Runrig : Long Distance

Folk Rock / United-Kingdom
(1996 - Chrysalis Records)
Learn more

Lyrics


CD1

+ (Stepping Down the) Glory Road
Footprints around the world
Your beauty in the blue
Stepping down the Glory Road

Let's go dancing for survival
To the lyric of your youth
Stepping down the Glory Road

The way you sing will shine out
Illuminate the way you grow
Stepping down the Glory Road

Capture your heart it's breaking
To celebrate your giving
Gracenotes on every heartstring
The beauty in the pure
Stepping down the Glory Road

So resurrect the bards
Liberate the word inspired
Stepping down the Glory Road

You know that joy like great art
Should take you to the skies
Stepping down the Glory Road

The dark side of the soul
You've never known you never will
Eisd ri eubh do mhian
Stepping down the glory road

Eisd ri eubh do mhian
Stepping down the glory road

Eisd ri eubh do mhian
Stepping down the glory road

+ Alba (Scotland)
Air sgiath a' seoladh nan neoil
'S an domhain liath
Mar dhealbh a' tighinn beo tro na sgothan
'S mi a' tilleadh gu tir

Alba nam beanntan ard
Nan acraichean lom
Thairis air na lochan mointich
Nan coilltean 's nan gleann

Alba, Alba

Ach 'se sealladh leointe is gann
Tha an seo aig ceann thall an linn
Talamh alainn nan daoine
Fhathast an lamhan duine no dithis

Cuibhlean stolda mu dheas
Na fasaichean a tuath
An taigh-mor falamh an Dun-Eideann
Gun chumhachd gun ghuth

Alba, Alba

Sibhse chuir achadh ri achadh
Taigh ri taigh
Gus nach bi ait anns an tir
An gabh sibh comhnaidh air leth

Ach 's math dhomh bhith seo an drasd
A cur failt air a' bhlas
'San tir a tha cho ur dhomh an diugh
Is a bha i nuair bha mi 'nam phaisd

Alba, Alba

traduction

This flight is sailing the clouds
And the blue heavens
The homeland appears like a developing photograph
Through the mists as I return to land

I see Scotland of the high mountains
And the empty acres
Flying low across the moorland lochs
The forests and the glens

Scotland, Scotland

But it's a wounding and a hollow sight
Here as we reach the end of the century
The beautiful soil of the people
Still in the hands of the few

I see the wheels of industry at a standstill
And the northern lands wasted
And the empty house in Edinburgh
Without authority or voice

Scotland, Scotland

You that have laid field upon field
House upon house
Till there be nowhere for you to be placed alone
In the midst of all the earth

But it is good for me to be here now
As I welcome the warmth
In this land that's as exciting for me today
As it was the day I was born

Scotland, Scotland

+ The Greatest Flame
Like shadows on the wall
You come and you go
Through the streets
And the rain that falls down
On our sin
No more goodbyes
Forever this way
Whenever the greatest flame in the world
Starts burning

Always in your eyes
A waking of souls
We gaze out on the road
That brought us up
To this place
The signposts never change
We'll go where they lead
Whenever the day to break us come
We'll not give in

This is our life, and our time
And nothing is ever going to break us
Now we're on our own
That is our place in our lives
And no one can ever change this moment
Or pull this mountain to the ground

Live the day when the flame is strong
Live the day when the flame is strong
Come the day when love is gone
Take it over, take it over

+ Rocket To The Moon
Here hangs an open landscape
A wild and huge frontier
From a harsh and a barren wasteland
Through the grave to the promised field

You came, you trapped, you charted
You laid the railroads and the schemes
And you tamed this land by enterprise
And by the power of your dreams

[But you made this Clan great
And you made this nation bloom
And you rose with your people through the new world
Like a rocket to the moon]

From the olden coasts of Ireland
From the Hebridean shores
With the forgotten chosen ones
Running from Europe in droves

[Refrain]

There's a town in Manitoba
They say the windows touch the sky
But across the brine the shipyards close
Cos' in this garden flowers die

Still the homelands divide us
Like your blood red brothers of the plains
But where they grieve a candle still burns
A prayer from a flicker to a flame

[Refrain]

