Track 11 of the album The Lighthouse Years · 2017
The Last Night Under the Old Roof
“A homecoming I never quite had, set to a slow march. The last horn line is the lighthouse beam going round one more time.”
neoclassical · neoclassical · film score · 4:14
Lyrics
The van is coming early and the rooms are almost bare I sleep upon a mattress with the moonlight on the stair The house is making noises that I never heard before The creak of every footstep I have worn into the floor Goodnight, old walls, goodnight Goodnight, my window light The last night under the old roof I'll listen to it breathe Every beam that held my childhood Every nail and every eave The last night under the old roof I will not let it go too soon I'll lie awake and learn it by heart Under the old roof, under the moon I hear my father's footsteps though he's years beyond the door I hear my mother singing as she hung the washing, four Small voices in the garden, and a swing that creaks and sways The house remembers everything in its own gentle ways Goodnight, old walls, goodnight Goodnight, my window light The last night under the old roof I'll listen to it breathe Every beam that held my childhood Every nail and every eave The last night under the old roof I will not let it go too soon I'll lie awake and learn it by heart Under the old roof, under the moon A home is not a place you leave It is a place you grow beyond And carry in your pocket like A smooth and well-loved stone The last night under the old roof I'll listen to it breathe Every beam that held my childhood Every nail and every eave The last night under the old roof I will not let it go too soon I'll lie awake and learn it by heart Under the old roof, under the moon Goodnight, old roof Goodnight