+ Book of Golden Stories
Book of golden stories
Days of olden notes
Now the autumn leaves are falling
We'll meet on the edges
Memories, no regrets
Now the minstrel boy is calling

[But as long as I can see the morning
In miracles, much more than I can say
It's enough to keep me still believing
In drifting hearts so far away.]

You took me through the pages
Good happiness is shared
Lost in the web of changes
This could be the last dance
Waltzing in the rain
'Till the minstrel comes to save us.

[Refrain]

Yes, as long as I can see the morning
And blossom comes to bud again in spring
It's enough to keep me still believing
Your memory is everything

Book of golden stories x4
Days of olden notes
Now the autumn leaves are falling
Book of golden stories x4
Falling falling falling
Book of golden stories x4

+ The Stamping Ground
April comes to the new grass on the hills of gold
Tha feur ur air bar an tallamh, bar an tallamh, horribh o

Where winter falls in the long cold north
Black waters wait in the ice and snow
Tha feur ur air bar an tallamh, bar an tallamh, horribh o

Black waters wait in the ice and sun
Through the glens where your great rivers run

[Back on the stamping ground
To where it all began
Back on the stamping ground
We come again]

So we tend and we nurtur all the seeds we've sown
Tha feur ur air bar an tallamh, bar an tallamh, horribh o

Through all the frosts and rains the west winds blow
Till the fields turn ripe and a harvest stored
Tha feur ur air bar an tallamh, bar an tallamh, horribh o

Through all the frosts and rains the west winds blow
We will wait here till the winter's end

[Refrain]

So it's blood on blood, our bond, our word
Tha feur ur air bar an tallamh, bar an tallamh, horribh o

For the strength and weakness of our days
Is to take you there on a journey shared
Tha feur ur air bar an tallamh, bar an tallamh, horribh o

So take this thing, make it sparkle and glow
It's much greater than we may ever know

[Refrain]

Back on the stamping ground

(Traduction: There's a new grass growing on the top of the soil)

+ An Sabhal Aig Neill (Neil's Barn)
Craicann searrach agus or
Thall aig an sabhal, an sabhal aig Neill
Se suid an sgeul na Ath-mhor
Thall aig an sabhal, an sabhal aig Neill
'S iomadh Ia. 's loniadh Ia, chaidh sinn suas ga h-iarraidh
Thall aig an sabhal, an sabhal aig Neill
Le crap spaid is puchaid iarainn

Tha na gillean ruith gun sguir
Thal! aig an sabhal, an sabhal aig Neill
Ginealachan. ginealachan. sniomh ma mo shuilean
Thall aig an sabhal, an sabhal aig Neill
Sibhse a sheas aig ceann a bhathalch
Thall aig an sablial, an sabhal aig Neill
Tha sibh air nVinntinn gach Ia

Innse sinn an sgeul dh'an chlann
Thall aig an sabhal, an sabhal aig Neill
An aite seileach bar a bheann
Thall aig an sabhal, an sabhal aig Neill
'S lomadh Ia, 's lomadh Ia. 'bhitheas e air n'intinn
Thall aig an sabhal, an sabhal aig Neill
An sgeul a rnhaireas ri gu sioraidli

Horo eiribli o
Horo ro bho. ro ho-ro

traduction

The skin of a foal, and gold
Over by the barn. Neil's barn
That is the Ahmore story
Over by the barn. Neil's barn
Many's a day we went up to search for it
Over by the barn. Neil's barn
With a broken spade and an iron bucket

The boys are running without stopping
Over by the barn. Neil's barn
The generations weaving away in front of my eyes
Over by the barn, Neil's barn
But those that used to stand at the corner of the byre
Over by the barn, Neil's barn
They are on my mind each day

We will tell the story to the children
Over by the barn, Neil's barn
The place of willows on top of the hill
Over by the barn, Neil's barn
Many's a day it will be on their minds
Over by the barn, Neil's barn
The story that will go on forever

Horo boys o
Horo ro bho, ro ho-ro

+ Wall of China
They say the wall of China's seen from the moon
They keep building empires to immortal fools
But where the world goes small you stood alone
To face Goliath and the might of Rome