+ Abhainn An T-Sluaigh (The Crowded River)
Chan eil an t-adhar os cionn Lunnainn
A-nochd soilleir no dorch
Fada bho abhainn an t-sluaigh

Gun sgeul air coinneal mòr latha
No reultan na h-oidhche
Fada bho abhainn an t-sluaigh

An seo 's am baile gun chadal
Gun fhois is gun saorsa
Fada bho abhainn an t-sluaigh

Casan a' gluasad,
An abhainn an tuil
Fada bho abhainn an t-sluaigh

Na cuibhlichean, 's cabhaigh
A' tionndadh gun sgur
Fada bho abhainn an t-sluaigh

Cus ag adhradh beartas
Air altair an t-shaoghail
Fada bho abhainn an t-sluaigh

Cach gun dochas, gun dachaidh
Air sraidean gun ghaol
Fada bho abhainn an t-sluaigh

Leis gach dath is gach creideamh
Gach cainnt as gach cearn
Fada bho abhainn an t-sluaigh

Gach ceist is gach freagairt
Sios an abhainn gu cuan
Fada bho abhainn an t-sluaigh

traduction

The skies above London
Are neither clear nor dark
The need to be far from the crowded river

Neither the great candle of day
Nor the night stars can be seen
The need to be far from the crowded river

In this sleepless city
There is no stillness, no quiet
The need to be far from the crowded river

Footsteps keep walking
The river in full flood
The need to be far from the crowded river

The relentless wheels
Keep turning without pause
The need to be far from the crowded river

Many worshiping wealth
At the world's altar
The need to be far from the crowded river

Others without hope or home
On loveless streets
The need to be far from the crowded river

Races, creeds and tongues
From all corners of the globe
The need to be far from the crowded river

All questions and answers
Flowing down the river to the ocean
The need to be far from the crowded river

+ Protect And Survive
The red hot sun burns up the hill
The winter's bride, the summer's king
I tramp these acres and I feel
Once upon a time
And then it seemed that everything
You saw and touched and felt was real
You turned the tap and you turned the wheel
Breathing free

[Once in a lifetime
You live and love
Once in a lifetime
You die
Once in a moment
The sun goes down
Protect and survive]

Now you search the open evening skies
Trace the memory in your eyes
For the prophet's hard rain and the deluge
Lie in tears around your door
Once there were trees and livestock here
A mother's love, the warnings clear
But you chose to turn away from fear
Breathing free

[Refrain]

Now there's a faceless cross on a distant hill
A wasted voice, a silent scream
Where the lovers love and the dreamers dream
You stand and dream alone
You took your sacrifice to the gods of war
Traded your children's lives for a mess of gold
And you beat your ploughshares into swords
Breathing free

[Refrain]

+ Rhythm of my Heart
Across the street the river runs.
Down in the gutter life is slipping away.
Let me still exist in another place,
Running under cover
Of a helicopter blade.

The flames are getting higher
In effigy.
Burning down the bridges of my memory.
Love may still be alive
Somewhere someday
Where they're downing only deer
A hundred steel towns away.

[Oh, rhythm of my heart
Is beating like a drum
With the words "I Love you"
Rolling off my tongue.
No never will I roam,
For I know my place is home.
Where the ocean meets the sky,
I'll be sailing.]

Photographs and kerosene
Light up my darkness,
Light it up, light it up.
I can still feel the touch
Of your thin blue jeans.
Running down the alley,
I've got my eyes all over you, baby.

[Refrain]

Oh, I've got lightning in my veins,
shifting like the handle of a slot machine.
Love may still exist in another place.
I'm just yanking back the handle,
No expression on my face.

