Mike Oldfield



Mike Oldfield (born 15 May 1953) is an English multi-instrumentalist musician and composer.

Quotes

 * I want not to panic. I want to be comfortable in my body and my life. I don't want to keep thinking that I don't belong here, that I have ended up on the wrong planet, completely alienated. (from Changeling)
 * In this world, everything has a pulse or a vibration. This sound is unique to each living or non-living thing and in itself creates a music that no-one can hear. I believe that this has a very powerful resonance with, and a deep effect on, our lives. What would happen if we took this further and applied it to bigger things, more powerful things; like an entire solar system or galaxy say, what would that sound like? Musica Universalis is the ancient theory that every celestial body, the sun, the moon and the stars, has an inner music. This is a harmonic and mathematical concept derived from the movements of the planets in the solar system. The music created is inaudible to the human ear. Music of the Spheres is my interpretation of this theory. Every planet and every star; the whole universe has music within it that no-one can hear. This is what it would sound like if it was set free. This is Music of the Spheres. (from the introduction to Music of the Spheres)

The Telegraph Interview, 10 june 2009

 * Mike Oldfield interview for the re-release of Tubular Bells


 * The biggest problems were to do with... well, to get that successful when you're so young, it attracts hangers-on, parasites, people who want to feed off you. I thought people actually liked me, but they actually liked my money. I'd probably say to my younger self, get yourself a whole collection of lawyers. Which is what I have now. I don't have any friends; I just have lawyers. At the last count I had about 15 different sets of them for all kinds of problems. And you can trust them because you're paying them. I know that sounds very negative, but that's the world we live in.
 * When I was younger I had an incredible sensitivity; I suppose there were too many brain cells, or they were organised in the wrong way, and they've either reorganised themselves or I've lost lots of them through alcohol and substance abuse. I can get along without being terrified now. Maybe I've just got used to it.
 * Everything on Tubular Bells was done on the first take – it was lovely, so spontaneous. I had such a long time to prepare it, and I had just one little chance to do it, and now I listen to it and it has a lovely spontaneous energy. It's got mistakes, and I could easily have cut them out, but I left them on.
 * If it was a horrible thing I was known for, like some horrible pop song, it would annoy me, but it doesn't. I'm proud of it.
 * On Tubular Bells

Children of the Sun (1969)
Strangers
 * We're looking For the strangers With sunlight in their eyes Who lived on Earth When Man was new When Time was Just a coloured dew That grew inside their mind...

Lady Mary
 * Hey, cool princess With your eyes hanging The milk of the moon Hey, pretty princess Take me down to your cave in the dawn And you're gonna be a queen When the stars water Heaven with tears And you gonna love me When all our Golden lands are free.

Children of the Sun
 * I watch the boats go by As the evening colours of the sand The rain is bringing tears From my lover's land I watch the silver stars melt in love with the sea I cry to the wind: – Bring back my lover to me! -

A lover for all seasons
 * Come, take my hand And wander in the willow river Glistening the blue bells Come, take my flesh And wander in the sunny corn That shimmer stills at snowfalls 'Cause I love you lover I love you, like I love The Four high Seasons.

Riversong
 * My moon shines so softly On the hair of my killer Pours flowers on his head Help me, give him some shelter! Come, lie by the river Rest your head, don't you fear Sleep softly, my baby They won't find you here.

Banquet on the Water
 * Don't wanna know your name You're just my lover Just wanna spend the night Walking beside you on the water You look like my lover But you're words are cold You say words like him But thinking has made you grow old.

Balloons
 * Little bluebird's Fluttering into my hand Sun falls in love over the land I will live forever Just you wait and see No matter want you do To my bluebird and me...

Midsummer Nights Happening
 * Sunlight falling bright Over village garden walls Moonlight shower's gold where leaving waterfalls People walk in splendour Under trees hung in starlight.

Love in Ice Crystals
 * Oh, my love You're searching For your name Beside the sea Of dwells and dreams Where Shadows're dancing For your glance... The sky would chance The granting of a dream To the restless soul That dwells within your heart...

Ommadawn (1975)
On Horseback - Ommadawn part 2
 * Some find it strange to be here On this small planet and who knows where... But when it's strange and full of fear It's nice to be on horseback.

Boxed (1976)
The Rio Grande Speak (Tho' You Only Say Farewell)
 * The sails are unfurled And the anchor's away going home... She heels to the breeze as she gathers her way, And we're bound to the old country. Then away, love, away, going home! We're homeward bound this very day, And we're bound to the old country...
 * Speak, vision of the night, Tell me why you haunt me so... Speak, heaven morning light, Whisper all my heart would know. Dawn never finds you, Gone back to where the Shadows dwell... Speak, my beloved, speak, tho' you only say farewell!

