Track 4 of the album Paper Moon Rent · 2011
The Keeper Wrote Her a Letter
“A lighthouse keeper writing to someone far away is every one of us at the end of a long shift. This is a letter I'd have liked to receive.”
jazz ballad · storysong · parlour ballad · 3:41
Lyrics
The keeper sat in the lamp room light Pen in hand on a quiet night Wrote to a woman across the foam Said the sea is wide, but I'm coming home He told her of the gulls and the gales Of the supply boat and its sails Told her every beam he swept Was a wish for her he kept Dear one, the lamp is burning Dear one, the tide is turning I will cross the water in the spring And bring you every song the night can sing Dear one, the lamp is burning She read it by her window pane Heard the distant rain Folded it close against her chest Said, my love, you've done your best Some love travels by ship and post Some love lives on a distant coast But a light can reach across the dark And find the one who holds your heart Dear one, the lamp is burning Dear one, the tide is turning I will cross the water in the spring And bring you every song the night can sing Dear one, the lamp is burning Dear one The lamp is burning