THE VOICE

‘I am the Voice…I will remain’

The Voice was the winning song of the Eurovision Song Contest 1996, performed by Eimear Quinn for Ireland. This victory marked Ireland’s fourth win in five years (and seventh overall), reinforcing its dominance in the 1990s.

The Voice was subsequently added to the GCSE music syllabus throughout Britain, confirming its status as a song to learn – and a song to learn from.

THE VOICE REVISITED

‘I am the voice...of the future’

Song 4 on my album The Arrow of Time is The Voice Revisited

On a walk in the Dublin mountains, I one day heard a voice on the wind. It told me its elemental story, its history, its hopes, all set to a repetitive rhythmic motif. I called the ensuing song The Voice and though, not a Eurovision-type song, again, as with Rock ‘n’ Roll Kids, that was its appeal to me. At an ANÚNA Christmas concert, I heard Eimear Quinn perform Winter, Fire & Snow (Woods/Graham) and sensed that she could bring listeners to that elemental place from whence the song first sprang. With a support band of traditional musicians and Bill Whelan’s stirring arrangement, Eimear did bring The Voice home for Ireland in the 1996 Eurovision Song Contest. It is a great joy that Eimear now has joined me in what was her suggestion to make this comhrá version of the song for this recording.

Lyrics

I hear your voice on the wind,

And I hear you call out my name...

‘Listen, my child!’ you say to me,

‘I am The Voice of your history,

Be not afraid – come follow me,

Answer my call and I’ll set you free.’

I am The Voice in the wind and the pouring rain:

I am The Voice of your hunger and pain:

I am The Voice that always is calling you:

I am The Voice – I will remain.

I am The Voice in the fields when the summer’s gone:

The dance of the leaves when the autumn winds blow:

Ne’er do I sleep throughout all the cold winter long -

I am the force that in springtime will grow.

I am The Voice of the past that will always be,

Filled with my sorrows and blood in my fields:

I am The Voice of the future...

Bring me your peace - bring me your peace, and

my wounds they will heal.

I am The Voice in the wind and the pouring rain:

I am The Voice of your hunger and pain:

I am The Voice that always is calling you:

I am The Voice.

I am The Voice of the past that will always be:

I am The Voice of your hunger and pain:

I am The Voice of the future...

I am The Voice...I am The Voice...I am The Voice......

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Eimear Quinn

Eimear Quinn

“In 2018 I had the enormous pleasure of hearing the singer Eimear Quinn performing at the St Patrick's Day dinner I attended in London. The Voice is the song, written by Brendan Graham and very Celtic in its feel, with which Eimear won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1996”

-King Charles III

"Singing 'The Voice' has been an endless blessing in my life. The premise of the song, and its lyrical construction, renders me a messenger. The reality, after singing it hundreds of times, is that it now actually 'sings' me, and I'm simply the conduit. Rather than tiring from singing the same song, it has become more hypnotic and freeing with each performance" 

-Eimear Quinn

Praise for The Voice

“It was difficult to be left unmoved by the brooding traditional melody”.

— The Irish Times

“The Voice is still requested…demanded. It has been a gift to me…a blessing.”

— Eimear Quinn

“Haunting Gaelic inspired song”

— Herald Tribune, NY

“‘The thing about The Voice, whatever way the song is structured it has its own internal energy and vibration I would say…it’s like it sings itself’”

— Marty Whelan, RTE Lyric FM

“The Voice scored Ireland its fourth victory at the Eurovision in five years and remains a beloved song on these shores and beyond. In 2021 in a national radio broadcast, HRH Prince Charles listed 'The Voice' among his all-time favourite songs alongside tracks by Diana Ross, Edith Piaf, Barbra Streisand, and Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers’”

— Hot Press