+ Flower of the West
Sunburst
The morning moor
The light of God
The heart of youth
I look around me
My eyes find their rest
On this garden
The flower of the west

Sunrise
The colour frontier
The ageing light
The sight that knows no fear
I look over Orinsay
To the Trumisgarry shore
To Alioter
And the road to Ahmore

The silent skies
An innocent heart
Holding the moment away
From time in the dark
All I see
All I know
Is touching the sacred earth
And warming the hallowed ground

I survive the childhood universe
And I step the naked heath
Where the breathing of the vanished
Li es in acres round my feet
Loch Scadavagh, Loch Fada
And the flatlands to the East
Where the dark blue mass of Eval
Meets the rising rock of Lee
Between the Crogaire and Mairi
I started to descend
Loch Aongais on my left hand side
I look across to Clett
Collies barking on the outrun
Dunlin dancing on the sand
Breakers show round Corran Vallique
And empty the Atlantic on the strand

+ Siol Ghoraidh
Ochd deug seisreach
Air raontainn Aird a' Mhorain
Na fir a' treabhadh
An là a thainig na Sleithich

Dubh dath na fala
A dhoirt 'na tuil gu talamh
Saighead, claidheamh
Tro chairdeas corp an Udail

Siol Ghoraidh
Mac Ruairidh
Clann Raghnaill
Clann Dhòmhaill

Linn gu linn
Bho ainm gu ainm
Air an sgiath seo dh' Uibhist
'S mi beò an dràsd

Clann mo theaghlaich
Clann mo theaghlaich
Clann mo theaghlaich fhein

Dòmhnall Iain Aonghais ‘Ic Neill, Iain Dhòmhnall Iain, Seonnaidh Mòr A' Ghearraidh, Caillean A' Ghreusaiche, Tearlach Eòin Dhughaill, Calum Aonghais ‘Ic Neill, Calum Dhonnchaidh, Neill Alastair ‘Ic UIlleam, Ruairidh Iain Thàillear, Dughall ‘Illespidh Thormoid, Calum Ailig Mhor, Eirsidh Iain A' Duin, Dòmhnall ‘Ic Ille Mhuile, Ceit Phàdraig, Seonnaidh A' Chiobair, Aonghas Bochd.

traduction

Eighteen teams of horses
On the fields of Aird a' Mhorain
The young men poughing
On the day the Sleat people came

Black was the colour of the blood
That flowed like a flood to the soil
The arrow, the long sword
Through the generosity of the Udal people

Generation to generation
From one name to another
My time is now
To walk this corner of Uist

The geneology of Goraidh
The sons of Ruairi
The sons of Ranald
The children of Donald

The children of my family
The children of my own family

Donald, son of John, son of Angus, son of Neil. John, son of Donald John. Big John from the land between the hill pasture and the arable. Colin the shoemaker. Charles, son of Ewen, son of Dugald. Calum, son of Angus, son of Neil. Calum, son of Duncan. Neil, son of Alastair, son of William. Roderick, son of John, son of the tailor. Dugald, son of Gillesbuig, son of Norman. Calum, son of Big Alexander. Archibald, son of John of the Fortress. Donald, son of Samuel. John from Huna. Alastair, son of Donald, son of the boy from the mill. Catherine, daughter of Patrick. John, son of Roderick, son of John, son of Angus. The widow of John, son of the Shepherd. Poor Angus.

+ Protect And Survive
The red hot sun burns up the hill
The winter's bride, the summer's king
I tramp these acres and I feel
Once upon a time
And then it seemed that everything
You saw and touched and felt was real
You turned the tap and you turned the wheel
Breathing free

[Once in a lifetime
You live and love
Once in a lifetime
You die
Once in a moment
The sun goes down
Protect and survive]

Now you search the open evening skies
Trace the memory in your eyes
For the prophet's hard rain and the deluge
Lie in tears around your door
Once there were trees and livestock here
A mother's love, the warnings clear
But you chose to turn away from fear
Breathing free

[Refrain]

Now there's a faceless cross on a distant hill
A wasted voice, a silent scream
Where the lovers love and the dreamers dream
You stand and dream alone
You took your sacrifice to the gods of war
Traded your children's lives for a mess of gold
And you beat your ploughshares into swords
Breathing free

[Refrain]

+ The Wire
We listened into the Ice Age
And we built up man round the Picts
And the daybreak hammered out warning
To the weak

And we dreamed on moor with passion
On the long lochs bluer than eyes
'Till the mists of bygone ages
Heard our cries

