Dancer Produced by Donal Lunny in 1994d b

Colour Me:

Lyrics and music by Maireid Sullivan and Steve Wilson. Played by Steve Wilson on Rhythm Guitar and E'Bow, John Norton on Bouzouki, Matthew Arnold on Violin, Donal Lunny on Bouzouki & Keyboard, Peter Neville on Vibraphone and percussion, Kavisha Mazzella, vocal harmony. This song remembers sitting under a blue sky on a warm day where the river runs into Bantry Bay, as life in the present unfolds in the city, over layers of cultural experience gathered through osmosis and by conscious choice, bringing to consciousness our values and knowledge, and upholding our love and appreciation for the riches bestowed upon us.

Feeling Wings:
Lyrics by Maireid Sullivan set to a traditional Uilleann Pipe melody. Played by Andy Irvine on Mandola, Donal Lunny on Guitar, Keyboard and vocal harmony, John Norton on Bouzouki, Matthew Arnold on Violin and vocal harmony, Gary Costello on Double Bass, Peter Neville on percussion Kavisha Mazzella, vocal harmony. This song is an expression of my personal view of the world particularly as a woman who doesn't want to resort to any kind of war, but rather, believes that if we look from within we can find solutions to every problem.

Medley: The Ereskay Love Lilt, Traditional Scottish song and An'dro, (instrumental) originally a Scottish tune adapted by the Briton tradition. This beautiful song speaks eloquently about a distant love. I imagine singing this from high in the mountains of Scotland overlooking lowland winter mists; heartbeat and voice in concert with the distant drum and pipes and the slow rise of dance music to completely change the mood.

Dancer:
Lyrics and melody by Maireid Sullivan. Arranged by John Norton and Steve Wilson. With Steve Wilson on Rhythm Guitar, John Norton on Bouzouki, Matthew Arnold on Violin, Donal Lunny on Bouzouki, Keyboard and Bodhran, Peter Neville on percussion, Dominic McAlinden on Bodhran. "Thought - Dancer in the air....We, with our thoughts, are like dancers. We are never alone when we think about, weave our thoughts around, the mysteries of life. Thought effects our feelings and our bodies believe our thoughts. The line which separates myth from reality is always moving, we move with it when we share music and dance and sing our thoughts."
The lyrics of this song were inspired by a performance of dance theatre where the dancers intertwined their bodies to dramatize their relationship to each other and the universe. Around the time of writing, I had been dancing to Greek and Arabic music. The ancient Celts were Indo-Europeans after all!

Waly Waly (or The Water is Wide):
A traditional song claimed by both the Irish and Scottish traditions. John Norton plays his Dobro (National Steel Guitar), Doug DeVries plays Guitar and Donal Lunny plays Keyboard.
This song is very much an archetypal blues song and thus we have treated it.

Bringing It All Back Home:
Lyrics and music by Maireid Sullivan and Steve Wilson. With Donal Lunny on Rhythm Guitar, Keyboard and Bodhran, Steve Wilson on Rhythm Guitar, Matthew Arnold on Violin, John Norton on Bouzouki, Gary Costello on Double Bass, Peter Neville on percussion, Kavisha Mazella, vocal harmony. This song is pretty self-evident: Walking down the street in a light-hearted mood and taking a fresh look at where the world is headed. It's about maintaining a cheerful disposition and staying free from anxiety while taking stock of our environmental situation: Using nature as our guide to a happy appreciation of life.

I Believe In Love:
Lyrics by Maireid Sullivan; the melody is both traditional and original. Andy Irvine plays Mandola and Harmonica, John Norton plays
Bouzouki, Donal Lunny plays Guitar, Keyboard and Bodhran. This melody is taken from the sea shanty "The Mingulay Boat Song." I've always loved this melody but the lyrics were not relevant to me, so I wrote my own. The chorus melody and lyrics are meant to be an antidote to melancholy love and infatuation.

Sally Gardens:
Lyrics/poem by W.B.Yeats. The music is traditional. Played by Matthew Arnold on Viola, Andy Irvine on the Mandola, Donal Lunny on
Bouzouki and Bodhran, Dominic McAlinden on Bodhran and Dicky Deegan on Whistle. The music is two traditional pieces linked together. Sally Garden, the Reel and Sally Garden the song itself. I have never heard both the Reel and the song performed together before. The aim was to capture the dance feel and retain the poignancy of the song in the arrangement. I love singing the song in this setting, especially as the message of the song seem all the more meaningful when you think that the singer was asked to choose "the dance," as metaphor, and refused.

Connamara Cradle Song:
Traditional Irish Lullaby played by Doug De Vries on Guitar and Cavaquinho (miniature Portuguese guitar), Gary Costello on bowed and plucked Double Bass, Dicky Deegan on Uilleann Pipes and Donal Lunny on Keyboard. The melody and chorus of this song have been taken into the American tradition in the song "Down in the Valley." This is the original version and the loveliest Irish lullaby. The song captures the feeling one would imagine a mother would experience in any sea-faring culture of the world.

Time:
Lyrics and music by Maireid Sullivan and Steve Wilson.
Played by Donal Lunny on Bouzouki, Keyboard and Bodhran, Steve Wilson and Rhythm Guitar, Matthew Arnold on violin, Gary Costello on Double Bass, Peter Neville on percussion and Kavisha Mazzella, vocal harmony. This song was inspired by, Californian author, Robert A Johnson's series of books on the relationship of ancient mythology to modern psychology. His view is that we share the same biology with ancient humans, therefore, it is most likely that we share the same capacity for love, fear, hate and all other nuances of feeling experienced in relationship and survival. The myths of old relate to our experience today, e.g., people experience the same sun setting through all time!

She Moved Through The Fair:
Lyrics by Padric Colum, the music is traditional.
Played by Donal Lunny on keyboard. I believe the McPeak Family were the first to record this song. The modal nature of the melody harks back to early Celtic eastern European origins. Only one word in the original poem has been altered in this version of the songs evolution - my 'dead' love replaces my 'dear' love. This is the full version I learned from my mother. This song was recorded after midnight at the end of our recording session. Nearly everyone else had gone home and Donal and Doug and I didn't feel like stopping just yet.