Floras secret.. Only time.. to me time stands still here. Lets face the facts. Enya is second
only to U2 in the numbers …. The number of records sold. She has never done a live
concert. She is yet to get the publicity that she truly deserves. And yet her CDs and tapes
are sold like hot cakes. How can this be possible? This is to let y’all know that it is and
this is why.
There are some things in life, which are intensely personal. To have to share these with
anyone, is unacceptable. Yet, I will accept even this so that I can hear what I have heard and let people appreciate what I have. It does not matter so much anymore. It only goes down to a certain point. Enya’s songs are personal. They evoke in me feelings that might be different from those that you may feel. You might be bored straight. But to me, they give me hope, show me the light, comfort me, sing me to sleep, drive me to do better, and inspire me to reach out to do the best. And like me there are so many more to whom they might mean perhaps even more. That is why.
So why am I talking about it? Because I believe its time the world stood up and took notice of this wonderful singer. Its time for the rot to end. Its time for the britney spearses and the backstreet boys to go back to where they came from. From the back streets. They do not deserve to hold center stage when there is an Enya in this world. I just cannot believe that people even appreciate that music. Agreed. One or two songs were passable. Hummable. And to some extent recognizable, two years down the line. But, Do they deserve this kind of hype?
Take Enya’s newest offering, one of her biggest hit singles “Only time” and take this album “A day without Rain”, just as a case in point. I was in India when this album was out. I did not know it was released that day. Its not like publicized in magazines or anywhere else in the newspapers like in the US and elsewhere. Something just pulled me to the music store and there it was, right before my eyes. It was those days when a Rs.125 for a cassette was steep. Every International album was just being priced there. So also was this. It didn’t deter me. No second thoughts. I bought it then. When the world (perhaps not Enya’s ardent listeners) had not heard “Only time”, I was listening to it. It was and still is incredibly haunting.
Later in the United States, almost a year later I heard the song again by chance on the radio, and it so happened that it was being appreciated then almost a year after its release.
However, the sad thing to note was that this was the only song in the album that got noticed.
There is another gem here that is hardly noticed coz it glitters less. Flora’s secret. Roma Ryan who is the lyricist for Enya outdoes herself. I have always thought that her lyrics were good enough at times to match Enya’s vocals and at other times, they were hardly credible. However, she does full justice to this song and to the tune. It is almost magical that love and nature are so closely entwined in this song. It makes you feel like you are in this beautiful green spread of grass, which is soft beneath you and is giving you the comforts that love does. You will feel that Enya almost does justice to the lyrics, which she does to her credit. This is just pure magic. Listen to it if you can.
But these are the kind of songs that are made no more in this world. Its almost unfashionable to listen to them. Now if you were listening to a song by U2, you would have people coming up to say “dude.. What a song..”. U2 are a good band. I love their songs. With or without you. No disrespect. But dude, listen to these songs. Coz if you haven’t, you still haven’t found what you are looking for. And what more if you have read so far, you might as well give it a try. They are not rock songs. They are classified as NEW AGE. All of Enya’s songs.
And its not that these are the only two songs that are good. Tempus Vernum is another beautiful uplifting number. The emotions these songs evoke in us are different. To me, whenever I listen to this one number, it gives me the hope that come what may, we can find a way out.
And then Wild Child… It’s a look back into your childhood. This is a song that should make everyone smile, with the hope of a new day, with the innocence of a child, with the brightness of a morning, and with the warmth of the day. And then there is Lazy Days, this one is bound to make you dream. This song has this quality of a dream. Its real and yet it’s a dream. That is a contradiction that you should resolve. Whether it makes us feel real or whether it takes us into dreams.
Some of the other songs are in languages I don’t follow. But the music in all these songs is what keeps me listening. One by One is in English…. Pretty good track.. have’nt closely followed the rest.
Go to https://enya.com to listen to some of her songs. Ewoyn. This is to appreciate your effort. I was in Memphis one day playing one of her CDs. A big black guy who looks like one of those guys who listen to nothing but rap comes up to me, and says isn’t that Enya? He says that quietly and leaves with a smile. There is this undercurrent of passion that keeps flowing out of her music that keeps connecting people personally somewhere.
So, There you go. The world is listening. Are you? In appreciation of the efforts of Enya, who gives us her best. I hope she finds solace in some way, that she will get it back (the best efforts of the others and the appreciation) and I hope all those who listen to her will remember that we are in debt.
To Enya. To her creativity.