[Refrain]

+ Hearthammer
With the eyes of a child
The wonder of it all
I used to search the stars at night
And I felt so safe and small
Sweet sounds from a Merseytown
And my nursery God
I wante d to ride with Yuri Gagarin
As he circled all around my world

Lying under the covers
With the radio on
Settle down with Caroline
As she sailed all summer long
Sweetheart of The Rodeo
Mining Hearts of Gold
I think it was somewhere pre Stand Up time
Somewhere post Rubber Soul

There was the first caress
There were the Labour years
There was the man that walked the moon
Something I never really believed
The Di Stephano twists
The Charlton goals
Now I'm still here with the eyes of a child
The wonder never grows old

Hearthammer
And I lose control
Hearthammer
The wonder never grows old

+ An Ubhal as Airde (The Highest Apple)
Comhla rium
A tha thu an drasd
Mo shuilean duinte, mo chuimhne dan
Nam sheasamh a' coimhead
Gach cnoc is gach traigh
Is an siol a dh'fhag thu ann a 'fas

Tha an garradh lan
Le craobhan treun
Le meas a' fas dhuinn ann ri bhuain
Ubhlan abaich
Milis geur
Ach tha aon ubhal nach ruig sinn idir air

[Seididh gaoth is dearrsaidh grian
Tro mheas nan craobhan lin gu lin
Ach thig an la is thig an t-am
Airson an ubhal as airde
Air a' chraobh a bhuain]

Is co 'nar measg
A mhaireas la
Seachad air am is air oidhche fhein
A liuthad uair
A shreap mi suas
Airson an ubhal as airde chur gu beul

[Refrain]

traduction

At present
All you were is with me
My eyes closed, my memory confident
Standing here watching
Each hill and shoreline
With the seed you left
Still growing

The garden is well stocked
With mighty trees
With fruit growing for the whole world
Ripe, sweet
And bitter apples
And the one apple
That is beyond reach

[The winds will blow
And the sun will shine
From generation to generation
Through the trees of the garden
But the day and the hour
Will surely come
To take the highest apple
From the knowledge tree]

Who amongst us
Can exist a single day
Beyond our own time and our own limits
Countless and futile
Are times I've climbed
To reach and taste
The forbidden fruit

[Refrain]

+ Wonderful
When all the world is quite and still
And doubts run deep as the ocean
Through troubled years and broken dreams
To the place where all silence has spoken

Immeasurable, invisible
The moment golden before me
I will walk with you through the beautiful gate
My hands and heart wide open

So wonderful, too wonderful
So wonderful, too wonderful

+ The Mighty Atlantic/Mara Theme
For the roll of the wind
As we sail across the water
The roll of the sea
As we're taken through the night
The dimming lamp of day
Leaves the crimson foam and spray
'cross the face of the mighty Atlantic

In this cradle we found love
In our lifetimes we were broken
By the spirit we were turned
Here we touched the hope divine
And in the rapture and the charm
Came the tranquil and the calm
On the rage of the mighty Atlantic

Deepest grave, supreme deceiver
Brave new worlds and cursed emotion
Let your people go, bring me a saviour
White doves rise above the ocean

The brightness of the lights
As they stretch across the water
The excitement of the night
As we're carried through the seas
There's a welcome lies in store
The strongest arms I have ever known
In the homes of the mighty Atlantic

For the roll it is gentle
As the waves, they guide you over
Full new moon across the stern flag
Our different worlds in constant motion

For the roll of the wind
As we sail across the waters
The roll of the sea
As we're taken through the night
I'm coming home it's late
And you know I just can't wait
For the shores of the mighty Atlantic x3

+ Flower of the West
Sunburst
The morning moor
The light of God
The heart of youth
I look around me
My eyes find their rest
On this garden
The flower of the west

Sunrise
The colour frontier
The ageing light
The sight that knows no fear
I look over Orinsay
To the Trumisgarry shore
To Alioter
And the road to Ahmore

The silent skies
An innocent heart
Holding the moment away
From time in the dark
All I see
All I know
Is touching the sacred earth
And warming the hallowed ground

I survive the childhood universe
And I step the naked heath
Where the breathing of the vanished
Li es in acres round my feet
Loch Scadavagh, Loch Fada
And the flatlands to the East
Where the dark blue mass of Eval
Meets the rising rock of Lee
Between the Crogaire and Mairi
I started to descend
Loch Aongais on my left hand side
I look across to Clett
Collies barking on the outrun
Dunlin dancing on the sand
Breakers show round Corran Vallique
And empty the Atlantic on the strand

+ Every River
You ask me to believe in magic
Expect me to commit suicide of the heart
And you ask me to play this game without question
Raising the stakes on this shotgun roulette

