The harp part for this came to me at one of my friend Michelle's sound healing circles, after some other friends of ours came up to me and said they wanted me to make a fairy dance. I had been doing a whole bunch of improvisation that night, and I almost just let this go. Michelle, who was sitting right next to me, heard it as it was passing through and asked me to repeat it. I did, and other people started adding to it, and eventually I announced to our friends that this was the fairy dance they had requested.
We had a lot of fun with it that night, and then my friend Mayer (who plays recorder on my other albums) added a melody line based on other songs from early music. The first part sounded like the traditional song “Rose Rose”, which I always thought was musically beautiful but the words annoy me (I don’t like hearing a woman say she would marry at someone else’s will). I thought about it, and decided to write words from the perspective of fairies dancing around the flower rose, and praising it in the way I believe women and plants should be appreciated.
lyrics
Curfá:
Rós, rós, ceansa ‘is fiáin; dearg, bándearg, buí nó bán
Dathanna mar éiri nó luí na gréine. ‘Bhfuil easpa grá ag éinne dhuit?
Tá do bhachlóige do na síóga mar milseoga do dhuine óg.
Lasann spreagthacht in ár súile ‘s tosaímid damhsa dhóibh.
Cosnaíonn do dhealga ár mbrúnna ‘s gcaisleáin ach ní dochar duinn iad
Cuireann siad daoine uainn ach is breá linn iad.
Agus nuair atá tusa faoi bhláth tá tú i do dhraíocht féin.
Tugann daoine grá dhuit ‘s is cuimhin siad ort go deo.
Translation:
Rose, Rose (Fairy Dance)
Chorus:
Rose, rose, tame and wild; red, pink, yellow, or white
Colors like sunrise or sunset. Does anyone not love you?
Your buds are to the fairies like sweets to a young person (child)
Excitement shines in our eyes and we begin dancing for them
Your thorns protect our dwellings and castles but they do not harm us
They drive people from them but we love them
And when you are in bloom you are magic itself
People love you, and they remember you forever
credits
from Éist le mo Scéal (Listen to my Story),
released November 1, 2006
Melody medley of traditional songs
Lyrics, harp, and lead vocals by Caera
Frame drum and backing vocals by Michelle Herrera
Recorder by Mayer Lipman
From haunting Celtic lullabies, through laments of intense grief and pain, to songs of healing and hope, Caera’s music
always contains an authenticity that can be hard to find in today’s music, or even in today’s world in general. Powerful soprano vocals blend with the bell-like tones of her brass-strung Gaelic harp to create music that carries people through life, dreaming or fully awake....more
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