McKennitt blends world-music with folk, Celtic and exotic Mediterranean sounds using instruments such as the hurdy gurdy, kanoun, uilleann pipes, Turkish clarinet, bouzouki and nyckelharpa alongside traditional instruments like guitar, drums and bass and the harp, piano and accordion, the three instruments she plays.
Born in Morden, Manitoba, Canada in February 17, 1957, Loreena moved to Stratford, Ontario, Canada in 1981, where she still resides. She has acted and sung in, and composed music for, Stratford Festival of Canada productions ranging from The Tempest (1982) to The Merchant Of Venice (2001).
Her recording career began in 1985 with the album Elemental. In the fledgling years of her label Quinlan Road, Loreena ran its operations from her kitchen table, selling recordings by mail order and producing her own concert tours across the country. Quinlan Road's catalogue is currently distributed around the world by Warner Music (US), Universal Music (Canada and other territories including Italy and Spain) and a number of independents including Keltia Music (France) and SPV (Germany).
The Old Ways
Loreena McKennitt Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The pounding sea is calling me home, home to you.
On a dark new year's night
on the west coast of Clare
I heard your voice singing.
Your eyes danced the song,
your hands played the tune.
We left the music behind and the dance carried on
as we stole away to the seashore
and smelt the brine, felt the wind in our hair
and with sadness you paused.
Suddenly, I knew that you'd have to go.
Your world was not mine, your eyes told me so.
Yet it was there I felt the crossroads of time
and I wondered why.
As we cast our gaze on the tumbling sea,
a vision came o'er me,
of thundering hooves and beating wings
in the clouds above.
As you turned to go, I heard you call my name.
You were like a bird in a cage, spreading its
wings to fly.
'The old ways are lost', you sang as you flew
and I wondered why.
The thundering waves are calling me home, home to you.
The pounding sea is calling me home, home to you.
The pounding waves are calling me home, home to you.
The pounding sea is calling me home, home to you.
The pounding waves are calling me home, home to you.
The pounding sea is calling me home, home to you.
The lyrics of Loreena McKennitt's song The Old Ways are rife with vivid imagery and emotional depth. The singer of the song is haunted by memories of a past love affair that began on a dark New Year's night in the west coast of Clare. The sight of the person singing and dancing to a tune, the wind in their hair and the brine in the air, fills the singer with longing and sadness. As if sensing this, the person suddenly decides to leave, and the singer is left wondering why. The song is not so much about the story of the affair, but about how the sea connects the singer and the object of their desire even when they are apart.
The sea is a recurring motif throughout the song, and it symbolizes everything from home to longing to the passage of time. The pounding sea, with its thundering waves and beating wings, is a call for the singer to return home, to be with the one they love. But this call is bittersweet because the old ways are lost, and the singer doesn't know how to bridge the divide between their world and the world of the one they love. The song leaves us with a sense of yearning and longing, but also with a powerful connection to the sea and the powerful emotions it can evoke.
Line by Line Meaning
The sea is calling me home, home to you.
The sound of the powerful sea is telling me to return home to you, where I belong.
On a dark new year's night on the west coast of Clare, I heard your voice singing.
One night, while on the west coast of Clare during the new year, I heard you singing.
Your eyes danced the song, your hands played the tune. T'was a vision before me.
You played and sung with such passion and skill that a vision of your performance emerged before me.
We left the music behind and the dance carried on as we stole away to the seashore and smelt the brine, felt the wind in our hair and with sadness you paused.
We departed from the music and dance but continued on to the seashore, where we inhaled the scent of the sea, felt the wind in our hair, and you hesitated with sorrow.
Suddenly, I knew that you'd have to go. Your world was not mine, your eyes told me so. Yet it was there I felt the crossroads of time and I wondered why.
At that moment, I realized that you had to leave because we belonged in different worlds, as your eyes conveyed to me. Despite this, I couldn't help but feel that this was a pivotal moment in time and I was left to question this feeling.
As we cast our gaze on the tumbling sea, a vision came o'er me, of thundering hooves and beating wings in the clouds above.
While looking out at the chaotic sea, I had a vision of powerful hooves and wings beating in the clouds above.
As you turned to go, I heard you call my name. You were like a bird in a cage, spreading its wings to fly. 'The old ways are lost', you sang as you flew and I wondered why.
As you were leaving, you called out my name and I saw you as a bird, trapped but with the desire to fly free. You sang 'The old ways are lost' as you took flight, and I was left to ponder the meaning behind those words.
The pounding waves are calling me home, home to you.
The sound of the powerful waves is calling me back home to you.
The pounding sea is calling me home, home to you.
The sound of the powerful sea is calling me back home to you.
The pounding waves are calling me home, home to you.
The sound of the powerful waves is calling me back home to you.
The pounding sea is calling me home, home to you.
The sound of the powerful sea is calling me back home to you.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: LOREENA MCKENNITT
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@srlinka9465
The thundering waves are calling me home, home to you
The pounding sea is calling me home, home to you
On a dark new year's night
On the west coast of Clare
I heard your voice singing
Your eyes danced the song
Your hands played the tune
T'was a vision before me
We left the music behind as the dance carried on
As we stole away to the seashore
We smelt the brine, felt the wind in our hair
And with sadness you paused
Suddenly I knew that you'd have to go
Your world was not mine, your eyes told me so
Yet it was there I felt the crossroads of time
And I wondered why
As we cast our gaze on the tumbling sea
A vision came o'er me
Of thundering hooves and beating wings
In clouds above
As you turned to go I heard you call my name
You were like a bird in a cage spreading its wings to fly
"The old ways are lost," you sang as you flew
And I wondered why
The thundering waves are calling me home, home to you
The pounding sea is calling me home, home to you
The thundering waves are calling me home, home to you
The pounding sea is calling me home, home to you
@jorgegandara984
I listened to this same video 15 years ago, when I was a depressed teenager struggling with addiction issues. It's been 15 years since then, I'm 30 now and I'm so grateful the I'm not on that abysm anymore. Music like this helped me to overcome the darkness in my life at a such young age. Today, I'm a free man. I hope some day I can meet Loreena and thank her personally for what her music did for me.
@SymSoa
I'm a Pagan and for me The music and art. Art has no religion, no politics, no color. The music is wonderful poetry. Peace and Love ^^
@Madved07
So being the pagan means you have no hope that your soul could ever exist. This a good excuse
@tundrawomansays694
@@Madved07I think this is one place where politics and religion have no place, my friend. Regardless of our beliefs, our location or circumstances, we are all first and foremost human beings. It is our very humanity that allows us the free will to embrace one another or disgrace one another. Take care.
@Madved07
@@tundrawomansays694 that all you say would be good. But but but there are some circumstances and particular special things
@user-up5vz4cf1g
Pagan🫠
@user-up5vz4cf1g
Up
@CaresinVerse
The voice of Loreena McKennitt is pure magic. Hauntingly beautiful and moving. I have been a fan of her musical gifts for many years. God bless her.
@aslan3456
The old ways will never be lost as long as there are those of us that still remember them or are drawn to them!
@nunyabizness9216
Our adult kids and all their kids know quite a bit about the old ways. I would consider myself a failure if I hadn't passed all the old stories and ways of thinking and doing stuff. It's kind of a tradition amoung us rural Americans.