A Song for Tim

John McCutcheon's Song "Starlight"

This is a song I was learning last summer for a friend in the states. I intended to send it to him but he passed away suddenly and now I have to just sing this song to the stars.

All the best, Tim!

When the sky was new and the night was endless
And the world and we were young
The old ones strung the stars into stories
And a tale took every tongue
"See the North Star and the Great Bear
There's Orion, the hunter, on the horizon over there
Every once in a while he lets fly an arrow
And in the darkness some lost star is hurled" And they sang...


Starlight, star bright
First star that I see tonight
I wish I may I wish I might
Have my dreams come true

Starlight, star bright
First star that I see tonight
I wish I may I wish I might
Have my dreams come true

Out on the sea, with her sails a-billow,
A ship plows a lonely line
Out on the foredeck the eye of a sailor
Searches the heavens for a sign
"If I sight true and I sail right
"Keep the Cross on my shoulder and Polaris in sight
"We'll be safe in the harbor tomorrow night!"
The moon, like a beacon, does shine

Starlight, star bright
First star that I see tonight
I wish I may I wish I might
Have my dreams come true

Starlight, star bright
First star that I see tonight
I wish I may I wish I might
Have my dreams come true

And so, tonight, like some homesick sailor,
We too search the heavens for a sign
And, like my mother's own mother, I trace out the stories
To this young voyageur at my side
And we reach out and we dream long
We tell our tales, we sing our songs
And, like ancient stargazers, we travel along
On this midnight mystery ride

Starlight, star bright
First star that I see tonight
I wish I may I wish I might
Have my dreams come true

Starlight, star bright
First star that I see tonight
I wish I may I wish I might
Have my dreams come true

And it's one world and one sky
We get one time we get one try
And each generation it's the same question, "Why?"

Starlight, star bright
First star that I see tonight
I wish I may I wish I might
Have my dreams come true

Starlight, star bright
First star that I see tonight
I wish I may I wish I might
Have my dreams come true