I've seen us among thousands
All of one name waiting to run
And when the charge came, heather on heartbeat
Steel on gun

The old rock leaves us with fossil
From the ancient pagan rites
From the universal inroads
Back to Christ

[Transmitting, transmitting
Breaking down the wire
Transmitting, transmitting
Breaking down the wire]

As we look out over the morning
And the days of this life's spring
And the joy of Gaelic's lifeblood
Made me sing

We listened into the Ice Age
And we built up man round the Picts
And the daybreak hammered out warning
To the weak

[Refrain]

+ Harvest Moon
Sons and daughters of the dust
Strangers of time and place
For a while your limbs entwine
Holy marriage of the flesh
But I know your ways
Your ways are not mortal thought
Till the day breaks and shadows run
Run away

[So shine on harvest moon
Cast you might on the ripening corn
And I look at your life
Hold you in my arms
With all the power in the days of youth
In the fullness of love]

Fields run deep in golden swards
Hot summer winds blow through the corn
Cast off your sorrows now you stand
In the presence of the Lord
And your radiance shines
Like the moon of all innocent grace
To know that we dared breathe belief
To love again

[Refrain]

+ Every River
You ask me to believe in magic
Expect me to commit suicide of the heart
And you ask me to play this game without question
Raising the stakes on this shotgun roulette

[Every river I try to cross
Every hill I try to climb
Every ocean I try to swim
Every road I try to find
All the ways of my life
I'd rather be with you
There's no way
Without you]

But you came to me like the ways of children
Simple as breathing, easy as air
Now the years hold no fears, like the wind they pass over
Loved, forgiven, washed, saved

[Refrain]

+ Dance Called America
The landlords came, the peasant trials
To sacrifice of men
Through the past and that quite darkly
The presence once again
In the name of capital, establishment
Improvers, it's a name
The hidden truths, the hidden lies
That once nailed you to the pain

[They did a dance called America
They danced it round
And waited at the turns
For America
They danced their ladies round]

To the candles of enlightenment
Once lit they say don't burn
To turn the darkest room of suffering
To a greater state of pain
Don't tell me that's behind you now, don't greet me
Don't meet your dying blind
It's our very last stand together
So let's sever, no regrets

[Refrain]

There were days that once held confidence
Strength of will and mind
The camouflage that washed your fathers
Your sons and daughters time
Another tongue, my love, my island
You've gone international
With all the praying men of God
Who stood and watched it all go on

[Refrain]

+ An Ubhal as Airde (The Highest Apple)
Comhla rium
A tha thu an drasd
Mo shuilean duinte, mo chuimhne dan
Nam sheasamh a' coimhead
Gach cnoc is gach traigh
Is an siol a dh'fhag thu ann a 'fas

Tha an garradh lan
Le craobhan treun
Le meas a' fas dhuinn ann ri bhuain
Ubhlan abaich
Milis geur
Ach tha aon ubhal nach ruig sinn idir air

[Seididh gaoth is dearrsaidh grian
Tro mheas nan craobhan lin gu lin
Ach thig an la is thig an t-am
Airson an ubhal as airde
Air a' chraobh a bhuain]

Is co 'nar measg
A mhaireas la
Seachad air am is air oidhche fhein
A liuthad uair
A shreap mi suas
Airson an ubhal as airde chur gu beul

[Refrain]

traduction

At present
All you were is with me
My eyes closed, my memory confident
Standing here watching
Each hill and shoreline
With the seed you left
Still growing

The garden is well stocked
With mighty trees
With fruit growing for the whole world
Ripe, sweet
And bitter apples
And the one apple
That is beyond reach

[The winds will blow
And the sun will shine
From generation to generation
Through the trees of the garden
But the day and the hour
Will surely come
To take the highest apple
From the knowledge tree]

Who amongst us
Can exist a single day
Beyond our own time and our own limits
Countless and futile
Are times I've climbed
To reach and taste
The forbidden fruit

[Refrain]

+ Alba (Scotland)
Air sgiath a' seoladh nan neoil
'S an domhain liath
Mar dhealbh a' tighinn beo tro na sgothan
'S mi a' tilleadh gu tir

Alba nam beanntan ard
Nan acraichean lom
Thairis air na lochan mointich
Nan coilltean 's nan gleann

Alba, Alba

Ach 'se sealladh leointe is gann
Tha an seo aig ceann thall an linn
Talamh alainn nan daoine
Fhathast an lamhan duine no dithis

