Album version 3:56 Gaelic 1988

Liner notes

Calligraphy by Brody Neuenschwander, edited by enya.sk
The eyes of a child
can lay asleep
not knowing
time could never be enough.
The eyes of a child can cry.
I cry.
The same child within me cries.

I grew to remember the promises of youth
and walked the road of destiny,
and walked the road that was to be mine.

Looking through my childhood
I was so happy,
unaware of life.
Our time was so short.
I sorrow for it.
Long gone the day.

The brighter days of my youth held promise.
The way before me held sure destiny.
notes by Roma Ryan
A Box of Dreams, 1997

A reminiscence on the days of youth, which always seem better in retrospect.
notes by Roma Ryan
Only Time: The Collection, 2002

Quotes about the song

Enya: "In reference to ‘Na Laetha Geal M’Oige’, for example, it would be difficult to sing that in any other language, because of the particular Gaelic phrasing it has."
A Mystic Named Eithne Ni Bhraonain, CD Review, 1989, enyabookofdays.com

Enya: "II think we had decided we’d like to work on an Irish song, and it was in the vein of traditional Irish music. Well, it’s basically written in a lament form. It’s "ochón ‘s ochón ó," which is "crying," and it’s really crying on the… the loss of my youth, and it’s gone forever, and it’s basically talking about the happy memories I had of my childhood."
Homeward Bound TV Interview, BBC 1, 1989
enyabookofdays.com

Trivia

The song is dedicated to Enya’s grandparents.

Performances

Venue Date Details
Homeward Bound (UK) May 18, 1989 Lip-synced


 

Gaelic lyrics

(In omos do me m’athair agus do mo mhathair)

Ag amharc trí m’óige
Is mé bhí sámh,
Gan eolas marbh
Bhí mé óg san am.

Anois, táim buartha,
‘S fad ar shiúl an lá,
Ochón is ochón ó.

Na laetha geal m’óige
Bhí siad lán de dhóchas,
An bealach mór a bhí romham anonn
Bhí sé i ndán domh go mbeinn, slán, slán.

Anois, táim buartha,
‘S fad ar shiúl an lá,
Ochón is ochón ó.

Na laetha geal m’óige
Bhí siad lán de dhóchas,
An bealach mór a bhí romham anonn
Bhí sé i ndán domh go mbeinn, slán, slán.

Anois, táim buartha,
‘S fad ar shiúl an lá,
Ochón is ochón ó.

Translation

The brighter days of my youth

(in homage to my grandfather and my grandmother)

Looking back at my youth I was happy;
I was not aware of death then.
I was as a child.

Now, I am sorrowful,
Long gone the day.
(lament)

The brighter days of my youth held promise,
The way before me held sure destiny.

Now, I am sorrowful,
Long gone the day.
(lament)

The brighter days of my youth held promise,
The way before me held sure destiny.

Now, I am sorrowful,
Long gone the day.
(lament)

lyrics by Roma Ryan
EMI Music Publishing Ltd, 1988