Loreena McKennitt, 'The Old Ways': a song that turned out to be sadly prophetic

I have admired the Canadian singer Loreena McKennitt for many years, a virtuous, moreover, with the piano and the harp.

Loreena McKennitt, 'Dante's Prayer': A beautiful prayer that came from a hell
Déanta, 'Ready for the storm': the song of a lonely sailor in the middle of a storm

Seven years ago (how time flies!) I talked to you here about her song "Dante's Prayer", one of her best tracks, with truly beautiful lyrics. Today I bring you one of my favorite songs from her extensive repertoire: "The Old Ways." This track appeared on her 1991 album "The Visit", being the eighth and best song on that album. I am writing this article on a day of yellow alert due to a storm in the Galician Rías Baixas, and it is because this song speaks of a "pounding sea" that calls the singer home, to her beloved.

En su sitio web oficial, Loreena explica así el origen de esta canción: "I spent a most haunting New Year’s Eve in Doolin, County Clare, Ireland some years ago, and was moved by the antiquity of some of the celebrations. I was met by deep reminders that they may be the remnants of the old world meeting the “new”." Aquí podéis escuchar la versión de estudio de esta canción de 1991, remasterizada en 2004:

Personally, I prefer Loreena's recording of this song at a concert in the Alhambra of Granada in September 2006, a concert that she released on a magnificent album the following year entitled "Nights from the Alhambra":

In this video, we see Loreena with a sad and evocative look as she performs this song. She had reason to be that way. Seven years after releasing that album, and eight years before this concert, Loreena's fiancé, Ronald Rees, his brother Richard, and his friend Gregory Cook drowned in a boating accident in Georgian Bay, on Lake Huron. This event deeply affected Loreena, who that same year founded a memorial fund for water safety, reducing her public appearances.

"The Old Ways" turned out to be a sadly prophetic song, and it's not hard to imagine the memories Loreena evoked when she sang it at that concert in the Alhambra, eight years after losing her beloved, reading what the lyrics of this song say:

"The thundering waves are calling me home, home to you.
The pounding sea is calling me home, home to you.

On a dark new year's night
On the west coast of Clare,
I heard your voice singing,
Your eyes danced the song.
Your hands played the tune,
T'was a vision before me.

We left the music behind as the dance carried on.
As we stole away to the seashore,
We smelt the brine, felt the wind in our hair
And with sadness you paused.

Suddenly I knew that you'd have to go.
Your world was not mine, your eyes told me so-
Yet it was there I felt the crossroads of time
And I wondered why?

As we cast our gaze on the tumbling sea,
A vision came o'er me
Of thundering hooves and beating wings,
In clouds above.

As you turned to go I heard you call my name,
You were like a bird in a cage spreading its wings to fly.
"The old ways are lost," you sang as you flew,
And I wondered why?

The thundering waves are calling me home, home to you.
The pounding sea is calling me home, home to you.

The thundering waves are calling me home, home to you.
The pounding sea is calling me home, home to you".

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Photo: loreenamckennitt.com.