Song For The Mira
Song By Allister MacGillivray
Song For The Mira (also known as Out On The Mira) is a song written by Allister MacGillivray.The Mira River was the inspiration for local singer-songwriter Allister MacGillivray's Song for the Mira. Over the years, it has become a renowned folk song, that has been recorded by many artists and translated into several different languages.
Allister MacGillivray CM, D. Litt (honors), is a Canadian singer/songwriter, guitarist, and music historian from the Cape Breton region of Nova Scotia. He was born January 17, 1948, in the coal-mining and fishing town of Glace Bay.
A well-respected author/composer, his most popular songs include: "Away From The Roll Of The Sea", "Coal Town Road", "Kitty Bawn O'Brien", "Tie Me Down", "Here's To Song", "Sea People", and "You'll Be Home Again" - all published by Cabot Trail Music (SOCAN).
He is best known for a composition called "Song for the Mira" that provided the theme as well as the sound track for an Atlantic Canadian film, Marion Bridge.
"Song For the Mira" has been translated into Italian, Dutch, French, Scots Gaelic, Japanese, and Mi' kmaq, is available on well over 300 recordings, and is a standard in the Canadian choral-music repertoire.
One of the most recorded songs ever by an eastern Canadian writer, "Out On The Mira" (an alternate title) has been covered by Anne Murray, Foster And Allen, Celtic Thunder, Daniel O'Donnell, Denny Doherty (of The Mamas and The Papas), Noel Harrison, Phil Coulter, The Canadian Tenors, Frank Patterson, The Los Angeles Children's Chorus, and scores of other noted performers.
In 2018, Song For The Mira was inducted into The Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Related Scottish Country Dances
The Spark O' WaterSong For The Mira By Allister MacGillivray
Old men go fishin' with black line and spoons.
And, if they catch nothing, they never complain;
I wish I was with them again.
Chorus
Can you imagine a piece of the universe
More fit for princes and kings?
I'll trade you ten of your cities for Marion Bridge
And the pleasure it brings.
And over the ashes the stories are told
Of witches and werewolves and Oak Island gold
The stars on the river they sparkle and spin
I wish I was with them again
...
Full lyrics may be found here:
https://mudcat.org/@displaysong.cfm?SongID=5459
https://genius.com/Gordon-bok-song-for-the-mira-lyrics
https://www.lyricsondemand.com/c/celticthunderlyrics/songforthemiralyrics.html/
Song For The Mira Song Video
Song For The Mira Song - Information Video
Mira Ferry, Mira River, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, c. 1900
This page uses content under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, along with original copyrighted content and excerpts from Wikipedia and other sources.
Text from this original Mira River (Nova Scotia) article on Wikipedia.
Text from this original Allister MacGillivray article on Wikipedia.
Image from (cropped) See page for author, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
