The Calling Lyrics
Méav Ní MhaolchathaMusic Video
The Calling
So many paths not taken
So many words unsaid
Though I travel far, they bind me
In a web of golden thread
Ooh ooh ooh ooh... Ooh ooh ooh...
Ooh ooh ooh ooh.. Ooh ooh ooh...
[Verse omitted by the artist:]
I can hear a far-off calling
As the water flows ahead
I am waiting for the river-man
In the hidden riverbed
On the bank, three women passing
They measure time for me
In the mirror of the water
They can but darkly see
I will walk beyond the meadows
With a child in either hand
Through the river’s many shadows
We will pass from land to land
Ooh ooh ooh ooh.. Ooh ooh ooh...
Ooh ooh ooh ooh.. Ooh ooh ooh...
All the promises unspoken
Lie like fallen leaves on the ground
But the thread is still unbroken
And the hidden may be found
When the wheeling birds are leaving
They pass the sinking sun
We will travel with the river-man
Until time and time is run.
Ooh ooh ooh ooh... Ooh ooh ooh...
Ooh ooh ooh ooh... Ooh ooh ooh...
Ooh ooh ooh ooh... Ooh ooh ooh...
Ooh ooh ooh ooh... Ooh ooh ooh...
Song Details
🎶 Songwriter: Méav Ní Mhaolchatha - Irish singer, songwriter and recording artist who excels in traditional Irish music. As a founding member of Celtic Woman, she contributed to the ensemble's success, selling over six million albums. Her solo works have ranked in the Billboard World Music Top 10. Méav is multilingual, performing in English, Irish, French, Latin, Italian, and German.
📅 Date: 2013
📝 Song Brief: The Calling is a reflective, poetic song blending Irish mythic imagery with themes of motherhood, destiny, and the quiet passage of time. The lyrics follow a narrator who hears a distant summons — a spiritual pull that leads her along a river where memory, fate, and the future intertwine.
The following is an excerpt from a review by an Amazon customer in relation to the song:
"The Calling" shows Méav's expertise in writing beautiful thoughts in songs. In this song, Méav speaks of the passage of time which will take place in all of our lives. She takes her children, one in each hand, and takes them through the meadows and from land to land. This song, the title song, brilliantly takes us all with her on a journey through life. Méav is amazing with putting her thoughts in words and this song truly shows that she is brilliant in doing so.📖 Glossary:
- river‑man — A symbolic guide or guardian associated with the river — a figure who leads the traveller forward through life’s unseen paths. Not a literal person, but a poetic presence representing destiny, intuition, or spiritual guidance.
- golden thread — A metaphor for the bonds that connect us — memory, love, fate, or the ties between generations. The “thread” suggests something delicate yet unbroken, guiding the narrator through time and experience.
- three women — Mysterious figures on the riverbank who “measure time.” They echo mythic archetypes found in many traditions — women who watch over fate, memory, and the passage of life. In the song, they represent time’s quiet, watchful presence.
- wheeling birds — Birds circling in the sky as they migrate at sunset. Their movement marks a turning point — a moment of transition, departure, or change. In the song, they signal that the journey with the river‑man is about to begin.
🎻 Genre: Folk
🎤 Featured Artist: Méav Ní Mhaolchatha
💿 Album The Calling
Released: Aug 23, 2013
Country: UK
Format: CD, Album, Digipak
Label: Warner Music
