Lighthouse Keeper's Kid, Beam Never Quits

Lyrics

Grew up where the land runs out and the cold wind talks
Pops climbed a hundred steps just to trim the wick and walk
Spiral stairs in my sleep, brass rail under my hand
Told me every ship out there is someone's whole plan

Salt on the window, kettle on the stove
Radio crackling weather like a late-night note
He never said I love you, he just checked the light
Wiped the lens every dusk so the dark could not win the night

Beam never quits, it turns and it turns
Tells the lost ones home, that's the lesson that I learned
Beam never quits, even when nobody sees
Keep your light on steady and you're lighting someone's seas

Left for the city, traded waves for the traffic
Concrete for the cliffs, neon for the magic
But every night on the train when the tunnel goes black
I see that turning light and it's pulling me back

Fog on the harbor, bell on the buoy
Little me counting every flash like a toy
Now I'm the one grinding on the late-night shift
Holding down the beam for the ones I'm trying to lift

Beam never quits, it turns and it turns
Tells the lost ones home, that's the lesson that I learned
Beam never quits, even when nobody sees
Keep your light on steady and you're lighting someone's seas

Storm come through, he stayed up all night
Hands on the lamp, kept the glass burning bright
Morning came in gold, boats rolled into port
Nobody said thank you, he just smiled, that's the sport

Now I'm on the stage and the spotlight's on my face
Thinking of that tower in its lonely little place
If you're out there drifting, if the water's running high
Look for something steady in the dark and in the sky

Beam never quits, it turns and it turns
Tells the lost ones home, that's the lesson that I learned
Beam never quits, even when nobody sees
Keep your light on steady and you're lighting someone's seas

Turn and turn, steady burn
Somebody's coming home