Loreena McKennitt & B5

I currently have Loreena McKennitt's newest album, "The Book of Secrets" on the CD player, and was again was struck by how the song "Skellig" makes me thing of the final 4th season episode of B5, "The Deconstruction of Falling Stars". In particular, one of the later scenes in which the two monks are talking about Earth's technological past and it's current severely damaged state. The song is of a "Dark Ages" monk from a remote Irish community who has traveled to Italy to share his knowledge with the young monks of that region before he dies. The phrasing on it is very clear and lyrical, and the music is beautifully contemplative. A sample:

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.

Another Loreena McKennitt / media connection that has always been very strong for me was with the first song of hers I ever heard, "All Souls Night" from one of her early albums, "The Visit". The lyrics are centered around the Celtic holiday of Samhain (modernly known as Halloween) when the veil between the Living World and the Afterlife is thin, and the transition occurs between the Old and New Year. Bonfires were a strong feature of this holiday, and Ms. McKennitt uses those images mixed with images of the Japanese floating lanterns from their own similar memorial holiday. It is this verse that I thought of during the movie "In the Name of the Father", when the hero's father dies and the prisoners drop burning pieces of paper from their cell windows as the only memorial they can make for him. It's another beautifully haunting, yet powerful tune; the same for the movie. A sample:

I can see the lights in the distance
Trembling in the dark cloak of night
Candles and lanterns are dancing, dancing A waltz on All Souls Night.

Standing on the bridge that crosses
The river that goes out to the sea
The wind is full of a thousand voices
That pass by the bridge and me.

(Actually, the first several times I heard it, I thought the final line of the first stanza above was "The walls are gone, All Souls Night", which while not actually correct to her text, is very accurate to the sentiment.)

Anyway, just some musings from my tired brain tonight.

Until later,

                Quarong

P.S. For those of you unfamiliar with Loreena McKennitt's music, it's sort of Celtic / New Age with a variety of other ethnic and historical influences. A friend once referred to it as "Enya with guts." (A bit more power and more comprehensible lyrics. :) You probably haven't heard any of it on the radio, but it's been used a fair amount as background in recent tv shows and movies, most notable "Highlander 3". A music store with a good International / Folk section may carry it, or I can put you in contact with several small distributors who do, including her own company.

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"The silence of the stars is not easy to hear, but when felt, it moves us into the depths of our being." ---- Please reply to <quarong at eskimo.com>. Zhai'helleva! Received on 09/03/98