The Gates of Dawn

All our music is written as instrumentals, but some of the melodies naturally lend themselves to words. This piece was originally arranged as a simple folk-tone, but gradually started to shape-change, asserting itself into a vocal song. Brendan Graham's imagery and Karen Matheson's vocal (recorded in Capercaillie's studio in Glasgow), transport us to the Gates of dawn, where we are imbued with a sense of wonder and spiritually uplifted out of the ordinary of life. The simple chorus, with its sing-along melody, contrasts with the distant, dawn chorus of the middle-part, performed by Anúna.

Lyrics by Brendan Graham

The wheels of life keep turning,
Spinning without control.
The wheels of the heart keep yearning
For the sound of the singing soul;

And nights are full with weeping
For sins of the past we've sown
But tomorrow is ours for the keeping
Tomorrow the future's shown.

CHORUS:
Lift your eyes and see the glory,
Where the circle of life is drawn;
See the never-ending story,
Come with me to the gates of dawn.

And whose is the hand who rises
The sun from the heaving sea?
The power that ever amazes
We look, but never will see.

Who scattered the seeds so life could be,
Who coloured the fields of corn?
Who formed the mould that made me - me
Before the world was born?

CHORUS:
Lift your eyes and see the glory,
Where the circle of life is drawn;
See the never-ending story,
Come with me to the gates of dawn.

Lift your eyes and see the glory,
Where the circle of life is drawn;
See the never-ending story,
Come with me to the gates of dawn.

© 2001 Universal Music Norway / Acorn Music, Ireland