Darragh's Tribute Song to Gwydion and about his cooperation with Gwydion :
-but first an introduction about Darragh :
I have to add that Darragh is one of the few who succeeds to sing in a true bardic
way. When he sings lots of feelings open up. I never expected music with
such "openness" was still possible these days.
"The Grove where Gwydion Lies" - Darragh Nagle
"I wrote this rnusic as I heard it, from a chorus of invisible wood-nymphs, singing among the trees, when I had come to visit my dear departed friend Gwydion, in his final resting place, a grove in the trees at the Forever Forests sanctuary in the wooded hills of Northern Califomia.
In Albuquerque, New Mexico, we heard the news of Gwydion's death in a car accident. Some said he saw a deer in his headlights and swerved to avoid it. Some said it was a bad road. Some said he had a disagreement with someone, and they had run him off the road. Some said it was simply his time. Gwydion had recently spent much of his time in Albuquerque with our community. He had stayed with us for a time, and attended our festivals, we sang songs together around the fire. He had a gentle demeanor, and he wore natural fibre clothing. His smile was warm, and you always felt you were with a very nice, gentle, happy person when you were with him. He came over to my birthday party. I told him he should begin work on a second album, and he didn't think that would be for awhile. I persisted with help from a friend, and we convinced him to begin work on what would become 'The Faerie Shaman." Our whole community was shocked at the news of his death, and we held a ceremony to honour his passing.
A friend and I had travelled up the highway from San Francisco, and up the windy dirt road through the vinyards. lt is a twisty and narrow road, and we had to be very careful. I arrived at Forever Forests, the place where Gwydion lived in the mushroorn house, and held tree plantings each year to restore forest lands. Gwydion's friends and his lady were my hosts. We walked the hilly woods, covered with twisted oak trees with black bark, and on the forest floor there were leaves and plants and the occasional salamander crawling along.
When we came to the grove where Gwydion was laid to rest, I was very emotional, and I cried, for my dear friend and all the times we had shared, and all of the ceremonies we had done, and all the campouts, and songs sung. As I honoured the final resting place of my friend, I began to hear voices coming from the woods, singing a beautiful chorus to Gwydion. I knew the voices were corning through my mind, and I took a moment to memorize the harmony, then I wrote it down in my journal.
We stayed the night, and we were offered the mushroorn house, so I got to spend a night in my friend's home, which I thought would be a nice last sharing with him. The night was windy and spooky, with the sounds of animals down the road. The house was shaped like a mushroorn, with two stories. In the bottom were the general living rooms, and a little statue of a dragon-guard by the door. Upstairs was the bedroom, which also held a desk and a library. The night's sleep was fitful, and 1 had the impression that Gwydion was not happy about his death, he had wanted to go on living. I awoke from horrible nightmares about death, while it was still dark. My friend who was with me, awoke firom exactly the same dreams. We were so shaken, that we left a note for our hosts, thanking them and telling them that we had to leave, and then we drove away before the dawn.
Since then, I have remembered and honoured my friend Gwydion many times. Sometimes when I sing his songs, or write songs of my own, he seems to be present with me, and I can feel his gentle goodness.
Dragon Dreams* - Darragh Nagle
Girl begins to spin,
and her dragon dress has wings that fly upon the wind,
that fly, with her mother by her side, clapping hands to show her pride,
she sings upon the wind, she sings,
You may call the dragon when the dragon has come upon the wind
We dance the circle round, with stones set in the ground,
they come from long ago, they come and I look into the sky,
where the dragon does fly, and no-one else can see,
there is no one here but me
who can call the dragon when the dragon has come upon the wind, upon the wind
Girl begins to fly,
with her wings that touch the sky a new world has begun, a dawn
Girl begins to spin,
and her dragon dress has wings that fly upon the wind, that fly,
with her mother by her side, clapping hands to show her pride,
she sings upon the wind, she sings,
You may call the dragon when the dragon has come upon the wind,
upon the wind, upon the wind
© Darragh Naggle
* I wrote this song about a dream that I had. In the dream, we were all walking along the road, myself, teachers, lawyers, construction workers, people from all walks of life. A mother was watching her daughter, who was dancing in the most beautiful dragon dress. I looked to the sky, and I saw a dragon. I looked back at the people, and no-one else was aware of the dragon. I looked back at the dragon as it flew across the sky.
