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Thread: The Ferryman

  1. #1

    The Ferryman

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    The Ferryman - Ralph McTell

    Oh, the traveller moving on the land, behold I give you, I give you the travelling man.
    And he's very heavy laden with the questions in his burden.
    Lo, and I give you the travelling man.
    He has crossed the mountains, he has forded streams.
    He has spent a long time surviving on his dreams.
    Many times he's tried to lighten up his heavy load.
    But his compromises fail him and he ends back on the road.

    Oh the traveller he is weary, the travelling man he is tired.
    For the road is never ending in his fear he has cried aloud for a saviour
    And in vain for a teacher, someone to lighten up the load
    And he's heard the sounds of war in a gentle shower of rain
    And the whisperings of despair that he could not explain.
    The reason for his journey, or the reason it began
    Or was there any reason for the travelling man.

    At last he reached a river so beautiful and wide
    But the current was so strong he could not reach the other side
    And the weary travelling man looked for a ferryman strong enough to row against the tide,
    And the ferryman was old but he moved the boat so well,
    Or did the river move the boat? The traveller could not tell.
    Said the ferryman, "You're weary and the answers that you seek,
    Are in the singing river, listen humbly it will speak."

    Oh, the traveller closed his eyes and he listened and he heard
    Only the river murmuring and the beating of his heart.
    Then he heard the river laughing, and he heard the river crying
    And in it was the beauty and the sadness of the world
    And he heard the sounds of dying, but he heard the sounds of birth
    And slowly his ears heard all the sounds of earth.
    The sounds blended together and they became a whole
    And the rhythm was his heartbeat to the music his soul.

    And the river had no beginning, as it flowed into the sea
    And the seas filled the clouds and the rains filled the streams
    And as slowly as the sunrise, he opened up his eyes
    To find the ferryman had gone, the boat moved gently on the tide.
    And the river flowed within him, and with it he was one
    And the seas moved around the earth, and the earth around the sun.
    And the traveller was the river, was the boat and ferryman,
    Was the journey and the song that the singing river sang.

  2. #2

    Re: The Ferryman

    Pontus,

    These lyrics are so true and capture the reality of this other shore.
    Thank you so much for this present.

    gassho


    Taigu

  3. #3

    Re: The Ferryman

    Fantastic lyrics. Thank you for sharing.

  4. #4

    Re: The Ferryman

    I woke up feeling a bit of a burden from recent events. My heart also needed to hear the river, and this song was the ferryman. Thank you.

    Gassho, J

  5. #5

    Re: The Ferryman

    I found this song by accident (if anything happens by accident). Somehow certain truths are best told through music, as it speaks though our delusions and directly to our heart. These lyrics gave me a profound moment of realization and I felt I had to share this song with the rest of you.

    Gassho,
    Pontus

  6. #6

    Re: The Ferryman

    I have decided to make this song's lyrics and message the subject of the little talk during our monthly Zazenkai tomorrow ...

    viewtopic.php?f=11&t=3596

  7. #7
    Yugen
    Guest

    Re: The Ferryman

    really beautiful and will reread many times.

    Thank you, and

    Gassho,
    Yugen

  8. #8

    Re: The Ferryman

    This is beautiful.

    Thank you

  9. #9

    Re: The Ferryman

    wow..incredible lyrics..very inspiring! thank you

  10. #10

    Re: The Ferryman

    Hi all,

    I found a reference claiming McTell (English, not Irish by the way) wrote the song after reading Herman Hesse's Siddhartha:

    http://annaecarpenter.blogspot.com/2010 ... artha.html

    Hard to know how accurate that is, but thought it was interesting nonetheless.

    Gassho,
    Dosho

  11. #11
    Treeleaf Unsui Shugen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Redding California USA

    Re: The Ferryman

    Quote Originally Posted by Dosho
    Hi all,

    I found a reference claiming McTell (English, not Irish by the way) wrote the song after reading Herman Hesse's Siddhartha:

    http://annaecarpenter.blogspot.com/2010 ... artha.html

    Hard to know how accurate that is, but thought it was interesting nonetheless.

    Gassho,
    Dosho
    When I read the lyrics, I immediately thought of Herman Hesse's novel.

    Ron

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