Let’s kick this thing off with the “First Lady of Irish Music,” Niamh Parsons performing a great original song by the Scottish singer-songwriter Andy M. Stewart. I’ve loved this song since I heard Déanta’s version on an episode of The Thistle and Shamrock Show back in the late 90s. I love Niamh’s singing, and I love her efforts to help others learn the songs she sings, so I think it’s only fitting that she’s first

Where Are You (Tonight I Wonder)

Where are you tonight I wonder
And where will you be tonight when I cry?
Will sleep for you come easy,
Though I alone can’t slumber
Will you welcome in the morning
At another man’s side?

How easy for you the years slipped under
And left me a shadow the sun can’t dispel
I built for you a tower of love and admiration
But I set you so high I could not reach myself.

I look through my window at a world filled with strangers
The face in my mirror is the one face I know
You have taken all that’s in me, so my heart is in no danger
My heart is in no danger, but I’d still like to know

If there is a silence then it can be broken
If there beats a pure heart to her I will go
And time will work its healing and the spirit will grow stronger
Ah, but in the meantime I’d still like to know.