| Loreena McKennitt – Dante's Prayer Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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There are a lot of great ideas of the interpretation into the meaning of this song. I think, as will all music, the meaning for everyone is personal. It is the stirring of emotion in each of us that moves us when we hear music like this. I tried desperately for such a long time to find meaning for myself with regard to this song, and eventually I found it. However, I was fortunate enough to see Loreena in concert at Massey Hall in Toronto in the late 90's. Prior to her singing her songs, she would often relate to the listening audience what inspired her to write it. As best I can recall, this was her story for Dante's Prayer. As many of you know, Loreena travels the world extensively to find inspiration for her music and expose herself to different cultures. Wouldn't we all want to do this, given the chance? In any case, on the occasion of her inspiration for Dante's Prayer, she was riding on a trans - Siberian train and indeed reading The Divine Comedy. She recounted that since there was no dining car on the train, it would stop at various towns along the way and the riders were given exactly 20 minutes to leave the train and buy food from the locals who lived in the town and would come to the train to greet and sell to the passengers. This would have happened perhaps once or twice throughout the day. There was an attendant on the train, a woman, who would come around and seem very grumpy and rather miserable in general. At first, Loreena simply dismissed her demeanor as one of culture. One time, after Loreena had re-boarded the train after buying some food from locals, the woman came by. Loreena stopped her and gave her some of the food that she had bought, simply as an act of kindness. The woman remarked with a surprised smile and a countenance that reminded Loreena about the story that she was reading in the Divine Comedy. In that moment, she discovered her muse for the song and thought that she would never forget the look of gratitude on the attendants face, being sure that no one else had ever taken the time to consider the woman as she travelled back and forth, day after day, year after year through the dark harshness of Siberia. Loreena hoped that on some of those dark moments, the woman would remember her and perhaps return the smile to her face. And so the song was born. Now, go back and listen again to the song and think of this story and see what images it conjures for you. Enjoy! A BIG Loreena Fan |
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