Artists
Enya – vocals, keyboards
Neil Buckley – clarinet
Written by Enya & Roma Ryan. Arranged by Enya & Nicky Ryan, produced by Nicky Ryan, co-produced by Enya & Ross Cullum, mixed by Ross Cullum, with Rob Dickins as executive producer. Recorded 1987–88 at Aigle Studio (Killiney, County Dublin) and Orinoco/Miloco Studios (London). The third track (3:59) on Watermark (WEA, 19 September 1988).
The track was first recorded with wordless vocals before Rob Dickins suggested lyrics, in particular poetry by Wilfred Owen, which led Roma Ryan to write a set of words inspired by Owen’s style. Nicky Ryan has explained that the clarinet solo exists because Enya sang that line on the demo and it clearly needed to be played on clarinet, though he never expected the clarinet and the title to invite comparisons with Acker Bilk’s “Stranger on the Shore.”
Enya – On Your Shore Lyrics
Strange how my heart beats
To find myself upon your shore.
Strange how I still feel
My loss of comfort gone before.
Cool waves wash over
And drift away with dreams of youth
So time is stolen
I cannot hold you long enough.
And so this is where I should be now
Days and nights falling by
Days and nights falling by me.
I know of a dream I should be holding
Days and nights falling by
Days and nights falling by me.
Soft blue horizons
Reach far into my childhood days
As you are rising
To bring me my forgotten ways.
Strange how I falter
To find I’m standing in deep water
Strange how my heart beats
To find I’m standing on your shore.
To listen to other songs from the the Teleskop 24 program click here.