[Every river I try to cross
Every hill I try to climb
Every ocean I try to swim
Every road I try to find
All the ways of my life
I'd rather be with you
There's no way
Without you]

But you came to me like the ways of children
Simple as breathing, easy as air
Now the years hold no fears, like the wind they pass over
Loved, forgiven, washed, saved

[Refrain]

+ Siol Ghoraidh (The Geneology Of Goraidh)
Ochd deug seisreach
Air raontainn Aird a' Mhorain
Na fir a' treabhadh
An là a thainig na Sleithich

Dubh dath na fala
A dhoirt 'na tuil gu talamh
Saighead, claidheamh
Tro chairdeas corp an Udail

Siol Ghoraidh
Mac Ruairidh
Clann Raghnaill
Clann Dhòmhaill

Linn gu linn
Bho ainm gu ainm
Air an sgiath seo dh' Uibhist
'S mi beò an dràsd

Clann mo theaghlaich
Clann mo theaghlaich
Clann mo theaghlaich fhein

Dòmhnall Iain Aonghais ‘Ic Neill, Iain Dhòmhnall Iain, Seonnaidh Mòr A' Ghearraidh, Caillean A' Ghreusaiche, Tearlach Eòin Dhughaill, Calum Aonghais ‘Ic Neill, Calum Dhonnchaidh, Neill Alastair ‘Ic UIlleam, Ruairidh Iain Thàillear, Dughall ‘Illespidh Thormoid, Calum Ailig Mhor, Eirsidh Iain A' Duin, Dòmhnall ‘Ic Ille Mhuile, Ceit Phàdraig, Seonnaidh A' Chiobair, Aonghas Bochd.

traduction

Eighteen teams of horses
On the fields of Aird a' Mhorain
The young men poughing
On the day the Sleat people came

Black was the colour of the blood
That flowed like a flood to the soil
The arrow, the long sword
Through the generosity of the Udal people

Generation to generation
From one name to another
My time is now
To walk this corner of Uist

The geneology of Goraidh
The sons of Ruairi
The sons of Ranald
The children of Donald

The children of my family
The children of my own family

Donald, son of John, son of Angus, son of Neil. John, son of Donald John. Big John from the land between the hill pasture and the arable. Colin the shoemaker. Charles, son of Ewen, son of Dugald. Calum, son of Angus, son of Neil. Calum, son of Duncan. Neil, son of Alastair, son of William. Roderick, son of John, son of the tailor. Dugald, son of Gillesbuig, son of Norman. Calum, son of Big Alexander. Archibald, son of John of the Fortress. Donald, son of Samuel. John from Huna. Alastair, son of Donald, son of the boy from the mill. Catherine, daughter of Patrick. John, son of Roderick, son of John, son of Angus. The widow of John, son of the Shepherd. Poor Angus.

+ Hearts Of Olden Glory
There's thunder clouds 'round the hometown bay
As I walk out in the rain
Through the sepia showers
And the photoflood days

I caught a fleeting glimpse of life
And though the water's black as night
The colours of Scotland
Leave you young inside

[There must be a place
Under the sun
Where hearts of olden glory
Grow young]

There's a vision coming soon
Through the faith that cleans your wound
Hearts of olden glory
Will be renewed

Down the lens where the headlands stand
I feel a healing through this land
A cross for a people
Like wind through your hands

[Refrain]

+ Skye
How can't you see
The wilderness growing free
Time wounded and scarred
Stroking away the years

It's hard to believe
But memories are old ghosts
Mountains of black and gold
Sunsets falling over the moor

[Oh take me there
's na horo eile, horo bho
's na horo bho, hillean o
's na horo eille ho
Take me there]

You take your dream
You make life what you feel
Appearances lead to deceive
This drama so far from me

Destiny
On facts aching wings
Wild geese fly low over your shores
Hearts sailing over the trees

[Refrain]

Chi mi an t-eilean uaine
Tir nam beanntan arda
Ceò a' tuiteam tron a' ghleann
'Na shineadh air do raointean

[Refrain]

traduction

I see the green island
Land of the high hills
Mists falling through your valleys
And lying down on your fields

+ Loch Lomond
By yon bonnie banks and by yon bonnie braes
Where the sun shines on Loch Lomond
Where me and my true love spent many happy days
On the banks of Loch Lomond