Incantations (1978)
Incantations part 2-Hiawatha's Departure Incantations part 3-The Son of the Evening Star Incantations part 4-Hymn to Diana
 * With a smile of joy and gladness, with a look of exultation, as of one who in a vision what is to be, but it is not, stood and waited Hiawatha. Toward the sun his hands were lifted both the palms spread out toward it and, between departed fingers, felt the sunshine on his features. Flecked with light his naked shoulders, as it falls and flecks an oak-tree through the rifted leaves and branches.
 * Can it be the sun descending o'er the level plain of water or the Red Swan floating, flying wounded by the Magic Arrow? Staining all the waves with crimson, with the crimson of its life-blood, filling all the air with splendor, filling all the air with plumage? [...] O'er it the Star of Evening melts and trembles through the purple, hangs suspensed in twilight, walks in silence through the heavens...
 * Queen and Huntress chaste and fair Now the Sun is laid to sleep Seated in the Silver Chair State in wonder Manner keep [...] Hesperus entreats Thy light Goddess excellently bright Bless us then with a wished sight Thou who mak'st the day of night...

Crises (1983)
Crises Moonlight Shadow In High Places Foreign Affair Shadow on the Wall
 * The Watcher and the Tower Waiting hour by hour.
 * The trees that whisper in the evening Carried away by a moonlight shadow Sing a song of sorrow and grieving Carried away by a moonlight shadow All she saw was a silhouette of a gun Far away on the other side He was shot six times by a man on the run And she couldn't find how to push trough I stay, I pray, see you in heaven far away I stay, I pray, see you in heaven one day...
 * Look down from in high places Lift up the ground Without a sound [...] Check altitude Check your heart 'n this cloudless blue 'n this starlight night...
 * Drifting a dream On a mystical sea... A wishful emotion A drop in the ocean A hush in the air You can feel anywhere In the cool twilight Of a tropical night...
 * Treat me like I'm evil Freeze me till I'm cold Beat me till I'm feeble Grind me till I'm old Wire me till I'm tired Push me like I fall Treat me like a criminal, just a shadow on the wall!

Discovery (1984)
To France
 * Taking on water Sailing a restless sea From a memory A fantasy The wind carries into white water Far from the islands Don't you know... You're never going to get to France Mary, queen of chance, will they find you! Never going to get to France... Could a new romance ever bind you?
 * Walking on foreign ground Like a shadow Roaming in far off territory Over your shoulder Stories unfold You're searching For a sanctuary...
 * I see a picture by the lamp's flicker... Isn't it strange how dreams fade and shimmer?

Poison Arrows
 * Somebody's out to get you Hiding in the shadows Poison arrows! Somebody's out to break you Hiding in narrows Poison arrows!
 * What you gonna do? Time is running out on you! Anyway you choose Anyway you're gonna lose...

Crystal Gazing
 * Watching for a spark It's a moonlight show Reaching through the dark Do you have to go?
 * Voices in the dark And the lights burn low Teach yourself the art That you never know Try to put a message through To your sweetheart Won't you like to know The secrets of the heart?

Tricks of the Light
 * I'm half a crazy man Waiting for confirmation; Signs keep are changing And I need some more information.
 * ''Something tells me how Her bright blue eyes Are smiling; She turns her head and now When she wants she denies him...
 * Some are tricks of the light You'll never know Make a flickering midnight Light into a glow...

Discovery
 * When you want the score When you need a helping hand And you find closed doors And you're back where you began Keeping those secrets Telling those lies... Can anybody tell me What's the big surprise?
 * How can you sleep How can you turn away Thinking so cheap? Some day you're gonna pay! You're keeping secrets I can see in your eyes: Can anybody tell me Why the big disguise?

Talk About Your Life Saved by a Bell
 * Talk about your life I'd like to know It's not easy going Where no-one goes And no-one knows...
 * Do we have to be so distant How can you be so unreal? What's the reason for hiding and How this crying make you feel?
 * Saved by a bell Suffer in hell But you were too blind to tell! Saved by a bell Suffer in hell And you made it through so well!

Elements - The Best of Mike Oldfield (1986)
Shine
 * Standing in a new space, Waving at the sun... So you probably back in darkness To where I belong. Just by being with you Pictures flow out of my mind... Have we danced before Long ago or in another time?

