Inspired by Thomas Hardy, Lyonesse is about the doomed love of Tristan and Isolde and the mythical Lyonesse off the Cornish coast.
The melody is taken from John Dowland's 'Fantasia no. 7' and the guitar style from a Flamenco 'Soléa'.
Featuring Tristan Butler - percussion.
Lyrics
On the road to Lyonesse, magic in my eyes,
Met you there at wolf-light, time passing by,
I drank an ounce of moonshine, or Atlantic sea,
Held you in the dreaming hours, off the coast of Brittany.
High above the sounding sea,
Still the bells bring you to me,
Bitter path in dreaming hours,
Crown our lonely sea with towers.
On the road to Lyonesse, magic in my eyes,
Lost in mazes of our dance, sunk between the tides,
We leapt from the chapel walls; wet with autumn rain,
Fled beneath the starlight, all that remains.
[Chorus]
Fill my hollow crown with your white hands in mine,
Wrap the honeysuckle ‘round, waves beneath the vines…
On the road to Lyonesse, magic in my eyes
Stopped to take another look, at the sea-made skies,
I still dream of Lyonesse, rising from the foam,
But she lies there patiently, our forgotten home.