CRUACHAN "THE MIDDLE KINGDOM" 2000
Karen Gilligan - Vocals, percussion
Keith Fay - Vocals, elec. guitar, acoustic guitar, mandolin, bodhran, bones
John Clohessy - Bass, backing vocals
John O'Fathaigh - Irish flute, tinwhistles, low whistle, recorder, uilleann pipes
Joe Farrell - Drums, percussion
01. A Celtic Mourning
02. Celtica (Voice Of The Morrigan)
03. The Fianna
04. A Druid's Passing
05. Is Fuair An ChroÎ
06. Cattle Raid Of Cooley (TÂin BÕ CuaÎlgne)
07. The Middle Kingdom
08. õrÕ SÊ Do Bheatha Abhaile
09. Unstabled (Steeds Of Macha)
10. The Butterfly
11. To Hell or to Connaught.(Bonus song)
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01. A CELTIC MOURNING
Instrumental
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02. CELTICA (VOICE OF THE MORRIGAN)
On the ground he lays
His lifeblood drains from him
The battle has been fought
And the fighting now stopped
He scans the battlefield
On the bloodshed he can see
So many that have died
And so few who survived
His brother's men at arms
Who he's known since he was a lad
Lie silent by his side no longer alive
Lying by a tree
Is a broken shattered man
Killed by the sword in my warrior's hand
But in his heart
He does not hate this man
He fought for a cause
He could not understand
His brother's men at arms
Who he's known since he was a lad
Lie silent by his side no longer alive
A thousand years have passed
And mankind has stayed the same
They fight against each other for political gain
A police state rule, the government tool
People live in fear under the madman rule
His brother's men at arms
Who've been with him since he was a lad
Will fight by his side for the right to survive
A thousand years more
And the world may not exist
The cause will be greed and an iron fist
The spirits will rejoice
Mankind will not be missed
It's up to you
It cannot come to this
His brother's men at arms
Who've been with him since he was a lad
Will fight by his side for the right to survive
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03. THE FIANNA
When evening in êireann was grey
Before the dawn they went away
Their footsteps on hills were heard
On journey long without a word
>From wilderland to western shore
Through dragon lair and hidden door
>From northern waste to southern hill
On darkling woods they walked at will
With Fionn and õisÎn, dwarfe and man
Bird and bough and beast in den
With warrior-druid folk
In secret tongues they spoke
A deadly sword, a healing hand
Trumpet voice, a burning brand
Their backs that bent 'neath their load
Those warriors on the road
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04. A DRUID'S PASSING
See the stone circle in the hilltop
Shining in the light of the moon
See the druid kneel in prayer
Praying because his life will end soon
For fifty years he has walked this earth
For fifty years he has known no shame
Now he knows it's time to return
Back to the earth from whence he came
See the stone circle on the hilltop
Shining in the break of the day
See the druid lying in silence
See the druid who died today
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05. IS FUAIR AN CHROî
Medb; You said you would always be there
You said you would always care
You said you would always be there
You said you would always care
I was naÐve and I was wrong
To you I do not belong!
Ailill; Say what you want to say
You always try to have your way
I try to say that things in life are different
If this is how you feel in your heart
Then I don't want to be a part
In anything you say - I won't listen
Your love redeems my pain
But I don't want to feel the shame
You've tried to pierce my heart
And you've succeeded
We know now it could never be
What we once had was ecstasy
I can't pretend my soul is not bleeding
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06. CATTLE RAID OF COOLEY (TâIN Bõ CUAîLGNE)
Instrumental
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07. THE MIDDLE KINGDOM
We who are old yet fair of face
Thousands of years this world did grace
Beneath the earth away from men
Our Middle Kingdom it lies hidden
With sword in hand and our shields by your sides
We march in hoards we will never subside
Our DÊ Danann form has passed with time
But still we love music and still we love wine
We are of the forest, we are of the earth
Our heads full of knowledge, our ways full of mirth
We know all the answers to questions unasked
We live in the light with no fear of the dark
It must be said we have dark evil breeds
Who plague mankind with their mischievous deeds
The Phooka, the Merrow, the wailing Bean-Shee
Are hideous creatures as dark as can be
Avoid the lone thorn that grows in the field
Do not cut it down with the axe that you wield
It coarses magic from branch to root
And woe to he who eats its fruit
Of itself the tree did grow
>From faerie magic cast long ago
Therefore we bid you to let it stand
Ill fortune to those who ignore our command
"We who are old, we are revered, born of the earth, immortal and feared"
In the dead of the night see us dance on the hills
On fiddles and flutes we play jigs and reels
The sky is ablaze with a myriad of light
Our faerie music is heard through the night
We who are old yet fair of face
Thousands of years this world did grace
But modern man and his cynical ways
Are bringing us to the end of our days
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08. õRõ Sê DO BHEATHA ABHAILE
Se do bheatha a bhean leanmhar
Bo Ba Ê ar gcreach tß bheith I ngÊibheann
Do dhuiche bhre I seilibh mÊirleach
's tu diolta leis na gallaibh
õrÕ sÊ bheatha 'bhaile
õrÕ sÊ bheatha 'bhaile
õrÕ sÊ bheatha 'bhaile
'Nois ar theacht an tsamhraidh
TÂ GrÂinne Mhaol ag teacht thar sÂile
õglaigh armtha lÊi mar gharda
Gaeil iad fein is nÎ Franc n SpÂinnigh
Is cuifidh siad ruaig ar Ghallaibh
A bhuÎ le RÎ na bhFeart go bhfeiceann
Muna mbÎonn beo ina dheoidh ach seachtain
GraÎnne Mhaol is mile gaiscÎoch
Ag fÕgairt fÂin ar Ghallaibh
Translation:
Hail O bereaved woman
It was our sorrow you being in fetters
Your fine heritage in the possession of thieves
And you held by the foreigners
O welcome home
O welcome home
O welcome home
Now at the coming of summer
Grainne Ni Mhaille is coming over the sea
Armed young men with her as guards
Gaels themselves not French nor Spaniards
And they will put a hunt on the foreigners
Hanks to the king of wonders that I see
Even if my life ends in but a week
Grainne Ni Mhaille and a thousand voluteers
Proclaiming the scattering of foreigners
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09. UNSTABBLED (SEEDS OF MACHA)
Roaming, Wandering
Left in fields just sauntering
Sold off, slept rough
Kept unstabled and tough
Riding steeds that know now their fate
Forever forward
Bought and sold for pennies
Roaming, wandering unstabled
Unspoiled in their fantasies
But paled in society
When they take the beast
The fight unsung will never cease
Polluted grasslands
The plains they roamed are now gone
Still roaming and wandering
Another dead horse is falling
10. The Butterfly
(Instrumental)
11. To Hell Or To Connaught
We fled for our lives on a winter's eve,
Cold but unheeded, we left with speed.
The roundheads they had come this night,
Our gallant people ? But blood in sight.
If we were to barter for our lives,
We would wind up dead.
This is the land where I was born and bred,
Am I a coward to avoid being dead ?
These are the words of our forefathers,
Long ago, in a time of fear.
They say "what giveth returns time thee"
Now in this age, we will wait and see.
Condemn what you will in this war of worlds,
Shout if you want amid peaceful slurs.
But how do you stop a charging bull,
With horns of steel and a desire to cull ?
Lyrics in plain text format
