Loreena McKennitt - Skellig

Music and Lyrics: Loreena McKennitt

O light the candle, John

The daylight has almost gone

The birds have sung their last

The bells call all to mass

Sit here by my side

For the night is very long

There's something I must tell

Before I pass along

I joined the brotherhood

My books were all to me

I scribed the words of God

And much of history

Many a year was I

Perched out upon the sea

The waves would wash my tears,

The wind, my memory

I'd hear the ocean breathe

Exhale upon the shore

I knew the tempest's blood

Its wrath I would endure

And so the years went by

Within my rocky cell

With only a mouse or bird

My friend; I loved them well

And so it came to pass

I'd come here to Romani

And many a year it took

Till I arrived here with thee

On dusty roads I walked

And over mountains high

Through rivers running deep

Beneath the endless sky

Beneath these jasmine flowers

Amidst these cypress trees

I give you now my books

And all their mysteries

Now take the hourglass

And turn it on its head

For when the sands are still

'Tis then you'll find me dead

O light the candle, John

The daylight is almost gone

The birds have sung their last

The bells call all to mass

END