Editing The Memory of Trees (section)

==Music and lyrics==
Enya is the sole composer of the music on ''The Memory of Trees'' and co-arranged them with Nicky.<ref name=promotionalbox/> It is her first album not to feature guest musicians.<ref name=gavin1996/> In addition to the vocals, piano and an array of keyboards and synthesisers that defined her sound, Enya plays the violin, cello, and percussion instruments.<ref name=KSCA1996/> Her method of songwriting had deviated little since the start of her career, which started by entering the studio and forgetting about past successes. Ideas are then put on tape as either a vocal or a piano melody. "Usually what happens is the first note, the second note, and it takes me on a journey and I just go along with it."<ref name=NPR1996/> When a collection of ideas have been recorded Enya presents them to Nicky, starting discussions on how to develop them further into songs. Roma will then work on a lyric if she feels the song would suit one.

As with her previous two albums, ''The Memory of Trees'' opens with a same-titled instrumental with wordless vocals. The track originated from Roma after she read about [[Irish mythology]] and the [[Druid|Celtic druids]], who placed a great importance on trees and believed they were sacred and possessed wisdom. Enya maintained it does not mean an ecological statement, but more about what trees may think about humans. Roma suggested its title and Enya agreed, thinking the title was particularly strong and has a sense of ambiguity that allows the listener to conjure up their own images and ideas when they see and hear it.<ref name=KSCA1996>{{Cite web|url=http://enyabookofdays.com/articles/tmot-17.htm|title=Transcript of Enya's radio interview with Merilee Kelly on KSCA-FM|date=18 January 1996|first=Merilee|last=Kelly|accessdate=22 June 2016}}</ref><ref name=billboard25Nov95>{{Cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pw0EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA5|title=Enya: 'Memory,' Myth & Mythology|first=Timothy|last=White|date=25 November 1995|magazine=Billboard|page=5|accessdate=24 June 2016}}</ref> When the title was agreed upon, Enya proceeded to write the song around two weeks later, which was an unusual way of working as the melody had always come first, followed by its title and lyrics.<ref name=gavin1996/>

{{Quote box|width=28%|align=right|style=padding:8px;|border=2px|"I feel I'm like their bridge to the real world. I deal in commerce. I'm out there in the world, I have an idea of how people will respond to the music. Whereas they're very isolated creatively."| source =—Warner Music UK chairman [[Rob Dickins]], 1996.<ref name=latimes1996/>}}
"[[Anywhere Is]]" developed from a [[staccato]] line that Enya described had a "march feel".<ref name=gavin1996/> Initially it was a track that she and Nicky wanted to reject for the album, but it was developed further after [[Rob Dickins]], then chairman of [[Warner Music Group|Warner Music UK]] who had signed Enya, was invited to Ireland in August 1995 to listen to the album, roughly a year and a half into the recording process.<ref name=gavin1996/><ref name=musicweek1995>{{cite journal|url=http://enyabookofdays.com/articles/tmot-2.htm|title=Enya: Conjuring up More Studio Magic|journal=Music Week|first=Paul|last=Gorman|date=20 November 1995|accessdate=25 February 2017}}</ref> Enya and the Ryans thought the songs needed further work but Dickens expressed his satisfaction, "Most tracks sounded absolutely superb. They were ready."<ref name=latimes1996/> For "Anywhere Is", for which only its backing tracks had been put down, Dickins sensed the song had the makings of a hit single and encouraged them to complete it; it was the final track to be worked on.<ref name=gavin1996/><ref name=musicweek1995/> Enya's melody for the song inspired Roma to write lyrics about, as ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' magazine put it, "the search for the temporal heaven all cultures call 'home'", a subject that Enya felt was important as she only writes and rehearses her songs in Ireland.<ref name="billboard25Nov95"/> Dickins received a dedication on the album's sleeve in [[Irish language|Irish]].<ref name=latimes1996>{{cite web|title=Enya Dreams|first=David|last=Gritten|date=7 January 1996|work=Los Angeles Times|accessdate=6 January 2016|url=http://www.enyabookofdays.com/articles/tmot-13.htm}}</ref>