Twas there that we parted in yon shady glen
On the steep sides of Ben Lomond
Where in purple hue the Highland hills we view
And the moon glints out in the gloaming

[You'll take the high road and I'll take the low road
And I'll be in Scotland afore ye
Where me and my true love will never meet again
On the bonnie bonnie banks of Loch Lomond]

Where wild flowers spring and the wee birdies sing
On the steep sides of Ben Lomond
But the broken heart it kens nae second spring
Though resigned we may be while we're greeting

[Chorus]



CD2

+ Saints of the Soil
Walking out on the revelation trail
Going nowhere slowly
In the face of a terminal wind
I look over my shoulder to glory
For all that around me is lost and changed
The moon and the stars and the feelings remain
As long as I draw emotion in breath
I will never forget, I'll never forget

Going down to the memory well
No romance, no warning
Breaking the land with the saints of your soil
In the light of all constant dawning
I'm held in the grasp of the blessed and the old
The hand that civilisation's forgotten to hold
Rushing onwards, racing in chains
I'm chasing the days, chasing the days

[The light of the world keeps shining
Bright in the primal glow
Bridging the living, dust to dust
There's such a long, long way to go]

Saints of the soil, saints of the soil, saints of the soil

I see you laughing round the fires of harvest
Flame grabbing and your arms entwined
Dying tribe take a righteous glance
To the sharing days and the common wine

[Refrain]

There's a shrine on an Assynt hillside
It's made of earth and salt and rain
Now you walk out in the morning
With your sacrifice of change

Saints of the soil...

+ Ravenscraig
Word came like a hammer
Night fell down like a shroud
And it's caught me drinking, trying to turn back the clock
Through this industrial ghost town

I've known graft and I've voted well
Trying to keep the Lowlands red
But all I gets control in foreign hands
Other colours instead

We never stretched our dancehall dreams
We got it just about right
There's little escape from a working town
And from a working life

I placed my future in the palm of your hand
One autumn friday at the Church of All Saints
There's no investment here in life or in love
And now it's getting too late

All I want is a roof over my head
All I want is a steady job
All I want to do is say I love you
With every penny I've got
And all I think about are those of my name
To give them some kind of chance in life
But the long road running out the strip mill gate
Has got me walking that line

+ Solus Na Madainn
Instrumental

+ Chi Mi'n Geamhradh (I See Winter)
Chi mi'n geamhradh anns a' ghaoith
Chan eil an sneachd' fada bhuainn
Sgothan dorch' 's na craobhan rùisgt
Tha an oidhche nochd fuar

Shaoilinn fhèin gur ann an dè
Bha teas an t-samhraidh 'gar leaghadh
Fad an fheasgair air an dùn
'S tu laighe leisg ri mo thaobh

Chan fhan a' ghrian fad na bliadhna
Cha sheas an uair mar a tha i
Dh' fhalbh thusa gu'n a' cheò

'S dh'fhag thu mi le mo geamhradh

'S iomadh oidhch' a rinn sinn suiridhe
'S iomadh oidhch' a rinn sinn gàir
'S iomadh oidhch' a bhithinn a' smuaintinn
Gum bitheadh tu comhla ruim gu bràth

traduction

I see winter in the wind
The snows are not far off
The clouds are darkening and the trees bare
Tonight it is cold

You would have thought that it was only yesterday
We melted in the heat of the summer
All evening out on the dun
And you lying relaxed by my side

The sun will not stay all year
Time will not stand still
You went away back to the city
And left me to my winter

Many nights we courted
Many nights we laughed
Many nights I thought
That we would be together forever

+ The Apple Came Down
Life support genius at the end of time
The greatest living brain alive
A breath of chance matter from a falling star
The power is sour and reaches far

[The apple came down
It had to fall
Where men grew wise
Minds grew small
Newton and Adam
Lost and found
The apple must fall
To the ground]

There's not long left, it's a race against time
The saint's close, he could lose his mind
Like he lost his body here on planet Earth
When he holds the key to the universe

[Refrain]

A mighty spark to keep him there
Trigger to power, wire to pain
Direct inject pleasure when the going gets rough
Don't believe in God and all that stuff

