Songs

1 Isle of Hope, Isle of Tears

Words & Music: Brendan Graham ©Peermusic (UK)

This song was inspired by my first visit to the United States in 1995. It tells the story of an Irish girl, Annie Moore, who was the first to step ashore when Ellis Island opened as an Immigration Centre on the first day of January 1892.
The original demo of the song was by Cathy Jordan, which led to recordings by many artistes, including Seán & Dolores Keane and later, the Irish Tenors, who performed it in the Great Hall of Ellis Island. Ronan Tynan sang it at Annie’s newly discovered gravesite at Calvary Cemetery. It was my great privilege to be present on that occasion. With this recording, the song has come full circle, in that it returns here to the inimitable Cathy.

2 Waltzing Alone

Words: Brendan Graham/Donna Graham; Music: Anne Takle ©Peermusic (UK)/Dreamcatcher Productions A/S

Immediately, this beautiful waltz-time tune from Norwegian composer Anne Takle suggested the balletic idea of a love story. Set in the snows of the high Northland, it tells the tale of a fading ballerina and a simple woodsman. The narrative is propelled by the power of Cathy’s storytelling, with no need for a chorus to keep listeners interested.
The original recording by Anne Takle was the title track from her Waltzing Alone album.

3 Crucán na bPáiste

Words: Brendan Graham; Music: Trad/Additional Music: Brendan Graham ©Peermusic (UK)

Until 1996, the cillín, Crucán na bPáiste, located near my home was an un-consecrated burial ground for unbaptized children in the Maamtrasna mountains. Harking to older, darker days in Ireland, the place became a claw in my gut and for me, a pilgrimage. Line by sorrowful line, it edged out of me its story. Cathy and Feargal’s original demo led to its inclusion on albums by Dervish, Karen Matheson, Eimear Quinn, and others. The song inspired the linguistic anthropologist Professor E. Moore Quinn to deliver a paper on the cillín at Oxford University. Entitled ‘Walking the Path to the Unbaptized Children of Ireland: A Case Study of Crucán na bPáiste’, the paper was published in Pilgrim Paths: Journeys of Transformation (Oxford Interdisciplinary Press, 2015). Crucán na bPáiste’s sacred ground was unofficially consecrated in 1996 by the local priest.

4 The Fairhaired Boy

Words & Music: Brendan Graham ©Peermusic (UK)

I wrote this song as part of the ‘soundtrack’ to ‘Ellen’s Story’ in my book, The Whitest Flower, which is the first in a trilogy of historical novels published by HarperCollins. A song of emigration, ‘The Fairhaired Boy’ is written in an older style, without a chorus, driven only by the story, the last line of every verse, and the emotive expression of the story-singer.

5 Hardanger Bow

Words: Brendan Graham; Music: Fionnuala Howard/Brendan Graham ©Peermusic (UK)

When first I heard Annbjørg Lien bewitchingly play the hardangerfeile, I was totally captivated and motivated to write this song in tribute to her. The song incorporates elements of the Norwegian countryside and folk tales. Here it is a ‘closing of the circle’ because she, who inspired the song, brings her unique playing of the hardanger bow to this first recording of it.

6 Till Morning Will Come

Words: Brendan Graham; Music: Colm Graham ©Peermusic (UK) / Finest Music (US)

Originally, an instrumental for guitar called Memories of Scotland written by my brother Colm, who kindly allowed me to set words to it. I have always been fascinated by the ‘Night-Visiting’ songs within our tradition, where passion is concealed rather than revealed. With that thought in mind, I sought to fashion this song within the ‘night-visiting’ genre.

7 Winter, Fire & Snow

Words: Macdara Woods; Adaptation & Music: Brendan Graham ©Peermusic (UK) / Dedalus Press

The poet Macdara Woods wrote ‘Fire and Snow and Carnevale’ in Umbria for his young son, Niall Woods who, as the lyrics reveal, had ‘gone to Carnevale’. I dedicate this adaptation of Macdara’s very personal poem to his memory and the memory of the moment when he generously entrusted me with the song-writing opportunity, saying, ‘Do whatever you like with it!’
The original recording by ANÚNA featured Katie McMahon.
I would like to express gratitude to Macdara’s wife, Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin, for permission to use lines from Macdara’s reading of his poem as part of this recording.

8 Knocknashee

This song tells the story of unrequited love and ‘passion worn’. Set against the passing seasons and the wearying of the heart, it was inspired by Neil Martin’s slow air from his suite Some Vague Utopia (a phrase taken from W. B. Yeats’ poem ‘In Memory of Eva Gore-Booth and Con Markievicz’. I am grateful to Neil for generously allowing me to put lyrics to this most beautiful and evocative melody.

9 A Winter Blessing

Based on an old Norwegian melody, this song is an homage to winter. With all of its harsh beauty, the season is also a time of the year that is filled with the promise of a homecoming love.

10 Sleepsong

I had almost given up trying to find a lyric to Rolf Løvland’s melody. Then, the night before our 21-year-old daughter Alana was to leave for Australia, I went to say, ‘goodnight and goodbye’ and wish her well. Sitting on the side of her bed, as I did so often during her childhood years, I was transported back to times when stories were told, and lullabies sung. As I walked back to my writing room, the thought struck me: ‘Why shouldn’t a 21-year-old have a lullaby?’ So that’s what this song became: a lullaby to an older child, and as fate would have it, the Australian singer Kate Ceberano heard a demo of Sleepsong sung by Cathy with Feargal and decided to record it herself. Later, Kate had the chance to sing it back to Alana in Sydney!

Credits

Musicians: Cathy Jordan vocals, Feargal Murray piano, Phil Cunningham accordion (1,2), Lynda O’Connor violin (2), Nicky Scott bass (1,2,5,10), Bill Shanley guitar (1,2,5,10), Annebjørg Lien hardanger fiddle (2,5,9), Neil Martin cello (2,4,10), Slow Moving Clouds (Kevin Murphy cello, Aki nyckelharpa, Ultan O’Brien fiddle) (7,9,); Macdara Woods spoken word (7).
Arranged by: Feargal Murray; Mixed and produced by: Feargal Murray, Dave McCune, Cathy Jordan, Brendan Graham; Engineered by: Dave McCune at Ventry Studio, Balbriggan; Mastered by: Bob Katz at Digital Domain; CD Design & Photography by: Conor Gallagher (Eyecon). PR: Kathryn Mason/masonry.ie; Digital/online: Janine Nallen/groundsong.ie, Videos: Eric Campbell.
Thanks to: MISP (Music Industry Stimulus Package) for their kind support.

Song Words