Cruachan - The Living And The Dead [Full Album 2023]

Lyrics to The Living And The Dead [Full Album 2023] by Cruachan

Tracklist: 01. 00:00 The Living 02. 02:58 The Queen Some speak of Kings and high born lords Some speak of Earls and noble men But this tale I tell from long ago Concerns not a one of them A Warrior Queen, born of the sea A leader of strength and renown Throughout Europe there be none like her They call her a Queen though she wears no crown Grace is her name and Ireland her home A land of conquest rebellion and strife Under the rule of a Tudor Queen Who placed a bounty upon her life Elizabeth is she and England is hers As well as lands taken by force But Ireland hast been a thorn in her side Her rule of law she cannot enforce Grace: Ma’am I write to you under duress Two women of power are we Our conflict of nations I wish to address And my countries right to be So I ask for a congress of both our minds And I appeal to your common sense I will go to your land and to your great hall If you agree these talks should commence Elizabeth: Get thee away, you low born fool This traitor of ill repute She dares to write to beg for my aid My rule is absolute! No concession will I ever condone While she attacks my men on the seas I have burned her letter, let it be known No retort from me will she receive Grace clashed with Spanish and with Turks Yet the English caused the most pain Elizabeth warred on countless fronts Creating a monetary strain At last, with Grace, a decision was made To London she would go She had sent a fair and impassioned plea Yet no response did the Queen bestow On a bright July morning Grace readied her fleet Four score men and their Warrior Queen Set sail across the pale narrow sea Towards the unknown and dangers unseen Arriving at last in the strangest of lands Through a maze of dark dismal streets A foul stench pervaded the air Of human waste and rancid meats As Grace progressed through the city so vast The people did stop to gaze and stare “Who is this woman in garments so fine That moves with grace and a Gaelic flair” And so the chamberlain did announce When Grace came to the home of the Queen “please, this way, do come with me, It has been agreed, you shall be seen” Elizabeth: Grace I greet you as a friend Two women of power are we The title of countess I would convey If you would swear fealty to me You did not bow when you approached And I take no offense I swear So tomorrow let the people say We’ve ended this affair Grace: Your kindness has been well received And I wish you no offence But to me, a title, you cannot convey For we are equals in every sense I do however have a request Amends I would ask of thee To pardon the crimes you claimed were mine And let my ancestral lands be At this point Grace turned to sneeze A courtier gave to her a silken cloth The used cloth was cast to the fire Shocking the Queen and the royal court The congress had ended and Grace returned home To the land she loved so well The Queen had honoured all that was said So Grace was free from the English hell 03. 08:49 The Hawthorn In darkest night, witching night Among the hawthorn-o When the moon has come to Earth The shepherd tends his flock A babe in arms, the innocent cry Among the hawthorn-o Fire is burning in the sky The shepherd tends his flock Youthful maid of truthful staid Among the hawthorn-o Tears are offered willingly to The shepherd and his flock The veil of death, a pauper’s mask Among the hawthorn-o A solemn task must now transpire The shepherd tends his flock God is lost, love is lost Among the hawthorn-o The dank of time pervades the air The shepherd tends his flock An ancient wind disturbs the leaves Among the hawthorn-o There is a presence in the air The shepherd tends his flock A church bell peals, a branch cast forth Among the hawthorn-o Christ shall not receive this soul The shepherd tends his flock Into the ground, into the earth Among the hawthorn-o Life breeds life, death brings life to The shepherd and his flock 04. 13:54 The Harvest Plough and till, till and sow That’s how we toil in March Work the seeds, make them grow Pray the harvest will be vast Shear and reap, reap and mow By the light of the harvest moon Cut, pull, bind and throw The harvest’s coming soon Altogether, all for one September is here at last We’ll toil all day in the burning sun Till the barley has amassed Samhain calls, summers end Prepare for rain and cold Blessed rites we all attend We pray to the Gods of old So labour hard, labour long Until the barns are heaped We drink an ale, we sing a song Till all the crops be reaped Our work is done, toil no more The Winter birds have flown Close the barn, lock the door We’ve brought the harvest home 05. 19:16 The Festival 06. 22:07 The Ghost Where Am I, what has happened to me? I remember the sun, the grass, a tree …and the sisters, the hateful sisters always angry, always beating me And the laundry, the iron press Working hard till late at night No time for me to be a child No colour, no joy, no light, no hope Now I find myself alone I see shadows of my friends They are weeping, they are afraid I call out but make no sound Again the sun and that lonely tree A lifeless child hangs low, that child is me A victim of the church and the ‘love’ they bestow On the shortest branch I see a crow. 07. 