Where the rock sets hard your arms hit strong
Digging out your road ten thousand paces long
Fragments of survival in the driving rain
With the blood and tears that bare your name

[On and on
The meek, the strong]

They built the wall of China with a million men
They thought their broken promises would wear you down
But they didn't count on things they couldn't see
One island man with heart of steel

[On and on
The meek, the strong]

+ One Man
One man to change the world
One word to bring it down
One stand to right a wrong
Only the meek can break the strong
Only the meek can break the strong

+ The Engine Room
Instrumental

+ One Thing
Walk out the door, your eyes filled with tears
Or stay and confront me and face all your fears
Linger in silence neither distant or near
It's not going to change a thing

Lay down beside me and question my faith
Or hold me with all the love we have made
Share all your secrets or hide them away
It's not going to change a thing

[The picture is painted, the colours are bold
One for each season of life I suppose
It no longer matters, the story is told
It's not going to change a thing]

Lie here and talk of whatever you want
Or dare to compare all the things we've done wrong
What care the world when we're all dead and gone
It's not going to change a thing

The picture is painted, the colours are bold
One for each season of life I suppose
It no longer matters, the story is told
It's not going to change a thing
It's not going to change one thing

+ The Ship
I awoke in the dusts of an autumn morning
Faces oil-lit and kneeling round the family chairs
I never knew that a heart could take such filling
Spaces everywhere

[And the ship's come round
And she's waiting at the harbour
Be prepared to get on board
Be prepared
I never knew that the light of ages
Breaks the way before us
Sail away, sail away]

All the front doors opened and the men came walking
Suits and shoes, heads of silver and grey
It's one short road from a darkened cradle
To the endless light of day

She walked like a bride down the aisle of her childhood
The shops, the schoolyard, the church on the hill
Where she trembled on the day she was touched and broken
Marie was born again

[Refrain]

All ears to the trawler-band in the evenings
Forty crans and the spirits run wild
The storms, the drownings, the tables, the drinking
The sea had claimed their lives

There's peat smoke rising from the village chimneys
You take your chances with the red haired girl
All the boats take their rest in the heart of the harbour
That night in a changing world

[Refrain]

+ The Summer Walkers
Sometimes when you journey
Through the pages of a book
You're taken places beyond words
You let them speak their truth
Today I've opened treasures
That my eyes could scarce believe
They're the words of confirmation
Everything that makes me sing

Summer comes to Sutherland
And you bend the hazel bow
You harness up the ponies
And you head out on the road
By Kilbreck and Altnaharra
You journey to your rest
With the guiding might of Suliven
For the campsites of the West

[And it's up by the Shin
And up by the Naver
And the long winding shores of Loch Maree
By Ben Hope and Ben Loyal
By Stack and by Arkle
The road reaches long now the summer is here]

No, your words are not of sentiment
Shallow or untrue
But wells of living water
From their clear deep sides we drew
The songs, the tin, the horses
This country's great and ancient wilds
Your faith in God, and man, and nature
And the keenness of your guile

[Refrain]

So have you stood out on Coldbackie
At the time the sun goes down
Or upon the king of campsites
In the hills about Brae Tongue
That's when music filled your evenings
It's all so different now this world
For you were the summer walkers
And the fishers of the pearl

So as we close another chapter
That we label archive gold
Still the Conon flows each morning
And the dew falls on the sloe
But today you took me walking
Through a land that we have lost
While our children sit at websites
With no access to the cost

[Refrain]

+ Running To The Light
Running round the sacred mountain
The rushing stream
Feel the power
In everything
By the water, where the air is clear
Surrender everything

Old hearts grow younger again
They promise bring
The greenest plants are tender
They're full of sap in spring
Empty the places of the mind
Running to the light

Those who stride too far too soon
Will not hold pace
Only the calm
Will win the race
Through the forest, the sea of mountain pine
Surrender everything

Only those who
Greatness see in little things
Worthy are the simple
They're happy in their ways
Self will wither out of sight
Running to the light

Arise soul
Soar above the singing river
Go lying down
Into the ground
Quickened by the stream
When all is said and done
The race moves on

