Patchwork

Post N° 27

Loreena McKennitt 
The Mask And Mirror (1994)

Un bellissimo video di "The Bonny Swans"
 è qui
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTXbT2l2kV0

The Old Ways è una mailing list creata e mantenuta da Christian Walters e dedicata alla discussione sulla musica di Loreena McKennitt e argomenti correlati.

Molti membri di Old Ways hanno fatto commenti e domande rispetto alle inconsistenze di questa canzone, specificatamente del perché il padre inizi come un contadino e alla fine sia un re o del perché le sorella all'inizio siano tre mentre alla fine siano due. Loreena ha parlato a proposito di questo in un programma radiofonico di Seattle chiamato New Sounds. Dice che è un riflesso del "volo nell'immaginario dei Celti dove le cose non hanno senso" e aggiunge che "è il modo in cui i Celti non fanno distinzione tra questo mondo e il prossimo e dove regna la libera immaginazione".

The Bonny Swans

A farmer there lived in the north country
a hey ho bonny o
And he had daughters one, two, three
The swans swim so bonny o
These daughters they walked by the river's brim
a hey ho bonny o
The eldest pushed the youngest in
The swans swim so bonny o

Oh sister, oh sister, pray lend me your hand
with a hey ho a bonny o
And I will give you house and land
the swans swim so bonny o
I'll give you neither hand nor glove
with a hey ho a bonny o
Unless you give me your own true love
the swans swim so bonny o

Sometimes she sank, sometimes she swam
with a hey ho and a bonny o
Until she came to a miller's dam
the swans swim so bonny o

The miller's daughter, dressed in red
with a hey ho and a bonny o
She went for some water to make some bread
the swans swim so bonny o

Oh father, oh daddy, here swims a swan
with a hey ho and a bonny o
It's very like a gentle woman
the swans swim so bonny o
They placed her on the bank to dry
with a hey ho and a bonny o
There came a harper passing by
the swans swim so bonny o

He made harp pins of her fingers fair
with a hey ho and a bonny o
He made harp strings of her golden hair
the swans swim so bonny o
He made a harp of her breast bone
with a hey ho and a bonny o
And straight it began to play alone
the swans swim so bonny o

He brought it to her father's hall
with a hey ho and a bonny o
And there was the court, assembled all
the swans swim so bonny o
He laid the harp upon a stone
with a hey ho and a bonny o
And straight it began to play lone
the swans swim so bonny o

And there does sit my father the King
with a hey ho and a bonny o
And yonder sits my mother the Queen
the swans swim so bonny o
And there does sit my brother Hugh
with a hey ho and a bonny o
And by him William, sweet and true
the swans swim so bonny o
And there does sit my false sister, Anne
with a hey ho and a bonny o
Who drowned me for the sake of a man
the swans swim so bonny o.