General David Petraeus Listens to Enya

(Aug. 27) -- One of the most highly decorated and respected members of the U.S. military, Gen. David Petraeus has, over the better part of the past decade, helped guide the nation's arduous armed conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan (the latter of which he just took control of from ousted Gen. Stanley McChrystal). Along the way he has found himself the target of a seemingly never-ending hailstorm of both praise and criticism from politicians and pundits alike.

Perhaps, given the inherent stress of his job, it's not unexpected that Petraeus would turn to music to help provide a distraction from the cacophony of war, but as word spread Friday that the general is a fan Enya, the Celtic, New Age songstress more commonly associated with forest elves of J.R.R. Tolkien lore, well, suffice it to say that the news set off some head scratching.

"I do like Celtic music," Petraeus told Fox News, "and Enya is among those."

Not long after that report, blogger Matthew Yglesias took the opportunity to poke fun at the general's musical tastes, posting the following message on Twitter that referenced the bitter ad put together by MoveOn.org that criticized Patraeus' 2007 recommendation of increasing the number of U.S. troops in Iraq.

General Betray Us: http://bit.ly/ahRziTless than a minute ago via TweetDeckmattyglesias
mattyglesias

Petraeus did not elaborate as to what he found enticing about Enya's music. A quick check of the lyrical content of some of her songs, however, does provide some clues. Take "Long, Long Journey," which is an apt description of the now nine-year-long conflict in Afghanistan, which despite a tenuous July 2011 drawdown deadline, still has no real satisfactory end in sight.

Long, long journey
Through the darkness,
Long, long way to go;
But what are miles
Across the ocean
To the heart that's coming home?

Then there's her Christmas-themed album, which yielded the following stanzas in the song "One Toy Soldier," which may have struck a chord with the stoic warrior.

One toy soldier stands alone
With his drum down by his side

One toy soldier on his own
With his drum to keep the time

He keeps the beat of marching feet
He keeps the beat so true
He's one small toy for one small boy
But his heart is oh so blue

Of course, it's possible that Petraeus is simply drawn to music that is sung in Loxian, the mythical language spoken by the elves in Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy. It was Enya, after all, whose rendition of Loxian folk songs was incorporated into Peter Jackson's film adaptation.

Here's a transcription of some of "Water Shows the Hidden Heart," which also appears on Enya's "Amarantine" album.

O errusay errheemo may nay
oroommay:
mmer mma o say la na orro
mma a pirro say a nna
mmer mma o ahe rhay o ymm-b-ear-aya-ah
chrhay nethee prma na so la
a rhea no o eron beo so bay hey
raa deekan ebnsia abrra mma rhay na
ahe rhay o rhay mrhee moay

In English:

in this city of the stillness of night shapes
are the words of the timeplace of the end-other
which speak of a place where the clouds of the sky are weeping,
which tells of the journey of a man with sadness in his heart
he journeys through the city of the thinking that does not end
through time
and beyond the island of the house the color of the waves
themselves, as it is,
past the straight earth of the journey's end and all that is
found there
he journeys on to find his love