[Intro 8] (uilleann pipes play a slow air E Aeolian alone for 4 bars, lead female voice enters wordless, low and breathy, keening over the pipes) Oooohhhhh... Oooohhhhh... [Verse 1 12] (lead female voice alone, Celtic harp drone underneath, fiddle sparse, sean-nós delivery, low and close, long pauses between lines) The fire was warm. Then it wasn't. My father's hand. Then it wasn't. The frost had teeth. He said: Don't. [Pre-Chorus 6] (lead female voice alone, bodhrán enters as heartbeat on beats 1 and 3 only, fiddle enters, voice shifts from sean-nós into chest voice, rising) Stay down. Don't look. Hold my hand. Don't breathe. When the Hunt passes over you will not go with them. [Chorus 10] (lead female voice full chest belt, gang male harmonies underneath on the hook lines only, full band, reel rhythm driving) The hounds came down across the moor! (gang underneath: Across the moor!) The horses rode the winter wind! (On the winter wind!) My father's hand was holding mine! (Holding mine!) He did not let me go! (He did not let me go!) [Reel Break 6] (fiddle and pipes trade phrases in a full reel, bodhrán driving, lead female voice enters bar 2 with wordless keen over the top, higher than intro, more present) Ah—ah—ah—ah... Ah—ah—ah—ah... [Verse 2 8] (lead female voice alone, Celtic harp and fiddle underneath, sean-nós, low and close) A hand. A voice like frozen water. One of us. My father stood. A nail in my palm. A grain of salt. He closed my fingers. He said: [Pre-Chorus 6] (lead female voice alone, fiddle and bodhrán building, voice rises from sean-nós into chest voice) Run. Don't look back. Take the fire. I will hold the gate. And he turned. And he walked into the Hunt. [Chorus 10] (lead female voice belt maximum, gang male harmonies underneath on the hook lines, louder than first chorus but still below her, full band, reel rhythm driving harder) The hounds came down across the moor! (gang underneath: Across the moor!) The horses rode the winter wind! (On the winter wind!) My father's hand let go of mine! (Let go of mine!) He did not let me go! (He did not let me go!) [Bridge 10] (lead female voice alone with Celtic harp only, A Aeolian, instruments drop into a jig rhythm, she continues in sean-nós over the jig, voice breaks then steadies) I ran. I ran until the frost was gone. I ran until the hounds were gone. I ran until I could not hear his voice. But I still hear him. [Silence: 1s] [Final Chorus 14] (lead female voice maximum belt, full band, reel rhythm at full drive, father's ghost harmony enters on the final lines blending with her voice, gang underneath on hook lines) The hounds came down across the moor! (gang underneath: Across the moor!) The horses rode the winter wind! (On the winter wind!) My father's hand is holding mine! (Holding mine!) He did not let me go! (He did not let me go!) (father's ghost harmony enters, two voices together) He did not let me go! (He did not let me go!) He did not let me go! (He did not let me go!) [Outro 6] (uilleann pipes return, slowed, lead female voice and father's ghost harmony sing together, wordless, duet, broken, fading) Oooohhhhh... (He did not let me go...) Oooohhhhh... (He did not let me go...) (fade)
