+ News From Heaven
By the mountainside, by the ocean blue
Where the struggle broke my heart in two
River of millions flow downstream
A golden highway to the sea of dreams

[But now you're here I feel no fear
I can't believe the news from heaven
You close your eyes on a world inside
A spark of life on a wire from heaven]

Morning comes, turn on the light
Deceive the day, delay the night
Ideologies come, ideologies go
A waste of words, and endless flow

[Refrain]

In the state of a miracle
State of a miracle
I watch this miracle unfold
In the state of a miracle
State of a miracle
Far north of a soul

Great people come, take the stage
Famous moments vanish without trace
Trees grow tall, fields grow wheat
Woman grows older, man grows weak

[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]

+ City of Lights
I arrived in the city of lights
Enchanted ballrooms where I lost my life
I've closed my eyes
On your fairground smile
Seedy heroes and silver tills
Sinking suns on a sea of thrills
I place my bets
Trading with stranger in silhouette

There's a sadness
There's a joy
There's a place
There's a song that will never die
Forever

I drink your health, son of the earth
Passing ships in the modern death
We're all still fired
Old emotions still burn inside
On solid ground round the mother tongue
A tower of hope, a joyful sound
You take your time
A hand of aces in a pack of lies

[There's a sadness
There's a joy
There's a place
There's a song that will never die
Another night
In this town
Holds me close
Holds me there in the searchlight
Forever]

I found my song and I started to sing
Took me away on an olden wing
So far from home
Standing so lonely but not alone
In this empire of ache and rhyme
Lovers and best friends are running blind
I grasp your hand
Is this the only world I understand

[Refrain]

+ Eirinn
What makes me walk through Ireland's shrines
And Ireland's holy shores
To see a country crucified
Your beauty crowned in thorns
And as I watch the wondrous cross
That's been hewn down and severed in two
There's something here
That draws me near
To wear the green for you

To see you there blood brother Gael
The face, the tongue my own
Many places in my own country
Could not make me feel more at home
Laughter and music through the night
Your freedom in the dark
Tonight I swear I'd gladly wear
The green next to my heart

From the long and rolling Antrim hills
Through the wilds of Donegal
The songs of history are sung
Every stone on every wall
But here in our land how can we stand
And wash our hands of shame
When the sins of generations fall
Across the green like rain

Here one world window opens wide
And demons they show face
Some of your men have taken seeds of truth
And planted fields of hate
This way has never won a war
And I fear that when the harvest comes
You'll see your freedom fall on stoney ground
And the green overgrown

+ Tir a' Mhurain (Land Of Maram Grass)
Horo bho he
Horo bho horo bho
Horo bho he o

[Trobhad is coisich rium
Ri taobh a' chuain
Is seallaidh mi dhuit
Tir a' Mhurain]

Fàilte gu mo dhàn
Siol is meas nam bard
Am foghar bha feitheamh orm
Bho an là a bha mi og

[Refrain]

Fàilte gu mo thir
Eilean geal an iar
An t-àit a chi gach tuigse is firinn
Glaiste 'na mo chridhe

[Refrain]

Fàilte gu mo chainnt
Is i dh'ionnsaich mi 'nam phaisde
Cànan uasal mor nan Gaidheal
Mar bhratach dhomh gach là

[Refrain]

Is ged a dh' fheuch iad ri cur as dhuinn
Chi mo theaghlach cnoc nan linn
Is ged tha ar cànan leoint le stri
'S an tir seo bidh i beo

[Refrain]

traduction

[Come and walk with me
By the side of the ocean
Let me show you
The land of the maram grass]

Welcome to my song
To the seed and the fruit of the bards
To the harvest that's been waiting
Since the days of youth

[Refrain]

Welcome to my landscape
The unspoilt western island
To the place that will always find each meaning and truth
Locked away in my heart

[Refrain]

Welcome to my language
The one I learned as a child
The huge dignified language of the Gael
That stands like a banner for me daily

[Refrain]

Although they tried to destroy us
My children will see the landscape of generations
Although the language has been wounded in its struggle
In this land, she will live on

[Refrain]

+ World Appeal
How can we close our eyes
Watch our world break down and die
How can we let it be
Slaves to world economy

How can we be like wood
Watch our world cry out for food
How can't we start to see
A glimpse of world simplicity

[World appeal, world appeal
This is our planet
Let it heal
The earth, the rain, the air, the seas
This is our future
Let it breathe]

The hands of wealth are tied
Men of power run and hide
But we're players you and me
In the game of world duplicity

[Refrain]

+ Tear Down These Walls
Tear down these walls
They keep raising for you

In the slipstream of luck and democracy
A victim of chance and geography
I reap and I sow the face of the earth
While big guns play games with the land of my birth

I walk these hills and I sail the seas
I've weathered the storms of history
Created to live, created to share
With the fish of the sea, the birds of the air

[Tear down these walls
All men were born the same
You came here with nothing
But naked and a name]

Tear down these walls
They keep raising for you

I'm not too hot on Dukes or Earls or Graces
But I love respect and exalted places
Give me the people with sod on the knee
The higher the monkey climbs the more he reveals

[Refrain]

Tear down these walls
They keep raising for you

+ Only The Brave
Twelve o'clock at night
Streets of many corners
The lunar river winds
Down the closes and the lanes
The night skips the sleeping years
And re-awakes the memory
Takes me along the way
To the places of the heart

The days of summer came
Days of many heartache
Not to love is not to live
Not to live is not to feel no pain
So unlock this heart of stone
Teach me the ways of mystery
In the places were they say
Only the brave can walk alone

You took me through this town
And you took me to the moment
That makes angels lose their wings
And makes poets lose their wonder
But I have found in you
A love line pure and lasting
May your heart hold true
And your nights run long

+ 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.

+ That Final Mile
We grew up in the spaces
Where the four winds blow
We left these glens and valleys
Traitors to the plough

We thought we knew the answers
thought we had it made
We kissed down in the city
Swore we'd never change

We grew up young
And we played the years
Held out for love like it was fire
Now I can't wait any longer
Down that line
Going to walk with you
That final mile

Today there's gold an your finger
Today you're dressed in white
Today we stand alone together
Proud of you for life

Now the hurt is gone
Now the doubt is gone
I'm walking down
A clearway to your heart

+ Smalltown
Tell me where, oh where has summer gone
It hasn't come this year
You always cry when swallows fly
With doubts in search of dreams
He's a working man, can't you understand
And he sweats for a man's release
But you've seen the lie in the children's eyes
As heroes turn to tears

[Tell me how
This life won't let you go
Tell me how
This same old fool
Keeps coming back to you]

It's the same old scene it's always been
Men flex muscle fast
And men pull punches after hours
When the moments spell is cast
So you take your chance at the smalltown dance
Where romance is up and gone
It's Friday night, you're another man's wife
And you waltz that lie till dawn

[Refrain]

Tell me where oh, were has summer gone
It hasn't come this year
You always cry when swallows fly
They confirm your darkest fears
When a bottle strikes down one man's life
And his children's lives as well
The full moon pulls you many times
To the outer edge of hell

[Refrain]

+ Precious Years
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]