Loreena McKennitt, 'Penelope's Song': a song to a love you know will not return

Twenty years. That was the time Penelope waited for the return of her beloved until finally the King of Ithaca came home.

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The famous story of the "Odyssey" recounts Penelope's patient wait for Odysseus (Ulysses in Latin) after the Trojan War, a story that has inspired many songs about women waiting for their loved ones. Penelope became a symbol of marital fidelity. She always held onto the hope that Odysseus would return, even when almost everyone else had given him up for dead.

Penelope's story has inspired some songs that don't even harbor that hope. They speak of women who know their husbands will never return. This is the case in the beautiful song "Nana de lluvia" (Lullaby of Rain) by Carlos Núñez (2000), in which at least the woman has the comfort of the sea's company. There is a version of this story in which the songwriter is the protagonist herself, although the song alludes to the character from the "Odyssey".

That song was released almost twenty years ago, the time Penelope spent waiting for a comeback that seemed increasingly unlikely but was still possible. On November 20, 2006, Canadian singer Loreena McKennitt released her album "An Ancient Muse". It was a long-awaited album. Loreena had gone nine years without releasing a studio album, and in that time she only released one live album, "Live in Paris and Toronto" (1999).

The reason for the delay in releasing a new album was certainly tragic. As I told you here a few months ago, in July 1998, Loreena's fiancé, Ronald Rees, his brother Richard, and their friend Gregory Cook drowned in a boating accident in Georgian Bay, on Lake Huron. This event deeply affected the singer, who considerably reduced her public appearances, dedicating much of her time to a memorial fund for water safety that she founded in the wake of the accident.

"Penelope's Song" tells the story of a woman who remains faithful to her beloved, awaiting his return. The refrain states: "Long as the day in the summer time, / Deep as the wine-dark sea, / I’ll keep your heart with mine / Till you come to me." However, Loreena was singing to a beloved she knew she would only see again in the afterlife. It is a beautiful yet tragic version of Penelope's story, sung by a woman torn apart by the pain of losing her beloved. Here you can listen to the studio version released in 2006:

And here you can see a version sung by Loreena at the Palace of Charles V in the Alhambra of Granada, in September 2006. The face Loreena makes while singing this song shows well what it means to her:

You can see the lyrics of the song here:

Now that the time has come
Soon gone is the day,
There upon some distant shore
You’ll hear me say.

Long as the day in the summer time,
Deep as the wine-dark sea,
I’ll keep your heart with mine
Till you come to me.

There like a bird I’d fly
High through the air,
Reaching for the sun’s full rays
Only to find you there.

And in the night when our dreams are still
Or when the wind calls free,
I’ll keep your heart with mine
Till you come to me.

Now that the time has come
Soon gone is the day,
There upon some distant shore
You’ll hear me say.

Long as the day in the summer time
Deep as the wine-dark sea,
I’ll keep your heart with mine
Till you come to me.

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Image: Meta.ai.