Track 9 of the album One More Verse Before the Lights Come Up · 2026
Ward Lights Out, Stars Coming In
by Wren Hallett
“I dim the lamps along the ward and the stars come in. I did night shifts for a year, and this is what I remember of them.”
indie folk · night folk · hushed ballad · 3:19
Lyrics
I dim the lamps along the ward Soft shoes on the polished floor A cough, a sigh, a whispered word And a small light by every door The night comes in like a quiet tide And I walk it, side by side Ward lights out, stars coming in Through the high and narrow glass Everyone here is somebody's whole world And I watch while the long hours pass Sleep now, sleep now, I am near Nothing here that you need fear Ward lights out, stars coming in Let the dark be soft as skin A woman wakes and asks the time I say it's early, rest a while She tells me of a garden once Of a husband and his crooked smile I tuck the blanket at her chin And hold the night that's coming in Ward lights out, stars coming in Through the high and narrow glass Everyone here is somebody's whole world And I watch while the long hours pass Sleep now, sleep now, I am near Nothing here that you need fear Ward lights out, stars coming in Let the dark be soft as skin Three o'clock, the hardest hour When the tired and the lonely meet I make my tea and watch the window Where the city sleeps in the street And somewhere far a train goes by Like a thread across the sky Ward lights out, stars coming in Through the high and narrow glass Everyone here is somebody's whole world And I watch while the long hours pass Sleep now, sleep now, I am near Nothing here that you need fear Ward lights out, stars coming in Let the dark be soft as skin Let the dark be soft as skin Let the dark be soft as skin