I learned the weather by its teeth Kept iron stairs beneath my feet Polished glass until the dawn Fed the flame and carried on Every ship beyond the foam Borrowed me to make it home Every captain praised the flame None of them remembered my name I know the language of distress Three short flashes, then the rest I answer every cry I hear Who answers mine when skies are clear? If I put the lantern out Would you turn your ship around? Would you come looking for the keeper Or curse the dark you found? I have burned through every storm So you could cross and carry on If I put the lantern out Would you notice I was gone? You love me fixed against the cliff A faithful star that cannot shift You call it purpose, call it grace Because I never leave my place You take your bearing from my ghost Praise the light and pass the coast I watch your windows disappear One by one across the years The sea has had the whole wide world The wind has touched what it preferred I have had this tower of stone And every night to burn alone If I put the lantern out Would you turn your ship around? Would you come looking for the keeper Or curse the dark you found? I have burned through every storm So you could cross and carry on If I put the lantern out Would you notice I was gone? Tonight I will not be the sun For every stranger on the run Let the warning bell complain Let the windows taste the rain I take the key Descend the stair The door gives way The night is there Behind me, darkness takes the tower For once, the dark is not my failure I have put the lantern out Let the whole sea talk about The keeper who walked from the tower Before the flame could burn him down If you come looking for the keeper Come ashore and speak my name Don’t ask me to relight the lantern Don’t confuse me with the flame I kept one spark inside my coat I left the cliff I left the ghosts The road is black The night is deep For once Let the horizon Wait for me