Islands (1987)
Islands
 * We are islands But never too far
 * We can never Be closer somehow For the moment that lasts Is this moment now
 * There's a new path That we found just today I was lost in the forest And you showed me the way

Flying Start
 * We took a place in the sun To see just what had become The warm wind blows constantly Does the answer still blow? Did you find your château In that Mediterranean fantasy?
 * On dusty roads and tracks Now it's the time to turn back The warm wind blows constantly Riding that storm Since the day you were born Is there somebody in? Now answer me

North Point
 * The writing on the wall at North Point Speaks to a silent room They shut the bars down, leave you to the gloom
 * Somewhere far above has a new day risen Way beyond the searchlight (Comes a light, comes a light) Then on a bright day at North Point The gate was open wide They chanced to look at what was inside

Magic Touch
 * Once in a lifetime, you find that power To break out and run from the Devil's deep clutch All that you need (it's the finest hour) Is to believe in the magic touch
 * Can't believe it, like no other Love is a gift, and you take it so much! You need the blue night to discover Only true lovers have the magic touch

The Time Has Come
 * Someone who knows no fear I feel him near The child was born to be a king And the time has come
 * And now the story's just begun A thousand years to stay We wake each morning with the sun To live our dreams away

When the Night’s On Fire
 * I was hoping Could you be my inspiration Whatever should become In the candlelight? I was dreaming Was it my imagination? Tomorrow never comes In the candlelight
 * I was listening To the wind that walks the hours I never would have heard In the candlelight I was hoping Would you shelter me from showers? I believe every word In the candlelight

Earth Moving (1989)
Holy
 * Harmony is always when I look around me And your smile I see I can feel it surrounds me A miracle I find in your company.
 * One glance is all that I need; What I was searching for I've found it...
 * Holy, to me just one glance is holy One touch of your heart to me that's holy...

Hostage
 * You can't speak, you can't sleep, You daren't move, you're confused. You never talk, you can't walk You can't feel, you're not real...
 * If I open my eyes just far enough I can see what you're doing. Go on, fight to the end, it's though enough When you're on the road of ruin!
 * You're a hostage of the heart Twisted 'round the smallest finger Two burning eyes are tearing you apart Turn your soul into a cinder!

Far Country
 * She takes the rain, turns it to sun, And my soul she fills it. Where once was a desert Rivers now run, and my storms she stills it...
 * She gives me hope When there's nothing but pain; I can't explain it: Two different leaves But the branch is the same... Forever let it be! She takes the rain...

Innocent
 * I know you'll never stay the same In time, most of us lose it, But I'm hoping, just the same, You'll shine and learn how to use it.
 * Smile to me, like the very first smile You are magnificent when you're innocent. Walk to me Like the very first walk You are from heaven sent when you're innocent.

Runaway Son
 * Save me, holy mother, please save me, I got a heart of gold... And for your love I'd go hungry and thirsty. I need a saviour and you're the one... I throw myself into the arms of mercy, There's still hope for the runaway son!

See the Light
 * I've been waiting at this frontier And it seems like a hundred years, But I couldn't see past the gate I couldn't see past the hate.
 * Will-power, give me back some to survive, One more hour and I'm coming alive... I can see the light! And there's blue sky breaking Through the edge of the night... I can see the light!
 * Now I climb the steps to freedom, The open gates, I can see them. Hands once I knew Beckoning me through, As the sunlight touch my face, I can feel the warm embrace; Arms surround me, My life has found me...

Earth Moving
 * I feel a rush in the air tonight, I can feel the Earth moving. Love is beacon, a guiding light, can't you feel the Earth moving?
 * Feel the Earth move! Now I'm wrapped In a sweet love's arms, Reaching out for you...
 * Reach out, it's a leap in the dark, But there's no danger of falling. Give out, give it straight from the heart, You feel the thunder rolling...

Blue Night
 * To whole room her eyes are numb, As she reads from a true love story. From the pages of a book her lover comes, Her heart bleeds, it's a true love story.
 * Misty path and the night is endless, She could be a queen Or a desert princess. Hero takes her hand and leads her through... Who knows what this night will do? Only in the blue night he comes to her That's when the whole night Belongs to her.

Nothing But/Bridge to Paradise
 * You know it's not too late to leave tomorrow, 'cause I know where I'm going... I am building a bridge to Paradise!

