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He was stranded in a tiny town
On fair Prince Edward Isle,
A waitin' for a ship to come and find him.
A one-horse place, a friendly face,
Some coffee and a tiny trace
Of fiddlin' in the distance far behind him.
A dime across the counter then
A shy hello, a brand new friend
And a walk along the street in the wintry-weather.
A yellow light, an open door,
A "Welcome friend, there's room for more."
And then they're standing there inside together.
He said, I've heard that tune before somewhere,
But I can't remember when.
Was it on some other friendly shore
Or did I hear it on the wind?
Was it written on the sky above
Or did I hear it from someone I loved?
I never heard a sound so sweet since then.
And now his feet begin to tap.
A little boy says, "I'll take yer hat."
He's caught up in the magic of his smile.
Leap, the heart inside him went,
And off across the floor he sent
His clumsy body, graceful as a child.
He said, There's magic in the fiddler's arms,
And there's magic in this town.
There's magic in the dancers' feet
And the way they pull them down.
People smiling everywhere,
Boots and ribbons, locks of hair,
Laughter and old blue suits and Easter gowns.
The sailor's gone, the room is bare,
The old piano's sittin' there;
Someone's hat's left hanging on the rack.
Empty chairs and the wooden floor
That feels the touch of shoes no more,
Awaitin' for the dancers to come back.
The fiddle's in the closet of some
Daughter of the town.
The strings are broke, the bow is gone
And the cover's buttoned down;
But sometimes on December nights,
When the air is cold and the wind is right,
There's a melody that passes through the town.
The YouTube video above features a variant recorded by North Seas Gas (Folk Songs From Scotland — Various Artists, trk#15, 1999, Delta).
The YouTube video below features a live 1992 performance of a variant by Liam Clancy And Friends at the Olympia theatre in Dublin, Ireland.
