Sunday Sessions: Just a Journey from Mary Black
Just a journey of a spirit, through a lifetime’s changing...
That’s the line, toward the end of the song, in which Steve Cooney chose to find the title for this song.
A practical journey and a mystical one both, as lyrics unfold.
Mary Black sings it here.
Steve Cooney adds guitar, too. He is in demand as a guitarist and producer and has worked with many Irish and international artists.
Mary has just the right voice and interpretation of this song, I’m thinking.
She invites listeners in to follow both the stories and the poetry in the song, and gives good space to think about those things too.
That’s a gift, to be sure, one you will find elsewhere in Mary’s work.
Though she’s stepped back a bit from a constant schedule of touring, Mary Black remains one of Ireland’s best loved musicians, both within Ireland and in Irish and wider communities outwith Ireland as well.
She does not always -- has not always, from the beginning of her career -- had her focus on music from Irish tradition. You are just as likely to find her singing songs like this one, from contemporary writers , as from Celtic sources. Those contemporary songs have often become her best known, chart topping hits.
Mary Black grew up in Dublin, in a family where music was always present. A mix of music, too: her father, from Rathlin Island in Northern Ireland, brought tradition with him, her mother liked to sing show tunes, and there was all sorts of music coming from her brothers and sister and surrounding the Dublin music scene, too.
Mary was drawn to the quality of a song, seeking out songs with stories she loved, both lyrically and musically.
Just a Journey fits that bill of a song telling a good story. Several intertwined stories, actually.
I've been travelling for years,
more than half a million miles
And if I weigh the veil of tears
Against the laughter, and the smiles,
I'll be happy, for I'll know that what has only come to pass
Is just a journey of a Spirit through a lifetime's changing
is but a part of what Steve Cooney wrote, just a part of what Mary Black sings. The song is well worth listening to more than once. Listening to for the last lines beyond what I’ve included here, too.
Do you know Mary Black’s music? Have a favorite song of hers? Let us know in the comments.
You may also wish to see
When she was getting ready to step back from full time touring, I had the chance to catch up with Mary. There’s music as part of the story too: Music, time, memory: Mary Black
Mary Black’s brothers and her sister have all made professional careers in music, too, as have others in the family. You met her niece, Aoife Scott, in this earlier episode of Sunday Sessions.
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