the water is wide

Ah, the dangers of excessive time spent YouTubing. i seem to be on a bit of a spree today.

Here's a song i've loved ever since i first heard the tune in church several years ago - with Christian lyrics, of course, though i much prefer the traditional English lyrics featured here. My next encounter with it was on TicTacTone's website - it was somewhere in the soundclip archives, though i don't know if it's still there - and to this day, that is still my favourite version of the song: a haunting a cappella that hovered over still waters.

This version comes a very close second - i love the vocal harmonies against the guitars, and i love Sarah McLachlan's voice. What i like most about this song, though, is the quiet intensity of both the tune and the lyrics - it's so painful in its restraint. No loud hysterics, no melodramatic declarations - love, and be silent, indeed.

How perfectly suitable for people with a Cordelia complex.


The Water Is Wide
Traditional
This version: Indigo Girls, Jewel, Sarah McLachlan


The water is wide
I can't cross over
And neither I
Have wings to fly
Give me a boat
That can carry two
And both shall row
My love and I.

Love is gentle
Love is kind
The sweetest flower
When first it's new
But love grows old
And waxes cold
And fades away
Like morning dew.

There is a ship
That sails the sea
She's loaded deep
As deep can be
But not as deep
As the love I'm in
I know not how
I sink or swim.

The water is wide
I can't cross over
And neither I
Have wings to fly
Give me a boat
That can carry two
And both shall row
My love and I.
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