Track 3 of the album Mile Marker Zero · 2016
The Keeper Left the Lamp Turning
“An old stone tower, paint gone pale like a ghost, and a keeper who left the lamp turning. I wrote it half asleep and left it that way.”
slow rock · dream rock · coastal ballad · 4:16
Lyrics
Old stone tower on the edge of the coast Paint gone pale like a ghost The keeper's chair still faces the sea Cold tea in a cup, left there for me Eighty steps up in the salt and the wind Every one of them a place he's been The logbook says the same thing each night Clear skies, no trouble, kept the light The keeper left the lamp turning Long after the boats stopped learning How to read the dark by a single flame He never asked for a name Just the lamp turning, turning For anyone still yearning To find the shore in the fog and the rain He'd have done it all again They put in a switch and a computer screen Said nobody needs a man in between But I climb up here when the weather turns bad And I keep the one thing that he had The keeper left the lamp turning Long after the boats stopped learning How to read the dark by a single flame He never asked for a name Just the lamp turning, turning For anyone still yearning To find the shore in the fog and the rain He'd have done it all again Somewhere out past the breaking line A tired heart is running blind And it sees a slow gold sweep Over the black and the deep That's all it needs to keep The keeper left the lamp turning Long after the boats stopped learning How to read the dark by a single flame He never asked for a name Just the lamp turning, turning For anyone still yearning To find the shore in the fog and the rain I'll do it all again Clear skies, no trouble Kept the light