of you,
the stranger it feels,
yeah.

Now that your
rose is in bloom
a light hits the gloom
on the grave.

Yes, I compare you to
a kiss from a rose
on the grave.

Ooh,
The more I get of you,
the stranger it feels,
yeah.

Now that your
rose is in bloom
a light hits the gloom
on the grave.

Now that your
rose is in bloom
a light hits the gloom
on the grave.