Top Ten Enya Songs

 

Every year, Spotify provides me with a summary of what I have been listening to the previous year providing me with the album I’ve listened to most, the artist that has been most prolific in my sphere of choices and the song I have listened to most. 

If you are a regular reader of this blog you will know that I bang on about progressive rock and heavy metal and so you might be forgiven for predicting that my top songs, albums and artists would be from those genres every year. 

However, I like a lot of music out of those genres and when I was working, I used to listen to music that didn’t break my train of thought or draw me off into a universe surrounded by the music as a soundtrack at the expense of actually doing the work I was supposed to do. I therefore opted for something more soothing, ambient and pleasant and set up a mellow playlist of songs that would accompany on my creative voyage.

And that is why in the years 2023 and 2024 the artist that I listened to most in those years was Enya.

I was surprised to be honest, as might you be, dear reader. 

Was I disappointed? Not at all. I think Enya is a genius and although she is not prolific, the material that is out there is just wonderful. I would be quite happy to sit in a darkened room with a blazing fire in the middle of winter listening to her voice and music for a couple of hours. It is soothing, deep and ethereal and very tuneful. 

My most listened to artist of 2025 was Devin Townsend and that was because I no longer work and can therefore indulge myself. If you haven’t heard of him, the style of music he produces (according to Wikipedia) is heavy metal, extreme metal, progressive metal, alternative metal and hard rock. I would also add progressive rock to that list. But the one word that is missing from that list is ambient because Devin has also produced Enya-style ambient music in his back catalogue. I recall seeing an interview with him and he listed Enya as an influence because of the way she produces music. 

Here’s what he said:

In my life I think I’ve probably bought six copies of that record; I fucking love that record. And in fact, when I first heard ‘Orinoco Flow’ on the radio I remember thinking that it sounded so different from anything else – it’s like a women’s, new age-y choir, and the amount of echo and reverb; I was like, "I want metal that sounds like Enya", and I think I’ve spent most of my career working towards that end! 

I discovered Enya long before I discovered Devin Townsend and perhaps that mutual love of her music and the way she makes it is what drew me towards Devin and what he is trying to achieve. 

Here are my favourite Enya songs and if you haven’t heard her music, I would dive into it and see what you think. The list is biased towards Shepherd Moons (my favourite album by Enya) and Watermark but the later albums are very good too. Let’s dive in:

10. The Longships (from Watermark – 1988)

Longships are Viking warships and they ventured across rough seas to invade the British Isles, including Ireland, in the 8th and 9th centuries. It wasn’t just my country that was invaded; their people ventured further west, east and south as well. I can imagine that if there were drones around all that time ago, this music would have been playing as the drones swooped over a fleet of longships on their way to England.

9. The Memory of Trees (from The Memory of Trees – 1995)

This song has appeared on my playlist as I have walked through a small wood near to where I live and immediately adjusted my mind from its chosen path to focussing on the trees that surrounded me. It was a great little diversion because it was one of those cloudy but sunny days when the suns rays were broken up through the branches. 

8. A Day Without Rain (from A Day Without Rain – 2000)

Manchester has an unfair reputation for being one of the rainiest cities in England, which is good going given that it rains a lot in the UK. In Ireland, where Enya is from, it rains even more and so I imagine a day without rain is as good a day over there as it is here. That said, it isn’t that bad and sometimes a rainy day is quite welcome because it has a beauty of its own. This song provides the perfect soundtrack for a day when the rain has just stopped and the suns rays are glistening from the branches of trees. 

7.  Wild Child (from A Day Without Rain – 2000)

I think if I wrote a song called “Wild Child” it would be a lot heavier and more geared towards the partying days of my youth. Conversely Enya’s song is more uplifting and whenever I’ve heard it on my playlist I’ve thought about being on holiday, i.e. removing myself from the mundane drudgery of work and being free and “wild” in a beautiful place. 

6. Watermark (from Watermark – 1988)

Watermark is the first song on the album of the same name and I think it is absolutely beautiful. Again, like most Enya songs it provides the perfect soundtrack for walking in beautiful countryside on a sunny day. Bliss. 

5. Orinoco Flow (from Watermark – 1988)

This is the song that made both Devin Townsend and me huge fans of Enya. In the UK it rocketed to number 1 and made Enya a huge star. It is probably her most famous song and at the time of its release there had never been anything like it in the charts. I’m glad so many people liked it and it still holds a place in my heart even though it is not my all-time favourite.

 4. Lothlórien (from Shepherd Moons – 1991)

Lothlórien is a beautiful song and I would love to be able to play it on a piano, if I ever get to the point where I’m not hitting the wrong keys. One day I may be able to do it justice. If you want to know, Lothlórien is one of the realms in Middle Earth that is ruled by Elves. I didn’t know that until I looked it up. I assumed it was a Gaelic word. 

