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Lyr Add: Shades of Gloria (Gerry O'Beirne)

01 Apr 00 - 08:38 PM (#205385)
Subject: Lyr Add: SHADES OF GLORIA (Gerry O'Beirne)
From: Mbo

Ok, I was listening the Gerry O' Beirne's song "Shades of Gloria" that Maura O'Connell sings so well. There are a few things in the song that I'm having trouble understanding. First, what does "Shades of Gloria" exaclty mean? And also there is a line about "Micho in his prime." Who is Micho?

Here are the lyrics:

I am going to the country, going down that verdant lane
With nothing but a whistle in my hand and a pocketful of rain
Can you hear that distant sound coming down the West Clare Railway?
Running with the shades of gloria

The wind is full of memories that murmur and sigh
Hills lie in the foaming grass of Clare below the cold moon's eye
But you should come and see them now when they are on fire
And running with the shades of gloria

And the waves roll at the headland when the tide is rising there
And here there is starlight falling down on the hills of Clare
I knew them when I was hungry and I knew them when I was scared
And running with the shades of gloria

And I am going to the country where Micho in his prime
Weaves a thread of melody in his own sweet time
You can hear him sing and whistle anytime you care
To go running with the shades of gloria.

I am going to the country going down that verdant lane
With nothing but a whistle in my hand and a pocketful of rain
Can you hear that distant sound coming down the West Clare Railway?
Running with the shades of gloria

--Mbo

17 Jul 00 - 11:30 PM (#259750)
Subject: RE: Help: Shades of Gloria
From: GUEST,ausband5@yahoo.com

Hi. I love that song as well. I may be wrong, but the "MICHO" you refer to I took to be Michael, the man who is singing and whistling in the song. Hope that helps.

17 Jul 00 - 11:38 PM (#259753)
Subject: RE: Help: Shades of Gloria
From: catspaw49

You're kidding right? I mean really? We need to work on your romantic lingo...........

Until then, just consider that he stole her Venetian blinds.................

Spaw

17 Jul 00 - 11:40 PM (#259755)
Subject: RE: Help: Shades of Gloria
From: GUEST,Barry Finn

I don't know about the "Shades of Gloria" but Micho would most likely be Micko Russell, singer, whistle player & character of high renown. He used to sell whistles to the tourists near the high cliffs..... better let someone who knows far more than I, take this up, I know so little of this big man. Barry

17 Jul 00 - 11:41 PM (#259757)
Subject: RE: Help: Shades of Gloria
From: Brendy

Miko Russell, I would think he was talking about (sometimes spelt Micho), tin whistle extrodinaire, and now tragically gone from us

As for 'Gloria' - haven't a clue. Something to do with Van Morrison, perhaps?

B.

17 Jul 00 - 11:44 PM (#259758)
Subject: RE: Help: Shades of Gloria
From: Mbo

Possibly! Thanks for the info! Gloria isn't capitalized in any of the lyrics, so it's NOT a woman's name. Maybe it's just a hard concept to understand. Gerry's "The Lights of San Francisco" is a bit hard to grasp as well...

--Mbo

18 Jul 00 - 12:14 AM (#259776)
Subject: RE: Help: Shades of Gloria
From: GUEST,Fiachra

Perhaps 'The Gloria'

A Catholic prayer in the Tridentine Mass.

Often heard coming down the tracks of the West Clare Railway, especially on a Sunday Morning

18 Jul 00 - 12:27 AM (#259780)
Subject: RE: Help: Shades of Gloria
From: Gary T

I'm reaching, here, Mbo, but.....in Roman mythology, the spirits of the dead were called shades (one meaning of shade in the dictionary is ghost), and Hades was euphemistically called shades (plural construed as singular). The lyrics you posted seem to refer at least partly to a dead man, so there's a bit of a fit there. Gloria is a little more troubling, but I would speculate it is an attempt to approximate heaven, thus making the phrase "shades of gloria" mean "spirits of the good afterlife" more than "spectres of the underworld".

I suspect only the songwriter knows for sure.

16 Oct 13 - 01:42 AM (#3567297)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Shades of Gloria
From: GUEST,Ken G.

Has anyone asked Gerry?

29 Jul 16 - 02:23 PM (#3802629)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Shades of Gloria (Gerry O'Beirne)
From: GUEST

Don't ruin the mystery. Just sing.

29 Jul 16 - 02:50 PM (#3802633)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Shades of Gloria (Gerry O'Beirne)
From: Felipa

really has to be Micho Russell

I wonder if Gloria was the name of the driver (Micho died in a road traffice accident)

29 Jul 16 - 02:54 PM (#3802634)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Shades of Gloria (Gerry O'Beirne)
From: Felipa

from a Maura O'Connell page - "' Gerry replied to clevelandg via email, saying:

"Shades as in both kinds and also ghosts. Gloria as in spirituality or magic or meaning.
Hope that helps you.' "