Name: The Selkie Bride
Duration: P00H05M28S
Description: The first time I went to Summersongs songwriting camp I was challenged to write a song about a woman who abandons her children. I couldn’t do it. A couple of months later I saw John Sayles’ movie “The Secret of Roan Inish” which was based on the Scottish/Irish myth of the Selkie Seal. Suddenly everything clicked.

The Selkie Bride

from RISE by Elaine Mahon

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about

The first time I went to Summersongs songwriting camp I was challenged to write a song about a woman who abandons her children. I couldn’t do it. A couple of months later I saw John Sayles’ movie “The Secret of Roan Inish” which was based on the Scottish/Irish myth of the Selkie Seal. Suddenly everything clicked.

lyrics

The Selkie Bride
© 2009 Mary Elaine Mahon & Tom Nelly/Six Pelicans Publishing (BMI)

Silver slipstream through dark water
Slides upon the shore
Sheds her skin, those dark eyes shining
Him they do implore

Lonely boy on the cliff above her
Spies her bathing there
Never has he seen such beauty
It’s more than he can bear

(Chorus) He feels the tugging of love undenied
Breaking inside him like waves
Scrambling down to the rocks way below
He fell within her gaze

Into her eyes he stares with wonder
Windows to the deep
Wraps his shawl of wool around her
Steals her skin to keep

(Chorus) He feels the tugging of love undenied
Breaking inside him like waves
Launching his skiff on the incoming tide
A Selkie bride he takes

She bore him three sons and
Two dark comely daughters
A loving wife she did make
But strange was her gaze
And unearthly her singing
Beneath the moon she would bathe

(Chorus) She feels the tugging of love and of tides
Breaking inside her like waves
Today her young children found her Selkie hide
In the attic hid away

(Part 2)
So she flew like the wind to claim her Selkie skin
Fled straightaway down to the rocky shore
There she dove into the sea and as a seal swam free
Beyond the breakers, turned her gaze once more

Though she was held against her will;
even so, she loves them still
But they’ll wait in vain and for them she will yearn
And then she’ll turn

Silver slipstream through dark water

credits

from RISE, track released January 29, 2013
Lead Vocals: Elaine Mahon
Harmony Vocals: Penny Nichols & Elaine Mahon
Acoustic Guitar: Elaine Mahon & Gabe Valla
Bass: Lon Williamson
Cello: Hannah Alkire

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Elaine Mahon Gainesville, Florida

With her 2017 release, REACH FOR THE STARS, Elaine Mahon has written a collection of songs that evoke a sense of wonder while inspiring hope and offering empowerment. Mahon's songs reflect her perspective as an astronomer, while remaining deeply rooted in the natural world we all live in. Mahon performs solo at festivals, venues and house concerts in Florida and throughout the Southeastern US. ... more

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