Top Ten Songs by Enya

Enya has done more to put New Age Music on the map than virtually anyone via her many Top Ten charting songs throughout the world. My favorite top ten songs from Enya were not easy to come by because she is my favorite female artist of all time. Here are my top ten songs by Enya in descending order all the way to my favorite tune:

10. China Roses, originally from 1995's The Memory of Trees album

China Roses sneaks into my top ten list of Enya songs because it's very delicately sung. I love hearing the mandolin as the back drop to the tune, which makes me think about my past travels to the most populous country in the world.

9. Amarantine, originally from 2005's Amarantine album

This is from Enya's latest album release of songs that carries the same name. I love the simple elegance of this song which made it to the Top Twenty on the US Adult Contemporary Charts. Amarantine basically translates out to "everlasting love", taken from the mythic amaranth flower, which is supposed to never fade out.

8. The Memory of Trees, originally from 1995's The Memory of Trees album

This principally instrumental tune has a really melodic piano supporting role. Enya sings very few words in it, and her words are not really that understandable. She could be possibly singing "You can make me feel good - - ". So the tune carries a mystery with it, and reminds me of the tranquility of parks.

7. The Celts, originally from 1987's Enya, a self-titled album

The Celts comes across like a marching tune that is sung in Irish Gaelic. The song celebrates the endurance of the Celtic Spirit. This musical creation, along with the rest of Enya's self-titled studio release of songs, was remastered and re-released as The Celts in 1992.

6. Cursum Perficio, originally from 1988's Watermark album

Rounding out the first half of my top ten favorite Enya songs, Cursum Perficio sounds very ominous and creepy, because of the way that Enya croons out the "Cursum Perficio" words ever so slowly. At first, I believed this song was some kind of devil worship creation! But factually, this tune is sung in Latin, and the title means "I finish the course". As the tune progresses, it becomes more soothing in nature.

5. Orinoco Flow, originally from 1988's Watermark album

My first ever exposure to this artist came via this chart-topping "Sail away, Sail away" hit. I must admit that I wasn't impressed, and it took years for me to like this song as well as to appreciate the other songs of this mysterious Irish woman. Given that I love to study geography, I've come to enjoy listening to this musical "geography lesson" of a top ten Enya song. The Orinoco River is roughly 1,500 miles long, making it one of the longest rivers in South America, with its drainage basin existing in both Columbia and Venezuela.

4. Caribbean Blue, originally from 1991's Shepherd Moons album

I feel this is the new age singer's most spiritually-deep work. Anyone who's ever seen the Caribbean Ocean can attest to its very special shade(s) of blue coloring. The color blue is symbolic of spirituality. The way this song begins, with Enya's style of sound- making with her voice, gives me the impression that I am on a boat "sailing away".

3. On My Way Home, originally from 1995's The Memory of Trees album

Any song having to do with traveling has a great chance of making one of my top ten lists. This particular work has a church-like feel to it because of the organ that's implemented in the beginning. I love the refrain which goes…

"On my way home
I remember
Only good days.
On my way home
I remember all the best days"

2. Wild Child, originally from 2000's A Day Without Rain album

Wild Child is a tribute to living life in the present moment, and to me, it's her most smooth-sounding and flowing melody. For such "a call to inner peace" tune, it's kinda ironic that lyrical phrases like "wild child" and "helter skelter" are part of the tune. Because Wild Child moves fast, I find it very stimulating to play the song over and over again, often debating within myself as to whether this is actually the pinnacle of my favorite top ten Enya songs.

1. Book of Days, originally from 1991's Shepherd Moons album and from the 1992 Far and Away Motion Picture Soundtrack.

Book of Days is the top of my top ten favorite songs by the Irish singer. What a powerful, yet emotionally moving song about travel and the hopes travel can bring. The piano solo at the beginning brings tears to my eyes because I know what heart-felt and vulnerable lyrics are about to follow…

"One day, one night, one moment,
my dreams could be, tomorrow…
One way to be my journey,
this way could be my Book of Days."

Before I leave on trips, I play my favorite Enya top ten song to send myself off. A number of studios have used this song in movie trailers advertising their films of hope.