I've always loved the lyrics of their music. Here's one example and a link to their homepage.
Brightest Blessings
Radiance
http://www.emeraldrose.com/mainpage.htm
Come To The Dance
A Gypsy-flavored song of invitation to celebration.
COME TO THE DANCE
words and music by Arthur Hinds
Come to the dance we step in a circle
Dance to the earth and your soul attune
Come with a sing for the love of the Mother
Sing with the voice of the rising moon
Come to the dance we do for the Old Ones
Dance into space and time apart
Send up the call to those who will hear it
Arise all you of the Pagan heart
Away we'll go to the rhythm of the pounding night
So we flow from darkness into light
We may dream from awakening into trance
So it seems as we all come to the dance
©Emerald Rose
Arthur Hinds--vocals, bodhran
Brian "Logan" Sullivan--guitar, mandola
Larry Morris--pennywhistle
Clyde Gilbert--percussion
Emerald Rose
And Another
Merry May Folk
An original by Arthur Hinds, concerning a group of local Nature-lovers that decide to wake up the local congregation a bit.
On a fresh May morning, I took my love to church
To see if Parson Pruneface was properly a-perched
The sermon scarcely started, someone began to snore
When like a sunlit sea wave
A green and crimson wave
A band of merry May folk came a-whooping through the door
singing:
Come up, come in with streamers
Come in with boughs of May
Come green and white and trip the lawn
Till night becomes the day
Jump up and dance the Tom-fool
Jump up and duck and leap
Jump up and wake the people that
The parson puts to sleep
They brandished nut-brown tabors, their garlands fell in showers
Came lads and lasses after them with feet like dancing flowers
Their queen had torn her green gown and bared a shoulder white
White as the May that crowned her
And all the minstrels round her
Tilted back their crimson hats and sang for sheer delight,
Come up, come in with streamers
Come in with boughs of May
Come green and white and trip the lawn
Till night becomes the day
The Earth is dressed in flowers
Bedecked as if to wed
Go on and kiss the lady-o
Before the moment's fled
The dusky velvet hassocks were cloaked in fragrant dew
The font grew white with hawthorn, it frothed in every pew
The parson's beard was frosted from the queen's hawthorny kiss
When like a Morris saber
Tom Fool raised his tabor
Bounded to the pulpit and commenced to preaching this:
Come up, come in with streamers
Come in with boughs of May
Come green and white and trip the lawn
Till night becomes the day
We sing of life arisen
From the Lord who shed and died
Your God's alive in greenwood
With the Lady by his side
At Easter dawned our Morris, ere Pentecost our May
The words we sing are different, but the tune's not far away
So stand with us, join hand to hand
And raise a sacred call
We sing of life arisen
We sing of glory risen
We sing that love is risen again
And love is lord of all!
Come up, come in with streamers
come in with boughs of May
Come green and white and trip the lawn
Till night becomes the day
So dance with joy remembered
And sing of love's reward
Raise up a cup of May wine
To the Lady and the Lord
Arthur Hinds--vocals, guitar, bodhran
Brian "Logan" Sullivan--vocals, guitar
Larry Morris--pennywhistle, vocals
Clyde Gilbert--vocals, tambourine
Merry May Folk
An original by Arthur Hinds, concerning a group of local Nature-lovers that decide to wake up the local congregation a bit.
On a fresh May morning, I took my love to church
To see if Parson Pruneface was properly a-perched
The sermon scarcely started, someone began to snore
When like a sunlit sea wave
A green and crimson wave
A band of merry May folk came a-whooping through the door
singing:
Come up, come in with streamers
Come in with boughs of May
Come green and white and trip the lawn
Till night becomes the day
Jump up and dance the Tom-fool
Jump up and duck and leap
Jump up and wake the people that
The parson puts to sleep
They brandished nut-brown tabors, their garlands fell in showers
Came lads and lasses after them with feet like dancing flowers
Their queen had torn her green gown and bared a shoulder white
White as the May that crowned her
And all the minstrels round her
Tilted back their crimson hats and sang for sheer delight,
Come up, come in with streamers
Come in with boughs of May
Come green and white and trip the lawn
Till night becomes the day
The Earth is dressed in flowers
Bedecked as if to wed
Go on and kiss the lady-o
Before the moment's fled
The dusky velvet hassocks were cloaked in fragrant dew
The font grew white with hawthorn, it frothed in every pew
The parson's beard was frosted from the queen's hawthorny kiss
When like a Morris saber
Tom Fool raised his tabor
Bounded to the pulpit and commenced to preaching this:
Come up, come in with streamers
Come in with boughs of May
Come green and white and trip the lawn
Till night becomes the day
We sing of life arisen
From the Lord who shed and died
Your God's alive in greenwood
With the Lady by his side
At Easter dawned our Morris, ere Pentecost our May
The words we sing are different, but the tune's not far away
So stand with us, join hand to hand
And raise a sacred call
We sing of life arisen
We sing of glory risen
We sing that love is risen again
And love is lord of all!
Come up, come in with streamers
come in with boughs of May
Come green and white and trip the lawn
Till night becomes the day
So dance with joy remembered
And sing of love's reward
Raise up a cup of May wine
To the Lady and the Lord
Arthur Hinds--vocals, guitar, bodhran
Brian "Logan" Sullivan--vocals, guitar
Larry Morris--pennywhistle, vocals
Clyde Gilbert--vocals, tambourine
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R. Firehawk