Rachel Ní Mhaonaigh & Aingeal Nic an Bhaird - Súil Ghorm

at the "An singing pub" on the road between An Dunaibh and Trá na Rossan.

The English verses below are a rough translation of the preceding Irish ones (without the rhyming).

Súil ghorm, uisce fómhair
Craiceann chailce, sneachta gheimhridh
Folt fonn, corna shamhraidh
Cumha póige, bláth an earraigh

Your blue eyes, autumn water
Pure white skin like winter snow
Your fair hair, summer barley
Scented kisses, spring flowers

Ar imeall na mara a ghluais muid le chéile
Is thóg muid ár nglórthai go hárd leis na spéartha

Ceo maidne, séidéan gaoithe
Anam saortha, sruth 's taoide
Gealach iomlán, spéar na hoiche
Loinnear réalta, aoibh an gháire

Your smile shines through the morning mist
Lifts the soul light as a feather
And the moon glows in the darkest night
Distant stars are yours forever

Ar imeall na mara a ghluais muid le chéile
Is thóg muid ár nglórthai go hárd leis na spéartha

Súil ghorm, uisce fómhair
Craiceann chailce, sneachta gheimhridh
Folt fonn, corna shamhraidh
Cumha póige, bláth an earraigh

The 2-line chorus translates literally as
"on the edge of the sea, we moved together and we lifted our voices high into the sky"

The album is dominated by Altan's co-founder and undisputed leader, Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh, a virtuoso of the legendary fiddle tradition of her native County Donegal. With her quick bow, she is able to articulate each individual note, no matter how quickly it passes by, and to string them together into lines that seem to sing. And when she sings herself, her soprano has the same resonant tone and sure phrasing as her violin. Her five bandmates (who play accordion, bouzouki, second fiddle and two acoustic guitars) follow her so closely that the group seems to move and breathe as one.

Rachel Ni Mhaonaigh & Aingeal Nic an Bhaird - Suil Ghorm - Abair Amhrán 134120 www.tg4.ie - 8-5-07

This comes from the Altan 1997 album, Runaway Sunday, which climaxes with "Time Has Passed," Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh's heart-breaking elegy for her late husband and former co-bandleader, Frankie Kennedy. He had died 3 years earlier from cancer. Súil Ghorm is the first track and seems also to refer to Frankie. She is married since to Dermot Byrne, Altan's accordionist, that we see in the clip.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Rachel
• Ní
• Mhaonaigh
• Aingeal
• Nic
• an
• Bhaird
• Súil
• Ghorm
• Suil
• ni
• Sean
• Nós
• amhrán
• amhráin
• song
• singing
• teilifís
• teilifis
• TG4
• Gaeilge
• TG4Gaeilge
• Celt
• Celtic
• Ireland
• Irish
• Ceol
• Gael
• Gaelic
• Folk
• Eire
• Traditional
• RTE
• World
• television
• programme
• New
• Age
• video
• TG4.ie
• Nos
• amhran
• program

[luna4ever36]

@sonata4eva I love this song, taught myself how to pronounce the words so that I could sing it.=D Is it a common folk song in Ireland?

[dyoncko]

great song! beautiful voices!!!!!!!!!!!! too bad that it's such a short video. i'd like to see the full version.

[klickstarter]

Beautiful Song

[cobaltarrows]

Wonderful vid!

[sonata4eva]

I love the second song, Suil Ghorm,'specially the version Altan made. the dude singing in the beginning has a great voice:)