Runrig — Òran Ailein / Leaving Strathconon

[Òran Ailein: Rory Macdonald & Bruce Guthro] Teine oidhche geamhradh 'Nar sheasamh air an lar Sheinn sinn oran Ailein Seist is rann 'S an treana ruith cho taibhseil Mar cuimhne tron ghleann 'S iomadh loit nach tig slan [Leaving Strathconon] [Verse 1: Bruce Guthro] We're the emigrant ones Not the last in the line You're your father's son And I am mine And all of our northwords Turn distant and small In the end they mean nothing No, nothing at all [Verse 2: Bruce Guthro & Rory Macdonald] Right here's the river's source And it flows out to the world And the heart of Caledonia Is drowning in its flood Was there hunger (hunger) in our striving (striving) Did the light shine in our dark Was everything we ever needed Always right here from the start [Chorus: Rory Macdonald] Please believe me Something in me died Leaving Strathconon And your mountains behind [Verse 3: Bruce Guthro & Rory Macdonald] We stood on a hundred gangways That's the way it's always been I walked out beyond Calvary With all my kith and kin (With all my kith and kin) In the war of the worlds (War of the worlds) We conquer and roam Lie the wounds that stay bleeding (Stay bleeding) And raw in the soul [Chorus: Rory Macdonald] Please believe me Something in me died Leaving Strathconon And your mountains behind Oh, please believe me Something in me died Leaving Strathconon And your mountains behind [Verse 4: Bruce Guthro & Rory Macdonald] After the raging flame The embers burn slow We're leaving, leaving, leaving 'Til there's nowhere left to go (There's nowhere left to go) The seas, the slums, the battlefields The shipyards, the tides The straths, the glens, the drove roads All the prairies and the mines [Verse 5: Bruce Guthro & Rory Macdonald] It's a still autumn morning And it covers Loch Meig And all the trees across the valley In a blaze of dying green We've seen too many tail-lights Didn't need to say goodbye (Didn't need to say goodbye) We're just souls across a shrinking world In a distant starlit night [Chorus: Rory Macdonald] Please believe me Something in me died Leaving Strathconon And your mountains behind Oh, please believe me Something in me died Leaving Strathconon And your father's home behind --- [Òran Ailein translation] By the fire of a winter's night Standing around the floor We sang Alan's song Verse and chorus And the train ran so ghostly Like a memory, through the glen There are many wounds that do not heal