Muddy Bay
Watching from the mainland, I’ve always thought there’s nowhere quite like Shetland. I’ve always felt that. It’s part of Scotland, part of Britain, but also a distinct, prominent and proud Scandinavian heritage, but also entirely its own place. You see it in the language, the music, the weathered stone. But more than that, although I've never been there yet, I'm ashamed to say, you feel it in the people you meet.
I’ve always thought of Shetlanders as quietly unshakeable. Not just resilient, rooted. A kind of strength that doesn’t need to say much because it’s carried in how they stand, how they speak, how they treat you.
My friend David's from Shetland. He’s shaped by that island, I think, and by the kind of pride that runs deeper than words. The kind you can only really inherit. Watching him over the years, his clarity, his calm, his intelligence, it all helped shape this song. My Dad and I always said we'd visit but life gets in the way and we never managed it. Now I'll be heading there as part of AON and I'm excited by that..
The name Lerwick comes from Old Norse, where it translates into English as ‘Muddy Bay.’ And I love that. Because it sounds plain on the surface, but like so much in Shetland, it holds more than it shows. There’s grit in it. History. Humour. Beauty you have to earn by staying long enough to understand.
Muddy Bay (Blood & Bone) is a tribute. To the strength of islanders. To their calm pride. To a place that has stood long enough to mix myth and memory and still come out anchored.
It’s not about belonging to anywhere. It’s about what happens when a place truly belongs to the people who live there and shape it.
Finn Moray
Song Lyrics
[Verse 1]
They came with hands worn deep like rope,
with eyes that held a kind of hope.
From stone and sea, they carved a way,
and left their names in Muddy Bay.
The crofting kin, the harbour call,
the drystone lines, the old town wall.
We walk where they once stood with grace,
and feel their pulse in this place.
[Chorus]
Oh, Muddy Bay, you’re in our stride,
in every tide we stand beside.
You’re the thread we share, the song unsaid,
you’re the fire and wind that keeps us fed.
We are not just flesh, but salt and clay.
We are blood and bone of Muddy Bay.
[Verse 2]
In every oar that kissed the sea,
in every net and memory,
there’s laughter sung and tears once shed,
in stories that the hearths still spread.
The markets, halls, and Lerwick lanes,
the Up Helly Aa light that still remains.
It’s not the land that makes us stay,
it’s the souls who shaped this bay.
[Chorus]
Oh, Muddy Bay, you’re in our stride,
in every tide we stand beside.
You’re the thread we share, the song unsaid,
you’re the fire and wind that keeps us fed.
We are not just flesh, but salt and clay.
We are blood and bone of Muddy Bay.
[Verse 3]
We hold the names not written down,
in how we walk, in how we sound.
The island isn’t where we’re from,
it’s what we’ve chosen to become.
So here’s to all who know the tune
of fiddle strings and rising moon.
To every hand that found its way,
you are the soul of Muddy Bay.
[Final Chorus]
Oh, Muddy Bay, you’re in our stride,
in every tide we stand beside.
You’re the thread we share, the song unsaid,
you’re the fire and wind that keeps us fed.
We are not just flesh, but salt and clay.
We are blood and bone of Muddy Bay.
Yes, we are blood and bone of Muddy Bay.