26:30 The Crow Black as coal with the Devil’s eye Fly like a witch in the evening sky Black as coal with the Devil’s eye Men flee, men hide, and children cry Oh the crow does sit on the shortest branch Of the oldest oak there be And she views her vast surroundings With an ominous sense of glee She’s more devious than the falcon She is wiser than the owl She has seen the greatest feats of men And has witnessed deeds most foul Black as coal with the Devil’s eye Fly like a witch in the evening sky Black as coal with the Devil’s eye Men flee, men hide, and children cry Oh she softly glides to the earth below Cloaked in childish dreams of night And settles upon a pile of dead Neither sorrowful nor contrite For the dead - they were once children They were wards of a pious state Well now they lie here lifeless Victims of an imposed faith Black as coal with the Devil’s eye Fly like a witch in the evening sky Black as coal with the Devil’s eye Men flee, men hide, and children cry Oh the sisters call her a wicked bird As they run and wave their arms But the crow respects the olden ways Of nature spells, and forest charms She calls the children to her And to her they do come They leave the evils of men’s earth And fly towards the rising sun 08. 31:57 The Reaper I have witnessed a man Resplendent in his decay A testament to the ages His ghost trapped within A father to his sons Left in filth and ruin The light of his soul is cast And the reaper waits How can he go, how can he leave? When the cross is bearing down on he Let him be, please let him be, The dying man is he! In a world of sinners Who wears their shame? No crown of thorns Just broken shattered dreams The tide has turned for all Yet he soldiers on A memory of a time and place And the reaper waits On bended knee he weeps With arms raised high An angel in his turmoil The promise of eternity A golden path is open Fire ignites the sky Yet he bides his time And the reaper waits 09. 36:27 The Children Have you seen the children, the children, the children Have you seen the children as they play at children’s games They laugh and sing together, together, together They laugh and sing together yet they be all in chains They do not have their mothers, their mothers, their mothers They do not have their mothers just the sisters that they dread The sisters have a secret, a secret, a secret The sisters have a secret for to the devil they are wed The children wash the bedsheets, the bedsheets, the bedsheets The children wash the bedsheets in the laundry cold and dark They work and play together, together, together They work and play together, though life be grim and stark The sisters kill the children, the children, the children, The sisters kill the children in the middle of the night The children sing together, together, together The children sing together as they fade away from sight 10. 40:03 The Changeling The child you love, the child you do adore Has changed into a creature you abhor A twisted version of the child that was The darkest of exchanges was the cause From the woods we come, from the forest deep Take the child from slumber, take the child from sleep Cast this wicked child upon the pyre Force the sinful changeling to retire Now your child the Faeries shall return Lest their addled child forever burn From the woods we come, from the forest deep Take the child from slumber, take the child from sleep 11. 43:35 The Witch Have you seen the dark haired woman move with elegance and flair All the men be held in her spell Though she does not know nor care For she is the Pagan forest witch And in her beauty there be a snare Among the oaks she calls her home The forest floor she calls her bed From the river wild she takes a draught And from all of life is fed She needs nothing from the modern world For to the land and earth is wed Tall and graceful grows her body An earthly rule does she possess Her lips as red as a bloodied rose Her face shows beauty and finesse Yet her clothes be worn and tattered With stains of earth upon her dress For the longest time she has here dwelled Learning forest spells and more She can cure all ails and troubles With blossoms and herbal lore She’s a child of nature and the wild Yet like a mother we adore Woe to those who try to harm her Those who would think to violate For an ancient magic dwells within A terrible vigour she would create So take your passions elsewhere Lest you suffer this dreadful fate But to those that show her love A primal passion shared in lust Then fear her not, this forest nymph Her soul to you she will entrust For an eternity would her loyalty live Till all of men be dust 12. 48:33 The Dead The evil we call the church should be expunged from the world. The church is the essence of evil, an irrelevant archaic darkness. For too long they have evaded accountability for their crimes.