Amarok (1990)
Amarok
 * HEALTH WARNING: This record could be hazardous to the health of cloth-eared nincompoops. If you suffer from this condition, consult your Doctor immediately. (from the back-cover)
 * Hello everyone! I suppose that you think that nothing much is happening at the moment. Ah ah ah! Well, that's what I want to talk to you all about: endings. Now, endings normally happen at the end. But, as we all know, endings are just beginnings. You know, once these things really get started, it's jolly hard to stop them again. However, as we have all come this far, I think, under the circumstances, the best solution is that we all just keep going. Let's keep going inside, never an ending. Let's remember that this world wants fresh beginnings. I feel here, in this Country, and throughout the world, we are crying out for beginnings, beginnings! We never want to hear this word "endings". I know you don't want to sit down. Of course, you're looking for the good start. Of course you're looking for a fresh start. Isn't that charming? Do you know, I really feel I could dance...

Heaven's Open (1991)
Heaven’s Open
 * ''This is zero hour and there's no way back Can you feel that power in its arms you're wrapped All through the night-time Till the sun comes in? Now Heaven's Open Fly right in!

Make-Make
 * Make-make... There's no way out no way in To the hallowed halls of the inner ring You're just a face in the crowd You got no place When you're down and out.
 * Monna Lisa, you can stop searching; don't you know we're not Virgin?

No Dream
 * A restless flame Someone calls your name Through the empty hall Casting shadows on the wall In the sound of emptiness Isolation Nowhere left to run Now the time has come...

Mr. Shame
 * Down to the River Was this all some Cry for love? It's a cry for love: Are you a victim of That Money Bug In your blood, Mr. Shame?

Gimme Back
 * I need my hands I need my feet Gimme my soul I'm incomplete I need my eyes I want my teeth Gimme my scope Gimme my beliefs.
 * I'm a fire without a flame, desert with no rain...

Tubular Bells III (1998)
Man in the Rain
 * You're the one who's nearly Breaking my heart; Had your chance You just threw it all away. Living in a world that You could never be a part of, And now is a time to walk away.
 * How's it feel when There's time to remember? ...Branches bare, Like the trees in november. Had it all, Threw it all away; Now's a time to walk away.

Far Above the Clouds
 * And the Man in the rain Picked up his bag of secrets, And journeyed up the mountainside Far above the clouds; And nothing was ever heard from him again, Except for the sound of Tubular Bells...

The Millennium Bell (1999)
Peace on Earth
 * Heaven and Earth are turning Round the Earth fire is burning. Sheltered from the cruel storm Peace on Earth is new born

Santa Maria
 * Far the horizon Hove to the wind; We're sailing the sea To the Edge of the World.

Sunlight Shines Through the Cloud
 * "Twas grace that taught My heart to fear, And grace my fears reliev'd; How precious did that grace appear, The hour I first believ'd!" And I want to feel sun on my face, And I feel a shadow in its place, With the sunlight shines through cloud, When we're standing free, proud.
 * Thro' many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come; 'tis grace has brought me Safe thus far, And grace will lead me home. The Lord has promis'd good to me, His Word my hope secures; He will my shield and portion be, As long as life endures.

Liberation
 * When the birds sing outside And you see the trees Changing into green The sun invites one To be out in the open air. When the sky is so blue, then, Oh! Then I wish for so much!.

Amber Light
 * Amber light Of this new morning, Amber light, Clear, bright and warming. Overnight The Earth adorning... Amber light, A New Age is dawning....

Collection (2002)
Pictures in the Dark
 * Follow the light that glows Through your bedroom window, Tonight, the fading twilight. There's a hollow deep in the woods, Where you know you're crazy to go, Not even meant to know there are... Pictures in the dark, I see all around, Voices calling underground; And I'm watching the stars since the world was found... One, two, three...
 * And in the deepest dark You come to a maze, in the night, The fading twilight... And you shiver the glistening path Where you know you're crazy to go...

Tr3s Lunas (2002)
To Be Free
 * (Take a wish!) My wish is... ...To be free, To be wild, And to be just Like a child!
 * You're out in the cold, Sometimes, As far as you can see, Misty. You want to run Into the sun, The road is lost, Sand shifty. But suddendly, out of the blue, Some kind of magic Pushes you through! You don't know when, How or why, But someday can take off, fly!

Quotes about Oldfield

 * When we made &#91;Tubular Bells&#93;, Michael was a mental wreck. He would walk 'round with his eyes wet with tears nearly all the time; he was in a terrible state. He found it an enormous disquiet, … the idea of being mortal flesh … [while] what was going on his head was eternal and beautiful and everlasting. … My heart went out to him.
 * Tom Newman, in an interview for the documentary film Tubular Bells: The Mike Oldfield Story (2013).