Into the West - Danny O’Keefe / Bicameral Songs, administered by Wild Rider Music / BMI

Like wild geese we all have flown
Those ancient lands we once called home
So many mother’s only sons
So many lover’s only ones
Gone away like all the rest
To find our fortunes in the west

Still a fire will always burn
A voice in the heart that cries return
Those emerald hills so far away
Will haunt us back again some day

The river’s long, the water’s wide
The west begins on the other side
Put a skip in your step now
Dry a tear from your eye
Turn around and wave goodbye
Brave the currents of time and tide
Till you’re safe on the other side
It’s a wild dream that never rests
It calls us all into the west

What takes us into mystery
We leave behind to history
Like every sun that rose at dawn
Into the west we all have gone

Still a fire will always burn
A voice in the heart that cries return
Those emerald hills so far away
Will haunt us back again some day

The river’s long, the water’s wide
The west begins on the other side
Put a skip in your step now
Dry a tear from your eye
Turn around and wave goodbye
Brave the currents of time and tide
Till you’re safe on the other side
It’s a wild dream that never rests
It calls us all into the west

- The great Danny O’Keefe wrote Into the West. In many cultures including the Irish, the notion of going to the west, like the setting sun, signifies death. In the case of the famine era Irish, those that remained home would hold a “wake” for those about to emigrate. It was an extreme formal goodbye, as most would not return in their lifetime, and they were symbolically dying to their home community with their departure. Danny’s beautiful lyric and wistful music really grab the emotions.