Onatopa's blog: "All Soul's Night ~ 11/02 (lyrics)"

Loreena McKennitt - All souls night

-- photo
Bonfires dot the rolling hillsides Figures dance around and around To drums that pulse out echoes of darkness Moving to the pagan sound

Somewhere in a hidden memory Images float before my eyes Of fragrant nights of straw and of bonfires And dancing till the next sunrise

Chorus
I can see the lights in the distance Trembling in the dark cloak of night Candles and lanterns are dancing, dancing A waltz on All Souls Night

Figures of cornstalks bend in the shadows Held up tall as the flames leap high The green knight holds the holly bush To mark where the old year passes by

Chorus

Bonfires dot the rolling hillsides Figures dance around and around To drums that pulse out echoes of darkness Moving to the pagan sound

Standing on the bridge that crosses The river that goes out to the sea The wind is full of a thousand voices They pass by the bridge and me.

Chorus - 2x

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This piece was inspired by the imagery of a Japanese tradition which celebrated the souls of the departed by sending candle-lit lanterns out on waterways leading to the ocean, sometimes in little boats; along with the imagery of the Celtic All Souls Night celebrations, at which time huge bonfires were lit not only to mark the new year, but to warm the souls of the departed. - L.M.

Music and lyrics by Loreena McKennitt
From: The visit (1991).

This song is on my current playlist