Clannad: Brave Enough

Like so many others, I discovered the Irish band Clannad through that most wonderful of television shows, Robin of Sherwood. I was already hooked by the premise, a Robin who was not merely a dashing brigand, but a force for justice fueled by Celtic and Saxon mysticism.

"They are all waiting. The blinded, the maimed, the men locked in the stinking dark, all wait for you. Children with swollen bellies hiding in ditches wait. The poor, the dispossessed, they all wait. You are their hope. You cannot escape. So must it be, Robin in the Hood!"

"Nothing's forgotten. Nothing is ever forgotten."

Clannad's soundtrack was the perfect accompaniment. It has long been a soundtrack to my own journey.

Clannad came out of a well deserved retirement recently, and they toured and released a new album. None of that magic was lost. I was especially moved by this one song, "Brave Enough", because it reminded me of the courage necessary to live even the most humble life with conviction and love, not just as an ideal, but in the practice of each and every day.

I imagine how well it would have fit right there on the old Robin of Sherwood soundtrack.

Clannad, "Brave Enough", from Nadur (2013)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqdVjdA3fxw

I will need to
Face what I've done
I will see through
I know what is wrong

Am I strong, will I fail
Am I brave enough today
Or will I fall, will I fail
Am I brave enough today

From not knowing
Where to begin
To the need for more
Gets under my skin

Am I strong, will I fail
Am I brave enough today
Or will I fall, will I fail
Am I brave enough to stay

Am I strong, will I fail
Am I brave enough today
Or will I fall, will I fail
Am I brave enough to say
That I'm not strong

I'll be right beside you
Be your light to guide you

So do I need you
What's done is done
And I can see through you
I've held on too long

Am I strong, will I fail
Am I brave enough today
Or will I fall, will I fail
Am I brave enough to say

I still need you

Written in 1/2014