When was caledonia released

He says he had been busking around Europe with three Irish guys but the day after writing the song - with its lyric "Caledonia you're calling me and now I'm going home" - he set off back to Scotland. In the years since, it has become part of Scotland's "common culture", says MacLean, often being talked about as a candidate for the national anthem.

How many versions of DougieMaclean 's Caledonia are there? Have a listen. The song's effect on expatriate Scots was summed up by Desert Island Discs presenter Kirsty Young, who chose it to mark the programme's 75th anniversary last year. She said: "This song for me exquisitely captures the sensation of having Scotland in your soul and only ever feeling truly complete when you are there.

MacLean, who is now 63, grew up in the village of Butterstone near Dunkeld in Perthshire and started playing fiddle with traditional Scottish music band the Tannahill Weavers before going solo.

He was still finding his way as a songwriter when he wrote Caledonia and says that if he tried to write it now it would be much more complex lyrically and musically.

I don't know if you can see the changes that have come over me. In these last few days I've been afraid that I might drift away. So I've been telling old stories, singing songs, that make me think about where I come from. Let me tell you that I love you and I think about you all the time. Caledonia you're calling me and now I'm going home. But if I should become a stranger you know that it would make me more than sad.

I have moved and I've kept on moving, proved the points that I needed proving. Lost the friends that I needed losing, found others on the way. Ah but let me tell you that I love you and I think about you all the time Caledonia you're calling me and now I'm going home But if I should become a stranger you know that it would make me more than sad Caledonia's been everything I've ever had.

Now I'm sitting here before the fire, the empty room, the forest choir The flames that couldn't get any higher, they've withered, now they've gone But I'm steady thinking, my way is clear and I know what I will do tomorrow When the hands have shaken and the kisses flow Oh I will disappear.

Dougie changed the lyric for Frankie Miller when he released 'Caledonia' as a single and, feeling comfortable with the new lyric himself, carried on singing the new version. The original lyrics by Dougie MacLean, and featured on the album Craigie Dhu, include the line "I have kissed the ladies and left them crying".

This was changed in later versions to "I have tried and have kept on trying". The song was featured in an advert on Scottish television for Homecoming Scotland , a campaign by VisitScotland which invited people to come home to Scotland in on the th anniversary of Robert Burns 's birth.

The advert featured a variety of Scottish actors, singers and celebrities, including Sir Sean Connery, Sir Chris Hoy , Eddi Reader and Lulu , all of whom sang or spoke, as Connery did part of the song. In , a new version of the song was also recorded by Dougie MacLean himself, this time with Dundee band Anderson Mcginty Webster Ward and Fisher, for another Tennent's advert, this time for the launch of Tennent's new product called "Caledonia Best Ale".

It uses material from the Wikipedia article " Caledonia song ". Except where otherwise indicated, Everything. Cookie policy. You are here Everything Explained. Caledonia Cover: Caledonia-by-Franky-Miller.