Ghost Story (The Bean Nighe)

from Still by Larry Mindel

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about

In Scottish folklore The Bean Nighe is a grotesque washerwoman you might meet on a dark night by water. She's washing clothes - which might be yours, and they might be soaked in blood.... or not.

I spend much of my time in the Hebrides, and Ghost Story imagines a walk out as night falls on my local moorland by the sea. The rest is history...

By buying my music, you are donating to Long Covid research, and helping support groups. All money you spend (net of basic costs) goes on to Long Covid causes. I appreciate your contribution. Thank you!

lyrics

It was the dark time
It was a grey light
There was no sea and no shore
The mist was falling
The damp was rising
I could still see my feet on Saligo Moor
My heart was weary
My body ached to my bones
My eyes turned bleary
I’d no way home
La la la la, la la la laa la
No way home

The rain beat on my back now
My heart beat in my breast
I sat a while and I fell to sleep
When I awoke there
An old woman stood over me
You could hear the heavens weep
My soul was fading
Hope pared and alone
I felt her spirit breath upon my head
I’d no way home
La la la la, la la la laa la
No way home

She said ‘Have faith now
I cannot guide you
One way lies the sea – the other home
Choose the right way
You’ll be safe and dry soon
The wrong way – I’ll have your wet bloody clothes’
There we stood, she, the stream and me
She smiled coldly, wrung her hands like stone
I trusted my life to destiny
Knowing I’d no way home
La la la la, la la la laa la
No way home

credits

from Still, released November 11, 2022
Written by Larry Mindel

Played by Larry Mindel (guitar, vocals), Alastair Gavin (piano, keyboards), PJ Ciarla (drums) and Matteo Galesi (bass, all other instruments)

Produced, arranged and mixed by Matteo Galesi

Recorded at Cowshed Studios and elsewhere in London, Islay and Barcelona

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Larry Mindel London, UK

Larry has been living with Long Covid throughout 2022.

Proceeds go to Long Covid causes.

Larry Mindel makes music for the ages that draws on folk and jazz traditions.

Geographic and human landscapes come together - in Antarctica, a wetlands in New Zealand, the Australian outback, the lowlands of Suffolk, the remote islands of the Scottish Hebrides.... ... more

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