Runrig - Fichead Bliadhna

another gaelic song by runrig . quite an easy one to work out .
i’ve included a translation below for those interested .

please note each verse and chorus has the same chord sequence so i’ve only written
the chords for the first verse and chorus . just repeat after that .

capo – 3rd fret
standard tuning
the key is Gm ( Em relative to capo )

fichead bliadhna
( twenty years )

intro :
Em , Em7 , Em , Em7 , Bm , D

Em C D Em
ruith’s a mhonadh ruith nam beann
G D C
’s mar sin dhan sgoil aig deireadh samhraidh
Em C D Em
’nar clann aig coig bliadhna dh’aois
C D Em
’s gun facal beurla ’nar ceann

Em C D Em
“seo do leabhar seo do pheann
G D C
dean do leasan , ” thuirt iad riumsa
Em C D Em
“’s gunn eirich sibh suas anns an t – saoghal
C D Em
’s gheibh sibh an adhart ann”

chorus

G D/F#
fichead bliadhna’airson firinn
Em
b’fheudar dhomh feitheamh
Bm
b’fheudar dhomh lorg
G D/F#
fichead bliadhn’ de bhreugan
Em/C D Em
thug iad eachdraidh air falbh bhuainn

( intro chords )
( next verse/Chorus , etc )

bridge

C Bm
nuair a thoisich mi air lorg
C
cha do chreid mi mo shuilean
Bm
obair olc
D
oh , oh

( intro chords )

spoken verse : play intro chords over this .

outro ( repeat x3 )
Em Em
fichead bliadhn’ , fichead bliadhn’
Bm D
fichead bliadhn’ ’s mi aineolach

lyrics
dh’ionnsaich sinn a leithid ann
canan’s bardachd , bardachd bheurla
ceol na gearmailt
eachdraidh na spainnt
’s b’e sin an eachdraidh mheallt

bhon sgoil do’n oilthigh chaidh sinn ann
a’ leantail foghlum , tuilleadh foghlum
mar amadan air deiradh streang
seorsa de dh’fhoghlum ’nam cheann

( chorus )

ach dh’eirich mi suas anns an t – saoghal
fhuair mi deise , ’s fhuair mi leine
fhuair mi aite ann an suilean dhaoin
fada bhon mhonadh mi’n drasd

carson a chum iad eadchraidh bhuainn
innsidh mi dhut , tha iad gealltach
mas eirich clann nan gaidheal suas
le ceistean sireach is cruaidh

( chorus )

( bridge )

spoken verse :

’s iomadh rud a chunnaic mi ri mo latha agus ri mo linn . chunna’ mi na
mnathan a’ cur no cloinne anns na cairtean a bha dh’an cur o’n iochdar agus
o bheinn a bhaoghla . Am fir phosda ceangailte ri’n taobh gun chomas laimh
cuideachidh a thoir dhaibh . chunna’ mi na fir mhora laidir , ceatharnaich an
t – saoghal , dh’an ceangal air ceidhe loch baghasdail agus dh’an tilgeil anns
an luing mar an crodh . dg’fhalbh iad uile gu straidean ghlaschu agus gu
fasaichean chanada , a chuid dhuibh nach do bhasaich le acas agus le plaigh
a’ dol a null air a’chuain . aig dia nan dul agus aige – san a mhain tha fios
air obair ghraineil dhaoine an la ud .

( outro )

translation

freedom of the moor
freedom of the hill
and then to school at the end of summer
children ,
five years of age ,
without many words of english

“here is your book
here is your pen
study hard that’s what they told me
“and you will rise up in the world
you will achieve”

twenty years for the truth
i had to wait
i had to search
twenty years of deceit
they denied me knowledge of myself

i learned many things
the english language , the poetry of england
the music of germany
the history of spain
and even that was a misleading history

then on to further education
following education , more education
like puppets on the end of a string
our heads filled with a sort of learning

( chorus )

and i did rise in the world
i found my suit , i found my shirt
i found a place in the eyes of men
well away from the freedom of the moor

but why did they keep our history from us?
i’ll tell you they are frightened
in case the children of gaeldom awaken
with searching and penetrating questions

bridge :
when i started searching
i could not believe my eyes
dark deeds

spoken verse :
many a things i have seen in my day and in my generation . i saw the the
mothers putting the children into the carts that were coming from iochdar
and from benbecula . their husbands tied up beside them and unable to give
any resistance . i saw the big strong men , the champions of the world , being
tied up on the pier at lochboisdale and thrown into the ships like cattle .
they left for the streets of glasgow and for the wilds of canada , those that
did not die of hunger and disease as they crossed the ocean . god only knows .
and he alone bares witness to the dreadful deeds of mankind that day .

outro :
twenty years , twenty years
twenty years and i have not been infromed .