Track 1 of the EP Lanterns Down at Closing Time · 2010
Lanterns Down at Closing Time
“We wrote this about the end of our own rehearsal nights, chairs stacked and the kettle still warm. It felt right to open the very first record by switching the lights off.”
classical crossover · choral pop · hymnody · 4:24
Lyrics
The woks are cooling, steam drifts slow Chairs are stacked in tidy rows The aunties count the day's small coins And trade the news that no one knows A boy sweeps noodles from the floor A grandfather wipes his stall The paper lanterns sway and sigh The last light on the wall Everyone fed, everyone known No one here goes home alone Lanterns down at closing time One by one the glow goes out But the warmth we shared at every table Is what the night is all about Carry it home, carry it far Hope is a bowl that's passed around Lanterns down at closing time And we are lifted, safe and sound The fish man shares his final catch The baker hands the bread away Tomorrow's pots will fill again With the same bright hands at break of day A stranger stays to dry the cups And no one asks him why The kindness here is plain as rice Beneath a patient sky Everyone fed, everyone known No one here goes home alone Lanterns down at closing time One by one the glow goes out But the warmth we shared at every table Is what the night is all about Carry it home, carry it far Hope is a bowl that's passed around Lanterns down at closing time And we are lifted, safe and sound Let the morning find us rising Let the stalls be bright once more Let the smoke and song and laughter Rise above the market floor Every light we switch off tonight Is a promise we will keep To come again, to gather in Before the city sleeps Lanterns down at closing time One by one the glow goes out But the warmth we shared at every table Is what the night is all about Carry it home, carry it far Hope is a bowl that's passed around Lanterns down at closing time And we are lifted, safe and sound Lifted, safe and sound Goodnight, goodnight, goodnight