[Intro — forest wind, leaves, distant fiddle] The path had vanished beneath the rain. The hills were silent. The trees remained. I walked beneath the ancient pines, alone beneath the evening sky. No human voice, no distant fire, only the forest watching me. [Female Gaelic Folk Voice — distant] An Ghillie Dhu... An Ghillie Dhu... Tha e 'na choille... Tha e 'na chadal... [Verse 1 — fragile clean male voice] The deeper that I walked, the darker grew the trees. The branches closed above me, the wind moved through the leaves. I found no road before me. I found no path behind. Yet something in the silence seemed to know my mind. A shadow crossed between the trees. I stopped and held my breath. Two eyes looked through the darkness, then vanished once again. [Verse 2 — guitars slowly enter] They told me of a forest man, a keeper of the wild. A lonely spirit hidden where the ancient forests rise. They called him Ghillie Dhu. They said he feared the crowd. He belonged to neither village nor the world beyond the trees. [Pre-Chorus — whispered] Do not follow the shadow. Do not call his name. Some things belong to forests and should remain untamed. [Chorus — clean male + harsh backing] The Ghillie Dhu, beneath the ancient trees. The Ghillie Dhu, where the wild winds breathe. He has no crown, he has no throne. The forest is his only home. The Ghillie Dhu, watching silently... between the roots, between the leaves. [Verse 3 — harsh male screams, dark folk rhythm] The storm rose through the valley. The mountain disappeared. The rain became a curtain. The darkness drew near. Then something moved beside me, faster than the wind. The branches bent around me, and suddenly I understood. I was not being hunted. I was being led. [Instrumental Passage — fiddle, low flute, tremolo guitars, forest ambience] [Distant wolf-like howl] [Bridge — quiet piano] He showed me where the water ran. He showed me where the old trees grew. He never spoke a single word. He never needed to. The forest had a language older than the human tongue. And I had finally learned to listen. [Female Gaelic Folk Voice] Coille dhomhainn... Coille shàmhach... Tha an seann spiorad fhathast ann... [Chorus — powerful, expansive] The Ghillie Dhu, beneath the ancient trees. The Ghillie Dhu, where the wild winds breathe. He has no crown, he has no throne. The forest is his only home. The Ghillie Dhu, guardian of the green. A shadow in the branches, a presence rarely seen. [Final Verse — fragile clean male voice] At dawn I found the valley. The road was clear again. No footprints marked the forest. No figure stood among the trees. But high above the heather, one raven crossed the sky. And somewhere in the woodland, I heard a distant cry. [Outro — almost whispered, fiddle and wind] I thought I had been lost... But perhaps the forest knew exactly where I was. [Female whisper] An Ghillie Dhu... [very distant male whisper] The forest remembers. [long natural fade — leaves, wind, distant fiddle] [End]
