A Song with No Tune - soaring vocals in a stunning Irish anthem, tugging heartstrings.

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🎵✨ A Song With No Tune – An Original Folk Ballad by Alan Wagstaff
🌿 A journey through the mystical and musical heart of Ireland 🌿
From the storied pubs of Athlone to the fairy forts of Knockma, “A Song With No Tune” follows the allegorical journey of a young musician as he searches the shifting edges of Irish music and myth for inspiration, meaning, and song. He is guided by the elusive figure of a Fey: a muse who haunts dreams, dances through moonlight, and offers only half-glimpsed gifts.

The song is deeply rooted in the 1970s Irish folk revival, echoing the spirit of a time when musicians were reawakening to the ancient wellsprings of their own traditions. The protagonist — a 20-year-old with a guitar in its case and a hunger for melody — moves through the cultural and natural landscapes of Ireland, from Kildare sessions to Glengarriff markets, from Aran harpers to Burren moonlight, seeking not fame, but the source of something real, something pure.

Musically, the piece evokes the elegance of Turlough O’Carolan, with interludes echoing the haunting strains of the harp air “Innisheer.” The arrangement brings together a rich ensemble:
🎶 Male harmony voices carry the uplifting, yearning chorus.
🎻 Fiddle, guitar, harp, flute, whistle, bodhrán, accordion, and uilleann pipes weave a sonic tapestry that bridges old and new.
It is music that glows like moonlight on stone — gently lilting, at times wistful, always alive.

At its heart, the song asks a question: What is the music we are really chasing? Is it melody, fame, or the invisible tune of our own becoming? The Fey never sings aloud. She offers instead a silence that glows — and the promise that the tune is already within.

For those drawn to Irish mysticism, folk memory, and the timeless call of the unseen, “A Song With No Tune” is a tribute to the quest itself — to the seekers, dreamers, and musicians who walk the backroads of the soul.

🎧 Stream, share, and dream along. 🌙
#OriginalFolkSong #IrishFolkMusic #AlanWagstaff #ASongWithNoTune #TurloughOCarolan #Innisheer #IrishMythology #1970sFolkRevival #CelticMysticism #HarpMusic #Fey #Knockma #Bodhran #UilleannPipes #FolkBallad #FolkMusician #IrishMusicJourney

Here are the lyrics.

The stories they tell in the Town of Athlone,
would gladden the heart of a man made of stone.
I joined in with them freely, until it was Spring,
then I was off, like a hawk on the wing -
searching for fortune - and something to sing.

CHORUS
And it’s oh! But it’s been a long time!
And I hope that we meet again soon.
I saw her but once, by the light of the moon.
She said she would give me a song with no tune.

The pipers are proud in Kildare and Athy;
there's no better music found under the sky.
But, one Summer's evening, I left them behind;
put my feet to the road and I followed them blind -
searching for fortune - and what I might find.

The fiddlers are famous from Bantry to Cork.
The rake of their reels would make the lame walk.
But still, at the close of a fine Autumn day,
I packed up my bags and I went on my way -
searching for fortune but finding low pay.

Far up the west coast, in Aran and Clare,
there's harpers to bring you a magical aire.
I listened, enthralled, till the Winter came on,
then pulled up my boots - and soon I was gone -
searching for fortune for still I had none.

I rested, by chance, at the close of the day,
by a small, rounded hill, where I happened to stray.
And there, as the drowsiness over me stole,
I dreamed of a woman with eyes black as coal -
And the fortune she held was the song of my soul.

And it’s oh! But it’s been a long time!
And I hope that we meet again soon.
I saw her but once, by the light of the moon.
She said she would give me a song with no tune.