Exile

Liner notes

The exile of lonely words…
the exile of heart and soul.
notes by Roma Ryan
A Box of Dreams, 1997

Exile, in this song, is the seperation from one whom you love and is more than merely a physical experience. Yet in the loneliness of this song there is hope and determination.
notes by Roma Ryan
Only Time: The Collection, 2002

Quotes about the song

In fact it was Rob Dickins who argued that the music that would become ‘Exile’ should have lyrics rather than the mouth music which Enya began with. “He said, ‘You know Wilfred Owens poetry, that would be very suitable for that piece of music’,” Roma explains, “The air is melancholy and it reminded me of an exile but I knew some of Wilfred Owens work, and I trued to write the piece in that kind of style. I think my approach to lyric writing is ‘poetic’ in its feel anyway.”
Going with the Flow, Hot Press, 1988

Nicky Ryan: “On ‘Exile’ we wanted to use shakuhachi (the Japanese flute) but we couldn’t find a good player, so we got a gypsy guy to play the flute.”
Watermark Recording Process, Sonics, 1989
enyabookofdays.com

Trivia

A vocalised version of the song was released as a b-side ‘As Baile’ in 1991.

‘Exile’ was the first lyric Roma wrote for the album.

Single

The single was released in 1991 to mark the use of the included tracks in the ‘Green Card’ and ‘L.A. Story’ movies.

01 Exile
02 On Your Shore
03 Watermark
04 River

Music Video

The music video, directed by Michael Geoghegan, features scenes from the film ‘L.A. Story’ that used the song.

Lyrics

lyrics by Roma Ryan
EMI Music Publishing Ltd, 1988