Lyrics

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Out on the Mira one warm afternoon Old men go fishing with black line and spoon And if they catch nothing they never complain I wish I was with them again As boys in their boats call to girls on the shore Teasing the one that they really adore And into the evening the courting begins I wish I was with them again Chorus: Can you imagine a piece of the universe More fit for princes and kings? I'll give you ten of your cities For Marion Bridge and the pleasure it brings Out on the Mira on soft summer nights Bonfires blaze to the children's delight They dance round the flames singing songs with their friends I wish I was with them again And over the ashes the stories are told Of witches and werewolves and Oak Island gold The stars on the river they sparkle and spin I wish I was with them again Chorus Out on the Mira the people are kind They'll treat you to home-brew and help you unwind And if you come broken they'll see that you mend I wish I was with them again And thus I conclude with a wish you go well Sweet be your dreams, may your happiness swell I'll leave you here, for my journey begins I'm going to be with them, going to be with them I'm going to be with them again Allister MacGillivray (© Cabot Trail Music SOCAN)

'Song for the Mira'. Contemporary folk song in the Celtic style, written in 1973 by Allister MacGillivray. Its lyrics speak of a longing for, and eventual return to, the serenity of the Mira River region of Cape Breton, NS. The song, published by Cabot Trail Music, was included in 1976 by John Allan Cameron on his LP Weddings, Wakes & Other Things (repackaged as Song For the Mira, Glencoe GMI-003). In 1979 it was the title piece of a folio of MacGillivray songs issued by New Dawn Enterprises of Sydney. A version released in 1980 by the Garrison Bros on the LP Songs and Stories (Boot BOS-7214) proved the keynote interpretation locally, establishing the measured quality that has made the song something of an anthem in Nova Scotia. By 1990 the song had been recorded over 40 times. Its other Canadian interpreters have included Anne Murray (who brought the song to attention outside Canada), Terry Kelly, and Matt Minglewood. The song also has been sung widely in Ireland and, as arranged by Stuart Calvert for the Elmer Iseler Choral Series (Thompson 1985), by choirs internationally. (A Dutch version of the Calvert arrangement has the title 'Toch moet er een uitweg bestaan'.) Recordings by Brendan Grace and Brendan Shine were hits in Ireland in 1983; versions have been released by several other Irish singers including Phil Coulter, Foster & Allen, Mary O'Hara, and Frank Patterson. Choral recordings have been made by the Cantabile Chorale, the Men of the Deeps, and the Toronto Children's Chorus.