3. Shepherd Moons (from Shepherd Moons – 1991)

As I said, Shepherd Moons is my favourite album by Enya and the title track is the opening song. I bought it back in 1991 and when I heard this song it almost moved me to tears. It is another magnificent piano piece but this time accompanied by Enya’s beautiful and haunting voice. I like listening to this song at night if I am on holiday by the sea. I have fond memories of seeing the moon reflecting off a still ocean while listening to this through headphones. Wonderful. 

2. Only Time (from A Day Without Rain – 2000)

I love the sentiment of this song and it always makes me think about how time flies, especially as you get older. In the video Enya is walking slowly through the various seasons as she sings and I can see the seasons slowly drifting by myself. Of course we are in winter now (which I hate) but it won’t be long before time drifts on and summertime is here. That makes me feel content. 

1. Caribbean Blue (from Shepherd Moons – 1991)

This is another song that I play a lot when I am on holiday by the ocean. If I am going for a walk on my own along the promenade, I usually make a special effort to play Caribbean Blue as I look at the blueness of the sky and the ocean, especially if there aren’t many people around. Back in the early 1990’s I made a video of my holiday in Greece and used this song as a soundtrack to a walk that we took and it fitted perfectly. I love this song because it brings back so many good memories of holidays to Europe – oh and also in the Caribbean (when I visited the Bahamas and Barbados). It has a really special place in my heart. 

31 Days of Blogging - Day 20

Day 20 – Enya – Caribbean Blue



Decades come and decades go. The 1980’s was over and the 1990’s were upon us.

So much happened to me in the 1980’s that I thought it might be a difficult one to top. The 1990’s however, proved to be as big a rollercoaster ride as the 1980’s – but for wildly different reasons.

It started off calmly enough, a calm that is reflected in this wonderfully mellow song by Enya.

By now we had moved to a three bedroomed detached house in Altrincham and W was happy and content. Her life plan was coming together and she was climbing the social ladder to the level that she wanted – to match that of her parents.

From my relatively lofty position, I was staring down to the life that my mum had envisaged for me. I was having dinner parties with bankers and managers, people who made conversation about promotions and career paths and not about life in general.

One of our neighbours wanted a personalised number plate so that people didn’t know how old her car was. As far as she was concerned, she was with the movers and the shakers.

I felt kind of uncomfortable with that.

I was entertaining people who drank brandy and port and looked down on those who liked a beer. Was I punching above my weight?

I didn’t really feel comfortable with people who urged me to climb the corporate ladder and appeared to judge me based on my car and how old it was.

My friends made me happy and as long as I was happy I was fine; as long as I could do what I liked I was fine; as long as I was able to buy what I wanted, go out with my friends, play football with the lads and enjoy my home life, I was fine; as long as I could travel I was fine.

And I could do those things – but there was something slightly wrong. The differences between my working class upbringing and W’s rather lofty ambitions were beginning to cause cracks in our relationship.

Looking back, it was obvious that W’s plan and my plan were diverging.

At first I thought nothing of it and I succumbed to her desires, under the pretence that I was somehow becoming a better person by mixing in circles that W felt comfortable with. She wasn’t that keen on my closer friends – she was friendly enough but I sensed that she considered them to be holding me back a little.

We had a big house and I loved it – I was happy. But W wanted more – not just yet but the signs were there.

Hints like “the house is too small” – we had a brand new three bedroomed detached house! Why did we need another one? It was easily big enough for a family of four. I didn’t understand it.

But I did try – in the interests of harmony.

At the time Caribbean Blue was released, we had a wonderful holiday to Greece and I recall walking along a cliff face staring out at the brilliant blue sea with a fabulous cloudless sky reflecting the sun’s rays as it made its descent to the horizon – and Caribbean Blue was in my thoughts – it was like paradise. On this holiday we were fine – I forgot about our differences.

We were abroad and I was relaxed. I was travelling.

We dined, we drank we danced and we talked.

When we got home, though, I was disappointed – not just because our holiday had finished; it was because I was stepping back into W’s world, a world in which she was happy and didn’t care about how I felt.

I should have been happy too but the problem was that I was increasingly outside my comfort zone as all of W’s dreams were coming to fruition.

The first feelings of discontent were beginning to show and I fought them. I wanted everything to work and I was determined, at that time at least, to try to make them work.

I therefore put up with it – I succumbed and I played the doting husband despite the increasing number of arguments.

I fitted nicely into W’s plans and tried my best to keep her happy, despite the dinner parties and the fact that more and more of the things I wanted were being shelved in the name of peace and harmony.

The holiday in Greece and Caribbean Blue  remind me of a happy time with W – an oasis of calm and contentment – the calm before the storm, if you like – a time when, perhaps, the differences between our outlooks on life were tolerable.