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Lark in the Morning, Wild Geese at Night

from The Sound of IONA by IONA

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Kevin Vrieze
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Lark in the Morning, Wild Geese at Night
Words by Loralyn Coles, tune trad. Irish

When our friend, Loralyn Coles, heard Bernard explain about the Wild Geese, Irish soldiers who had been captured by the British and exiled for life--a tribute to their valor, she wrote these moving words. Many of the exiles became mercenaries in Europe, and legend had it that, when they died on the battlefield, their souls returned to Ireland in the guise of wild geese. Loralyn chose a lovely, obscure variant of the jig Lark in the Morning for her tune. She has kindly allowed us to have our way with her hauntingly beautiful creation, and we trust it will do the same wild goose bump thing to our listeners as it always does to us.

lyrics

Lark in the Morning, Wild Geese at Night
by Loralyn Coles

Refrain
Oh your whisper 'tis here in the still of the morn,
As the lark sings her song to the new risen day.
And I wake with a smile, feelin' you here beside me,
Then my heart breaks anew, for you're far, far away.

‘Twas a cruel game they played when they gave ye one choice,
To join British ranks or to leave Irish land,
And tho' some gladly turned, you'd be less of a man,
If you faced your own friends with a sword in your hand.

Refrain

So we get through the day, tho' ‘tis hard and ‘tis cold,
And the whispers ‘round town seem to grow toward night,
And I watch with the rest for the Wild Geese, a-hoping
‘Tis not your own soul coming home with this flight.

Refrain
© 1995 Loralyn Coles

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from The Sound of IONA, released October 30, 1998

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IONA Washington, D.C.

IONA has been taking its unique brand of traditional Celtic music to festivals, arts centers, schools & house concerts all over North America and Europe since 1986, blending music from the various Celtic traditions with stories and a little humor - Barbara Ryan (vocals, bouzouki, bodhran), Bernard Argent (flute, doumbek), Chuck Lawhorn (bass), Jim Queen (fiddle, banjo) & Kathleen Larrick (dance). ... more

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