Track 1 of the single Porch Light Inheritance · 2025
Porch Light Inheritance
by Earl Beckett
“I wrote this sitting in Daddy's shed with a coffee can of screws in my lap, and it all came out in one sitting. Every old thing in that shed was worth more than it looked.”
folk rock · country folk · gospel-tinged ballad · front porch · 3:55
Lyrics
Daddy left me a truck that won't turn over Two cracked rocking chairs and a coffee can of screws A porch with a lean and a light that still flickers And a way of waiting out the evening blues He never said much, he'd just hand me a wrench Say hold the light steady, son, and watch Now I'm forty years old with grease on my knuckles Finding out how much of him I've got Porch light, porch light, keep on burning Down the gravel road where the fireflies roam Porch light, porch light, I'm still learning How to leave a little light for the ones coming home That's all he ever owned And it's all I need to know My daughter sits beside me on the top step Swinging her feet, asking why we leave it on I said somebody might be out there driving Tired and lost, and long past gone Porch light, porch light, keep on burning Down the gravel road where the fireflies roam Porch light, porch light, I'm still learning How to leave a little light for the ones coming home That's all he ever owned And it's all I need to know The truck still sits there rusting in the clover And I swear some nights I hear the engine sigh Maybe it's just the wind through the old screen door Or his voice saying, easy now, we'll get by Porch light, porch light, keep on burning Down the gravel road where the fireflies roam Porch light, porch light, I'm still learning How to leave a little light for the ones coming home That's all he ever owned And it's all I need to know Leave the light on Leave the light on for somebody Leave the light on