Overview
Gerrard first met Cassidy in 2000 in Los Angeles (where he lives), when she came to work on the Gladiator soundtrack, and they planned to work together one day. When they eventually found a shared two-month break, they joined at Gerrard's Australian studio for this record.
The W. B. Yeats poem "Sailing to Byzantium" inspired the track of the same name.
The lyrics utilise three ancient languages:
- Gaelic (ancient Irish) in "The Song of Amergin" (based on the first song supposedly sung by a mortal on Irish soil).
- Aramaic in "Maranatha" (meaning "come lord, come teacher"), and "Abwoon" (meaning "our father", a rendition of the "Lord's Prayer" in the language of Jesus).
- Latin in "Psallit in Aure Dei" (meaning "singing in the ear of God", a dirge for Patrick Cassidy's late father).