Running, Running

+ Oran Ailein (Alan's Song)
Teine oidhche geamhradh
'Nar sheasamh air an lar
Sheinn sinn oran Ailein
Seist is rann
'S an treana ruith cho taibhseil
Mar cuimhne tron ghleann
'S iomadh loit nach tig slan

traduction

By the fire of a winter's night
Standing around the floor
We sang Alan's song
Verse and chorus
And the train ran so ghostly
Like a memory, through the glen
There are many wounds that do not heal

+ Leaving Strathconon
We're the emigrant ones, not the last in the line
You're your father's son, and I am mine
And all of our northwords turn distant and small
In the end they mean nothing, no, nothing at all

Right here's the river's source, and it flows out to the world
And the heart of Caledonia is drowning in its flood
Was there hunger in our striving, did the light shine in our dark
Was everything we ever needed always right here from the start

[Please believe me
Something in me died
Leaving Strathconon
And your mountains behind]

We stood on a hundred gangways, that's the way it's always been
I walked out beyond Calvary with all my kith and kin
In the war of the worlds we conquer and roam
Lie the wounds that stay bleeding and raw in the soul

[Refrain]

After the raging flame, the embers burn slow
We're leaving, leaving, leaving, till there's nowhere left to go
The seas, the slums, the battlefields, the shipyards, the tides
The straths, the glens, the drove roads, all the prairies and the mines

It's a still, autumn morning, and it covers Loch Meig
And all the trees across the valley in a blaze of dying green
I've seen too many tail-lights, didn't need to say goodbye
We're just souls across a shrinking world in a distant starlit night

[Refrain]

Please believe me
Something in me died
Leaving Strathconon
And your father's home behind

+ Big Songs Of Hope And Cheer
The satellites are raining down
On the international room
There's nothing secret, nothing sacred anymore
All the soldiers of the world are turning history around
They're with me now, they're breaking down the door

Pictures in a room
I can't take it anymore
Pictures in a room
Somebody help me please
'Cause I can't sing the paeans of hope in a torn world

One mother's daughter has seen her brothers
Taken to the shadowlands
Now she's waiting for six soldiers to return
And another mother's daughter's down on channel 21
She's opened up her life to let it burn

And the satellites are raining down
On a Sunday afternoon
She's opened for the world to take it all
Where we face our sweetest demons in the hands of flesh and love
She's aching at the stations of the fall

[Pictures in a room
I can't take it anymore
Have I awakened to a strange world
Pictures in a room
Somebody help me please
'Cause I can't sing the paeans of hope in a torn world]

And the company say, give us more of these
Big songs of hope and cheer
Hits and hooks and riffs that shine as new
And the refugees come in, live and dying, miles across the snow
And there's nothing that this stunning world can do

Pictures in a room

[Refrain]

+ Oran (Song)
Anail mo bheatha, anail mo bhith
(Anail mo bheatha)
A' gairm nam anam is a' togail mo chridhe
(A' togail mo chridhe)

'S mi nam sheasamh ma d' choinneamh gun fhiamh gun mhiann
(Nam sheasamh ma d' choinneamh)
Thig uallach na madainn nuair a dh'eireas a 'ghrian
(Nuair a dh'eireas a 'ghrian)

[Oran, naomha, buan
Tog gu ard guth an t-sluaigh
Oran, tha mi reidh
Eirich, eirich bhar an t-sleibh]

Tha an salm mar lasair, a' boillsgeadh gach aite
(Tha an salm mar lasair)
Dh'fhosgail mo bhilean nuair thoisich an la
(Nuair thoisich an la)

[Refrain]

Seinn, seinn, seinn
Oran ur, oran an uir

traduction

Breath of my life, breath of my existence
(Breath of my life)
Proclaiming in my soul, uplifting my heart
(Uplifting my heart)

I am standing before you without fear or desire
(I am standing before you)
The concerns of the morning will come when the sun rises
(When the sun rises)

[Song, sacred, eternal
Lift on high the voice of the people
Song, I am reconciled
Let it rise up from the moorlands]

The psalm is like a flame, illuminating all around
(The psalm is like a flame)
My lips opened when the day began
(When the day began)

[Refrain]

Sing, Sing, Sing
A new song, the song of the dust