West with the Night
Words and Music © 1985 Anne Prather
About this song:
- Originally recorded on High Wings released 1990 by Thor Records, CD released 2010 Star Rose Arts
- Video is available of the song onAislinn Live at Greenspring Center Upcoming limited release from Star Rose Arts
- This song is the story of Beryl Markham, an African bush pilot who was the first person to cross the Atlantic alone from east to west–against the wind.
On the wings
On the wings of a dream she flies
On the wings
On the wings of a dream she flies
West with the night.
Through the brightness of the tropical day
And the bane of the tropical night
No twilight exists to bolster the way
Between day and the blackest of night.
A friend has gone down and nobody knows where
And the message comes in then
Of a miner needing medical care
And it's off through the night again.
On the wings
On the wings of a dream she flies
On the wings
On the wings of a dream she flies
West with the night.
So it's out into the loneliest place
That a pilot will ever know
Into the night without a face
Where no sane person would go
No beacon to guide her and no one eside her
And when she sets down at the end
She's left to wonder if there's enough room
To ever take off again.
On the wings
On the wings of a dream she flies.
On the wings
On the wings of a dream she flies.
To save a life.
Through the bright days and the darkest of nights
Over desert and plain she flew.
Carrying mail or scocuting the hunt
Or whatever they asked her to do
A quarter of a million miles they say
Was the total she had flown.
When she made the historic decision that day
To fly the Atlantic alone.
The silver, blue and turquoise Gull
Lifts rebelliously into the sky
Heavy with fuel and one woman's dream
No chance now to ever ask why
Fly against the wind.
On the wings
On the wings of a dream she flies
On the wings
On the wings of a dream she flies
West with the night.