Maura O’Connell: “Summerfly” (1989)
This haunting folk ballad certainly deserves recognition here, where one of our main objectives is to give wider appreciation to great but lesser-known music.
The only difficult decision involved which version of the song to recognize–there are at least three excellent ones.
Cheryl Wheeler originally wrote the song, although her version wasn’t released until 1991, two years after O’Connell’s.
Chanteuse Hayley Westenra also released an excellent recording of “Summerfly” in 2007:
In another younger day I could dream the time away
In the universe inside my room
And the world was really mine from June till September
And if it wasn’t really so I was lucky not to know
And I was lucky not to wonder why
‘Cause the summertime is all that I remember
A summer fly was buzzin’ every night when I was young
In the gentle world my childlike senses knew
And the world was just my cousin, and the wind was just the tongue
In the voice my lonely moments listened to
And I look at me today all the dreams have gone away
And I am where I never thought I’d be
Seein’ things I never thought I’d see happen to me
And I lay awake at night till the darkness turns to light
Hearin’ voices callin’ out my name
Callin’ over and again the same message to me
Cryin’ who’s your partner, who’s your darlin’, who’s your baby now?
Who wakes up at night to pull you in?
It don’t matter, you’ll just make him lonely anyhow
Don’t know why you even try to win
Cryin’ who’s your partner, who’s your darlin’, who’s your baby now?
Who wakes up at night to pull you in?
It don’t matter, you’ll just make her lonely anyhow
Don’t know why you even try to win
Every Moment Has A Song 