(When I Beheld) The Green Land

from The Selkie: A Song of Many Waters by Fay Roberts

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about

Also known as "Seven Years' Exile", I wrote this song in either late 2001 or early 2002. It was my attempt, I guess, at a fake folk song. I was also very much in love at the time, so the original lyrics go on for ages and are a lot soppier in the middle. I cut out the middle for this rendition, and I think it's stronger.

It is the theme for the Scorpion Man.

lyrics

When I beheld the green land,
After time in the desert sere,
With the tears like rain upon my face,
I knew my home was here.

Chorus:
Seven years I’d wandered;
Seven years away.
Across the wide ocean blue,
To return someday.

When I first beheld my true love’s face
At the turning of the day,
I felt like I had come home
From longest time away.

Chorus:
Seven years I’d wandered;
Seven years astray.
Across the wide ocean blue,
To return someday.

I looked my lover in the eye
And I swear I heard him say:
I will be coming home, my love
Though I may be long away.

Chorus:
Seven years he’ll wander;
Seven years away.
Though many foreign seas he sails
He will return one day.

When I behold my lover’s face
I’ll hold it in my hands
And listen rapt with eyes aglow
To talk of foreign lands.
And then I’ll take him by the hand
And lead him to my bed
And he will know what’s in my heart
Without a word being said.

Chorus:
Seven years we’ll wander;
Seven years away.
Rocking on an ocean wild
And the world outside can wait
While we sail far away

credits

from The Selkie: A Song of Many Waters, released July 31, 2018

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