Stolen Child

Loreena McKennitt's 'Stolen Child' is a hauntingly beautiful adaptation of W.B. Yeats' poem, blending ethereal music with evocative lyrics to create a mesmerizing experience. The song tells the story of a faery inviting a human child to leave the sorrowful human world and join the mystical, carefree realm of the faeries. The imagery of nature, with its rocky highlands, leafy islands, and moonlit waves, paints a vivid picture of an enchanting, otherworldly place that contrasts sharply with the mundane and sorrowful human existence.

The recurring chorus, 'Come away, O human child, to the waters and the wild, with a faery, hand in hand, for the world's more full of weeping than you can understand,' serves as a poignant reminder of the pain and suffering inherent in the human world. The faery's invitation is both a promise of escape and a gentle lament for the innocence lost in the face of life's hardships. The faery world, with its olden dances, mingling glances, and frothy bubbles, represents a timeless, joyful existence free from the anxieties and troubles that plague humanity.

The song also touches on themes of innocence and the loss thereof. The human child, described as 'solemn-eyed,' is lured away from the familiar comforts of home, such as the lowing of calves and the warmth of the hearth, to a place where even the trout are given 'unquiet dreams.' This juxtaposition highlights the tension between the allure of the faery world and the inevitable sorrow of leaving behind the known and loved. McKennitt's haunting melody and Yeats' poignant words combine to create a powerful meditation on the desire to escape from the world's sorrows and the bittersweet nature of such a departure.