Track 4 of the EP Lanterns Down at Closing Time · 2010
The Kindness of Strangers' Hands
“Small kindnesses are the whole point of a choir, really. This one is just twelve people being gentle at once.”
operatic pop · operatic pop · folk hymn · 3:29
Lyrics
I dropped my keys down by the stair Nobody seemed to be there Then a hand came from the dark Smiling like a morning lark We never traded names that night But she stayed till I got things right Found my keys, lit up the way Said, "Pass it on, someday" Oh, the kindness of strangers' hands Reaching out across the lands Little lanterns in the night Passing on their gentle light Oh, the kindness of strangers' hands Hold us up, and help us stand I will carry what I've been given Out into the world again Now I see a lonely face Waiting in a crowded place And I lift my hand to say "I am here, and it's okay" Oh, the kindness of strangers' hands Reaching out across the lands Little lanterns in the night Passing on their gentle light Oh, the kindness of strangers' hands Hold us up, and help us stand I will carry what I've been given Out into the world again One by one, the lanterns grow Down the streets where strangers go Every door becomes a hearth Every hand becomes a start Oh, the kindness of strangers' hands Reaching out across the lands Little lanterns in the night Passing on their gentle light Oh, the kindness of strangers' hands Hold us up, and help us stand I will carry what I've been given Out into the world again Pass it on Pass it on