8. The Old Ways

Words and music by Loreena McKennitt

The pounding sea is calling me home on to you
The pounding sea is calling me home on to you

On a dark new year's night 
On the west coast of Clare
I heard your voice singing
Your eyes danced the song
Your hands played the tune
T'was a vision before me.



We left the music behind and the dance carried on
As we stole away to the seashore
And smelt the brine, felt the wind in our hair 
With sadness you paused.

Suddenly I knew that you'd have to go
Your world was not mine, your eyes told me so
Yet it was there I felt the crossroads of time
And I wondered why.

As we cast our gaze on the tumbling sea
A vision came o'er me
Of thundering hooves and beating wings
In clouds above.

Turning to go I heard you call on my name,
Like a bird in a cage spreading its wings to fly
<The old ways are lost,> you sang as you flew
And I wondered why.

The thundering waves are calling me home, on to you
The pounding sea is calling me home, on to you

The thundering waves are calling me home, on to you
The pounding sea is calling me home, on to you

The thundering waves are calling me home, on to you
The pounding sea is calling me home, on to you