The River Sings
| Album version | Loxian | 2005 |
Liner notes
This song is one of the trilogy of songs which come from the book “Water shows the hidden heart” and is written in the Loxian language. It is a song in which people send their words out into the night. It is a song expressing their quest to discover if they are alone in the universe and wonder if they will ever find other life within the vastness of space.
notes and illustration by Roma Ryan
Amarantine promotional box, 2005
Quotes about the song
Enya: "We thought one of the songs, ‘The River Sings,’ I was sure it was going to be in Gaelic when I’d written it. But then I’d sung it in Gaelic and I thought, ‘This is not working with the melody.’ And at this stage Roma was expanding the [Loxian] language. So, for each song she actually would expand more and more."
Late, Late Show, 2005
enyafanstudio.com
Loxian lyrics
Phonetic lyrics
Mmer-hymm a rhee-a ka-n
Mmer-hymm a vl-a lu-ua
E-a hymm llay hey
A rhee o mmay
hOr-oom-may o nay rhay
hOr-oom-may he eer-hee-mo
h’er-ra-Kan sy ay a rhee a mmay
h’un-nin in la go dee rhee?
h’un-nin in la go chwk a too?
h’un-nin in la go dee rhee?
h’un-nin in la go chwk a too?
h’airr rin a kan a-he-ra,
h’airr rin a kan o-rhay-na?
E-a nno llow rro;
A rhee a mmay?
h’un-nin in la go dee rhee?
h’un-nin in la go chwk a too?
h’un-nin in la go dee rhee?
h’un-nin in la go chwk a too?
Ta-na mmo-ree va rhay?
Ta-na mmor rro nna oom a?
(yl) Le-a tor-ee-ay
A rhee a kan
Kor-rhee-ay ko-da nay a
Kor-rhee-ay a-ru hil-la
Vee a kyi a hey
A rhee a mmay.
Ah hey,
Ah hey,
Ah hey,
Ah hey,
Ah hey,
Ah hey,
Ah hey,
Ah hey.
Yll yy-ka pirr o bay ru
Yl-y-ka kal-la kwyay la
O-na han-ee ay
A rhee o mmay?
h’un-nin in la go dee rhee?
h’un-nin in la go chwk a too?
h’un-nin in la go dee rhee?
h’un-nin in la go chwk a too?
Mmer-hymm a rhee-a kan
Mmer-hymm a vl-a lu-ua
E-a hymm lly hey
A rhee o mmay
hOr-oom-may o nay rhay
hOr-oom-may he er-rhee-mo h’er-ra –
Kan sy ay a rhee a mmay.
Ah hey,
Ah hey,
Ah hey,
Ah hey,
Ah hey,
Ah hey,
Ah hey,
Ah hey.
Yll yy-ka pirr o bay ru
Yl-y-ka kal-la kwyay la
O-na han-ee ay
A rhee o mmay?
h’un-nin in la go dee rhee?
h’un-nin in la go chwk a too?
h’un-nin in la go dee rhee?
h’un-nin in la go chwk a too?
Mmer-hymm a rhee-a kan
Mmer-hymm a vl-a lu-ua
E-a hymm lly hey
A rhee o mmay
hOr-oom-may o nay rhay
hOr-oom-may he er-rhee-mo h’er-ra –
Kan sy ay a rhee a mmay.
Yll yy-ka pirr o bay ru
Yl-y-ka kal-la kwyay la
O-na han-ee ay
A rhee o mmay?
Translation
Our words go beyond the moon.
Our words go into the shadows.
The river sings the endlessness.
We write of our journey through night.
We write in our aloneness.
We want to know the shape of eternity.
Who knows the way it is?
Who knows what time will not tell us?
Mountains, solitude and the moon
until the journey’s end?
The river holds the lost road of the sky;
the shape of eternity?
Who knows the way it is?
Who knows what time will not tell us?
Where is the beginning?
Where is the end?
Why did we fall into days?
Why are we calling out into the endlessness?
Who knows the way it is?
Who knows what time will not tell us?
lyrics by Roma Ryan
EMI Music Publishing Ltd, 2005
The Loxian Song
Our words go beyond the moon.
Our words go into the shadows.
The river sings out the words
of the shape of the endlessness.
We write of our journey through night.
We write in our aloneness in the stillness.
The erraKan* want to know the shape of eternity.
Who knows the way it is?
Who knows why time will not tell us?
We have the mountains, the moon and solitude.
Will they be with us to the journey’s end?
The river holds the lost road of the sky;
the shape of eternity?
Who knows the way it is?
Who knows why time will not tell us?
Where is the beginning, where is the end?
When did the sky first cry tears?
The erraEa* asks
is the end found in the endlessness?
Day and night are in the unknown.
The day tells us the measure of time.
Why are we calling out into the endlessness?
One’s world is the colour of a small cloud.
We are but a moment in time.
What is the answer that is found in the endlessness?
Who knows the way it is?
Who knows why time will not tell us?
Our words go beyond the moon.
Our words go into the shadows.
The river sings out the words
of the shape of the endlessness.
We write of our journey through nigh.
We write in our aloneness in the stillness.
The erraKan* want to know the shape of eternity.
We have the mountains, the moon and solitude.
Will they be with us to the journey’s end?
The river holds the lost road of the sky;
the shape of eternity?
Who knows the way it is?
Who knows why time will not tell us?
Where is the beginning, where is the end?
When did the sky first cry tears?
The erraEa* asks
is the end found in the endlessness?
Day and night are in the unknown.
The day tells us the measure of time.
Why are we calling out into the endlessness?
()ne’s world is the colour of a small cloud.
We are but a moment in time.
What is the answer that is found in the endlessness?
The endlessness…
*erraKan – the Loxians, the people with the moon as their emblem
*erraEa – the River people, Valley-dwellers. The river is their emblem.
*yllea – a River person, a Riparian.
lyrics by Roma Ryan
EMI Music Publishing Ltd, 2005
Recent comments