"Pax Deorum" is Latin for "Peace of the Gods"<ref name=promotionalbox>{{cite AV media notes|url=https://www.discogs.com/Enya-The-Memory-Of-Trees/release/5924388|title=The Memory of Trees [Promotional Box Limited Edition] (Liner notes and booklet)|publisher=Warner Music|id=0630-12879-2/4|date=1995|author=Ryan, Roma}}</ref> and features Enya playing the cello and violin, instruments that she had not fully learnt but can play basic chords that to her sounded effective when Nicky layered them in the studio with her synthesisers.<ref name=gavin1996/> While working on the track in its early stages during the Christmas 1994 period, the song took a direction that Enya and Nicky were not happy with, so they left it for up to three months before they revisited it, readjusting its basic theme in the process.<ref name=NPR1996/> When Enya played the song to Roma, it was clear to them that the song suited a language other than English, and decided Latin, at Roma's suggestion, for its "classic feel".<ref name=KSCA1996/> Regarding the Irish language song "Athair Ar Neamh", which translates as "Father in Heaven" in English, Roma wrote "The voice of epiphany is found in 'Athair ar Neamh'. It is the voice of day, the voice of night, the voice of all, of understanding ... a peace which is unique to the individual, a peace that is felt rather than described".<ref>{{cite web |author=Ryan, Roma |title=The Memory of Trees lyrics - Enya Blues |url=http://enya.sk/roma-ryan/lyrics/memory-trees-lyrics/ |website=EnyaBlues |accessdate=11 July 2019 |quote=Athair ar Neamh (Father in Heaven) [...] Lyrics by Roma Ryan}}</ref>

[[File:SilentValley.jpg|thumb|right|The vocals for "Hope Has a Place" were recorded on location at the [[Silent Valley Reservoir]] in the [[Mourne Mountains]], Ireland]]
"From Where I Am" is the album's second of three instrumental tracks on the album.<ref name=promotionalbox/> The title of "China Roses" makes reference to the flower ''[[Rosa chinensis]]''. Its lyrics refer to the plants [[Ilex aquifolium|Christmas holly]] and [[Angel's tears]], the [[red-tailed comet]], the [[Keys of Heaven]], and the ''One Thousand and One Nights'' stories. Roma explained the song is based on the idea that "everyone has their own idea of heaven ... it is a different treasure we embrace".<ref name=promotionalbox/> "Hope Has a Place" was developed lyrically at first, after Roma had visited the [[Silent Valley Reservoir]] in the [[Mourne Mountains]] in Ireland, and wrote its words based around one's first love for her daughter Ebony.<ref name=OnlyTimeLPsleeve>{{cite AV media notes|author=Roma Ryan|title=Only Time – The Collection|others=Enya|year=2002|type=Booklet notes, pages 15, 16, 19, 21|publisher=Warner Music|id=0927 49211-2}}</ref> Enya subsequently wrote a melody and visited the Silent Valley with Nicky, who suggested that she record the song's lead vocal on location.<ref name=latimes1996/><ref name=gavin1996/>

"Tea-House Moon" is the album's third instrumental track.<ref name=promotionalbox/> "Once You Had Gold" was influenced by Enya's experience of singing hymns in her youth, and incorporated its structure and melody into the track.<ref name=gavin1996/> "La Soñadora" is Spanish for "The Dreamer". Its lyrics were inspired by a poem recited by [[Amergin Glúingel]], a Druid of the [[Milesians (Irish)|Milesian race]], upon his arrival to Ireland from Spain.<ref name=promotionalbox/> Enya has an ancestral connection to Spain through her mother's side of the family; both aspects inspired her to sing it in Spanish, at Roma's suggestion.<ref name=gavin1996/><ref name=NPR1996>{{cite interview|title=Enya: The Memory of Trees|work=All Things Considered|interviewer=Noah Adams|last=Brennan|first=Enya|publisher=National Public Radio|accessdate=25 February 2017|date=15 January 1996|url=http://enyabookofdays.com/articles/tmot-16.htm}}</ref> To Enya, "[[On My Way Home (song)|On My Way Home]]" is about "those wonderful memories and fond moments that you have when you're on your way home", and wished to present a positive feel in the chorus.<ref name=gavin1996/> The song contains samples from two other Enya songs, "[[Book of Days (song)|Book of Days]]" and "[[Orinoco Flow]]".

The original Japanese edition contains "Oriel Window", a piano instrumental that was recorded around the time of ''Shepherd Moons'', as a bonus track.<ref>{{Cite AV media notes|title=The Memory of Trees|publisher=WEA Japan|year=1995|id=WPCR-550}}</ref>