Song Details
- Album Release Date: 2012
- Genre: folk
Song Meaning of “My Lagan Love” by The Chieftains
“My Lagan Love” by The Chieftains is a melancholy yet hopeful Celtic folk song about pining away for a lost love. The song was composed and sung by the famous Irish folk singer Paddy Moloney, and accompanied by the traditional Irish instrumentation of the Uilleann pipes, whistle, fiddle, bodhrán, and harp. The lyrics tell the story of a man who has been separated from his “Lagan love,” as the song’s title implies.
The man in the song is still in love with his Lagan love and, despite the distance between them, can still feel her in his heart. He compares this love to the fact that two rivers will eventually meet as one. He is attempting to do something that he knows is impossible—try to bring her closer and bridge the gap between them. He then pleads for her to “…come back to me, my Lagan love.”
The song is full of sorrow and yearning for something that can never truly be regained, as the river analogy in the chorus expresses. The man longs for what can never be and the music stirs the listener’s own feelings of nostalgia and loss. Yet the music also conveys a sense of hope. The man still believes that if she listens to his call, if she just crosses the divide between them, they can be together again. He knows it won’t be easy, but he believes that it’s worth it.
“My Lagan Love” paints a beautiful picture of the power of love, its ability to cross over any distance and truly last forever. No matter the circumstances, this song serves as a reminder that love takes many forms and that hope is never out of reach.