Track 9 of the album Give the Morning Another Try · 2022
The Lamp Above the Till Remembers Everyone
“The one quiet song here: a photograph of paper ships pinned by the lottery slips. A small, wistful hymn for the shopkeepers.”
cinematic pop · cinematic pop · folk hymn · 4:32
Lyrics
Pinned beside the lottery slips A photograph of paper ships The shopkeeper at twenty-two Beside the till, as new as new The shelves behind him, neat and bare A single lamp hangs in the air Now every wall is crowded round With faces from this little town Fifty years of dusk and dawn And still the lamp is glowing on The lamp above the till remembers everyone The kids who bought their sweets and now have kids of their own The widow with her bread, the boy with his first stamp Every one of them was lit by this small lamp The lamp above the till remembers everyone Every day that ended, every day begun Oh, let it burn, let it burn, let it burn, let it stay The lamp above the till will light the way Change was counted into palms Troubles shared, and news, and balms The photograph has gone to brown But the light still looks you up and down Fifty years of dusk and dawn And still the lamp is glowing on The lamp above the till remembers everyone The kids who bought their sweets and now have kids of their own The widow with her bread, the boy with his first stamp Every one of them was lit by this small lamp The lamp above the till remembers everyone Every day that ended, every day begun Oh, let it burn, let it burn, let it burn, let it stay The lamp above the till will light the way Close the shutter, count the coins Turn the key and dim the joins But leave the lamp, leave it on For all the ones who are not gone The lamp above the till remembers everyone The kids who bought their sweets and now have kids of their own The widow with her bread, the boy with his first stamp Every one of them was lit by this small lamp The lamp above the till remembers everyone Every day that ended, every day begun Oh, let it burn, let it burn, let it burn, let it stay The lamp above the till will light the way Remembers everyone Remembers everyone Let it burn, let it stay