"Magpie" lyrics - AOIFE O'DONOVAN

On a lark, I took a drive down a dark road
Toward the sign that said 'The West'
When I seen it, that glimmering green mark was all I needed
To feel you in the passenger seat
Humming I'm older

I feel your withered hand on my knee
Though I'm traveling alone
When we we were kids we'd pile in
And take the the same road toward the island in the West
We would run and skipping stones
Sinking lower than the evening sun
You were old man then
Getting older every day
And I can feel it then, those were diamond days
And I think I know where
Where you go when you die
You are the magpie
One sorrow, two for joy
Though I never pay no mind to the wire
All the birds that perched upon it
But now a bee's in my bonnet
I remember the country roads
Causeways and the dunes and
The magpie's lonely wail sounded like you

Now that I think that I know
Where we going when you die
You are the magpie

All the way from Clare, the Atlantic in our hair
A murder of crows flew over us
Early morning drive singing to pass the time
When you can shut the door and you can feel us
Coming around the bend, coming home again
Even the sky come down like this
When you go we will bury you along the same road
As the sun sets in the west
You on our shoulders we will lower you into the ground like a boulder
When a magpie lands on me humming a lonely
I feel your breath on my cheek though I'm alone