[Refrain]

The apple came down
The atom must fall

+ Chi Mi'n Tir (I See the Land)
Chi mi'n tir 'san robh mi'nam bhalach
'M barr a'chruinn 's Leac a' Li nam shealladh
Chi mi'n tir 'san robh mi'nam bhalach

A tir nan Suaineach a rinn sinn gluasad
'S i leinn an uair tighinn tuath air Scalpaigh
Chi mi'n tir 'san robh mi'nam bhalach

Nam faighinn ordugh gur mi bhiodh deonach
A gheola "loradh" 's a seoladh dhachaidh
Chi mi'n tir san robh mi nam bhalach

Chi mi'n iasgair aig ceann nan lion
Is gu'm b'e mo mhiann bhith 'sa chiar 'gan tarruing
Chi mi'n tir 'san robh mi'nam bhalach

Chi me Manais is Ceann an t-Saile
Caolas Bhearnaraidh is traighean Phabaidh
Chi mi'n tir 'san robh mi'nam bhalach

An sin thuirt Eoghainn 'se tighinn 'nam chomhdhail
Nach seall thu'n Godaigh aig Sron na Hearradh
Chi mi'n tir 'san robh mi'nam bhalach

Nuair thig an Dubhlachd gun fag min "Suna"
Is e mo dhuil dhol le sunnd dom dhachaidh
Chi mi'n tir 'san robh mi'nam bhalach

Chi mi'n tir 'san robh mi'nam bhalach
'M barr a'chruinn 's Leac a' Li nam shealladh
Chi mi'n tir 'san robh mi'nam bhalach

traduction

I see the land where I was a boy
Over the mast, Lackalee is in sight.
I see the land where I was a boy.

We came from Sweden
And made good time reaching north of Scalpay,
I see the land where I was a boy.

If I were ordered, I would willingly
Lower the boat and sail home
I see the land where I was a boy.

I see the fisherman at the net
And I'd love to be there in the gloaming, fishing.
I see the land where I was a boy.

I see Manais and Kintail
Kyle of Berneray and the shores of Pabbay
I see the land where I was a boy.

Then said Hugh as he came to meet me
"Won't you look at the 'Goddy' at the ToeHead
I see the land where I was a boy.

When December comes I'll leave "The Suna”
And I hope, with joy, to go home
I see the land where I was a boy

+ Ribhinn O (O Girl)
Tha bùrn fallain anns an tobar
'S gabhaidh sinn ar h-uile slainte ann
Tha bùrn fallain anns an tobar
'S gabhaidh sinn ar h-uile slainte ann
Tugainn leam a ribhinn òg
Tugainn leam a nighean, tugainn leam

Tugainn gu na beanntan àrd
Abair sealladh dathan earnaich ann
Tugainn gu na beanntan àrd
Abair sealladh dathan earnaich ann
Tugainn leam a ribhinn òg
Tugainn leam a nighean, tugainn leam

Thèid sinn 'null air an aiseig
Tarsinn air a chuan thèid sinn ann
Thèid sinn 'null air an aiseig
Tarsinn air a chuan thèid sinn ann
Tugainn leam a ribhinn òg
Tugainn leam a nighean, tugainn leam

A ribhinn o, a ribhinn o, a ribhinn o, a ho ro
A ribhinn o, a ribhinn o, a ribhinn o, a ho ro
A ribhinn o, a ho hi o, ho ro
A ribhinn o, a ribhinn o, a ribhinn o, a ho ro

traduction

There's refreshing water in the well
And we will take our fill there
There's refreshing water in the well
And we will take our fill there
Come with me my young love
Come with me girl, come with me

Come with me to the high hills
What a sight, the colours of autumn
Come with me to the high hills
What a sight, the colours of autumn
Come with me my young love
Come with me girl, come with me

We will cross over on the ferry
Across the seas we will go
We will cross over on the ferry
Across the seas we will go
Come with me my young love
Come with me girl, come with me

Girl o, girl o , girl o, a ho ro
Girl o, girl o , girl o, a ho ro
Girl o, a ho o hi, ho ro
Girl o, girl o , girl o, a ho ro



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