Cuibhlean stolda mu dheas
Na fasaichean a tuath
An taigh-mor falamh an Dun-Eideann
Gun chumhachd gun ghuth

Alba, Alba

Sibhse chuir achadh ri achadh
Taigh ri taigh
Gus nach bi ait anns an tir
An gabh sibh comhnaidh air leth

Ach 's math dhomh bhith seo an drasd
A cur failt air a' bhlas
'San tir a tha cho ur dhomh an diugh
Is a bha i nuair bha mi 'nam phaisd

Alba, Alba

traduction

This flight is sailing the clouds
And the blue heavens
The homeland appears like a developing photograph
Through the mists as I return to land

I see Scotland of the high mountains
And the empty acres
Flying low across the moorland lochs
The forests and the glens

Scotland, Scotland

But it's a wounding and a hollow sight
Here as we reach the end of the century
The beautiful soil of the people
Still in the hands of the few

I see the wheels of industry at a standstill
And the northern lands wasted
And the empty house in Edinburgh
Without authority or voice

Scotland, Scotland

You that have laid field upon field
House upon house
Till there be nowhere for you to be placed alone
In the midst of all the earth

But it is good for me to be here now
As I welcome the warmth
In this land that's as exciting for me today
As it was the day I was born

Scotland, Scotland

+ Recovery
Watching the morning come in on the land
See the moon roll over Skeabost
See the young men late in the glen
All with camans in hand
Sea winds out on the wild
Sea waves crash on to Uig
See the black homes strung out on a line
Across the island of Skye

[And I can't believe
That it's taken all this time
I can't believe
My life and my destiny
After the clans, after the clearings
Here I am, recovering]

Should have been home before daylight
But it's not easy when you're down and hungry
One from the late run rolled up in a coat
I make my way across the moor
For a late summer in '84
But now there's a new day dawning
I've heard the Braes men talk in Portree
The news from Glendale

[Refrain]

Still the morning comes in on the land
See the new sun red and rising
See the corn turn ripe in the fields
See the growth of the glen
And MacPherson's in Kilmuir tonight
What a night for a people rising
Oh God, it's not before time
There's justice in our lives

+ Chi Mi'n Geamhradh (I See Winter)
Chi mi'n geamhradh anns a' ghaoith
Chan eil an sneachd' fada bhuainn
Sgothan dorch' 's na craobhan rùisgt
Tha an oidhche nochd fuar

Shaoilinn fhèin gur ann an dè
Bha teas an t-samhraidh 'gar leaghadh
Fad an fheasgair air an dùn
'S tu laighe leisg ri mo thaobh

Chan fhan a' ghrian fad na bliadhna
Cha sheas an uair mar a tha i
Dh' fhalbh thusa gu'n a' cheò

'S dh'fhag thu mi le mo geamhradh

'S iomadh oidhch' a rinn sinn suiridhe
'S iomadh oidhch' a rinn sinn gàir
'S iomadh oidhch' a bhithinn a' smuaintinn
Gum bitheadh tu comhla ruim gu bràth

traduction

I see winter in the wind
The snows are not far off
The clouds are darkening and the trees bare
Tonight it is cold

You would have thought that it was only yesterday
We melted in the heat of the summer
All evening out on the dun
And you lying relaxed by my side

The sun will not stay all year
Time will not stand still
You went away back to the city
And left me to my winter

Many nights we courted
Many nights we laughed
Many nights I thought
That we would be together forever

+ Precious Years/Every River
It's all over now, no more summers in heaven
After World War Two wed and a life of ups and downs
I see it now, precious even on paper
A young man and his bride and someone to make time stand still

[But now I know and I don't want to believe it
Where does it leave you now
That the precious years are gone]

All things remain to ignore and outlive you
From the man in the moon to the greenhills outside your door
Alone you came so alone you must go now
There's no mountain on earth can ever outlive your soul

[Refrain]

I know you well, you'll be nothing but grateful
Never let it be said they were spent in thoughtless ways
Warm winds blow 'cross the ties that bind forever
For a place in the sun and for the hearts of love a home

[Refrain]

(Every River)
You ask me to believe in magic
Expect me to commit suicide of the heart
And you ask me to play this game without question
Raising the stakes on this shotgun roulette

[Every river I try to cross
Every hill I try to climb
Every ocean I try to swim
Every road I try to find
All the ways of my life
I'd rather be with you
There's no way
Without you]

But you came to me like the ways of children
Simple as breathing, easy as air
Now the years hold no fears, like the wind they pass over
Loved, forgiven, washed, saved

[Refrain]