Yesterday the PBS special "Celtic Woman, Songs from the Heart" aired for the first time. This was recorded over two nights at Powerscourt in Ireland. Lynn and I were there.

We've looked, and we can find ourselves in two audience shots during the second song. We were sitting (if you're looking AT the stage) to the far right, five rows back. Lynn is in the seat on the end. (off-white sweater with many other colors - I'm beside him in a dark jacket, huddling close for warmth because it was so cold!) As far as we can tell from what aired, we weren't in any of the CLOSE audience shots - where you can actually see people's faces. (Though there were many songs recorded which were not played in the special, so perhaps they will be on the DVD?) Lol! But it was still fun trying to spot ourselves.

Anyway, this song they did NOT play the night we were there, so they must have recorded it the night before. I love it! :)

---

See her as she flies
Golden sails across the sky
Close enough to touch
But careful if you try
Though she looks as warm as gold
The moon's a harsh mistress
The moon can be so cold

Once the sun did shine
And lord it felt so fine
The moon a phantom rose
Through the mountains and the pine
And then the darkness fell
The moon's a harsh mistress
It's hard to love her well

I fell out of her eyes
I fell out of her heart
I fell down on my face, yes I did
And I tripped and I missed my star
And I fell and fell alone
The moon's a harsh mistress
The sky is made of stone

The moon's a harsh mistress
She's hard to call your own


Video of Celtic Woman's version!

On the first of January, in eighteen ninety-two,
They opened Ellis Island and they let the people through,
And the first to cross the threshold of that isle of hope and tears
Was Annie Moore from Ireland, who was all of fifteen years.

Isle of hope, isle of tears,
Isle of freedom, isle of fears,
But it's not the isle you left behind.
That isle of hunger, isle of pain,
Isle you'll never see again,
But the isle of home is always on your mind.

In a little bag she carried all her past and history,
And her dreams for the future in the land of liberty.
And courage is the passport when your old world disappears,
But there's no future in the past when you're fifteen years.

Isle of hope, isle of tears,
Isle of freedom, isle of fears,
But it's not the isle you left behind.
That isle of hunger, isle of pain,
Isle you'll never see again,
But the isle of home is always on your mind.

When they closed down Ellis Island in nineteen forty-three,
Seventeen million people had come there for sanctuary.
And in springtime when I came here and I stepped onto its piers,
I thought of how it must have been when you're fifteen years.

Isle of hope, isle of tears,
Isle of freedom, isle of fears,
But it's not the isle you left behind.
That isle of hunger, isle of pain,
Isle you'll never see again,
But the isle of home is always on your mind.

---

Yes, I'm aware that Annie Moore was only 13, and that Ellis Island (which I understand doesn't have a pier) didn't close down until 54. And there were somewhere between 12 and 13 million people rather than 17 million. I know. But this is still a gorgeous song.

June, 2009, Volume 19
EXCLUSIVE ANNOUNCEMENT!

Celtic Woman will be filming their brand-new live show for PBS Television and DVD at Powerscourt House and Gardens, County Wicklow, Ireland on Wednesday July 29th and Thursday July 30th 2009. If you would like to attend the concerts please email your requests to tickets@celticwoman.com. We can not guarantee admittance due to the high demand expected, however we will endeavour to accommodate as many requests as possible. See you at the show! June 23rd Release - O, America!