[intro – soft fingerpicked guitar, concertina drone, ambient drone, whispered male vocal] The wind will keep the names I leave, The tide will guard the ones who grieve. I’ll sail ’til all the stars turn cold, And trade my heart for waves and gold. [verse – steady rhythm, narrative tone] I kissed the wind where your cheek had been, Salt and sorrow on my skin. The gulls cried out like they already knew, The sea would take me far from you. [chorus – upbeat shanty rhythm, gang vocals, male lead with light female harmony] Heave, boys, heave, the wind won’t wait, Storms may break but hearts can’t shake. Raise the song ’til the night grows thin, I’m sailing out, won’t sail back in. Heave, boys, heave — hold fast the line, Leave your love and all behind. Heave, boys, heave — the waves will roar, Her name still haunts the shore. [verse – low dynamic, subtle percussion] The waves will keep what the heart won’t hold, The nights grow long and the decks grow cold. Your voice drifts in through the spray and foam, A lighthouse song that calls me home. [bridge – ambient build, fiddle and concertina swells] I see the coast through fog and rain, The harbor knows me by my pain. I’ve carried every storm I’ve met, But not the one I can’t forget. [interlude – whispered male lead, crew ghost echo] The harbor’s still, no voices call. The tide remembers what we’ve lost. Heave, boys, heave, the storm’s gone cold. All that’s left are names untold. I see their faces in the rain. I brought the sea, but not their names. [pickup – soft, broken voice] The wind still knows the names I’ve lost. Heave, boys… Heave… [final chorus – slow half-time, choir harmonies, emotional vocal peak] Heave, boys, heave, the wind’s grown still, The shore remembers what the sea did kill. Empty house and a name in stone, I’ve come back, but I’m alone. Heave, boys, heave, no line to hold, The fire’s gone, the hearth is cold. Heave, boys, heave, no songs remain, The wind just whispers their names. [outro – soft guitar and concertina, whispered male vocal] The wind still knows the names I’ve lost. The tide keeps them where I cannot. [refrain – three-part harmony: male lead, low crew hum, soft female choir on final line] The wind will keep the names I leave, The tide will guard the ones who grieve. I’ll sail ’til all the stars turn cold, And trade my heart for waves and gold. The wind still knows the names I’ve lost, The tide kept them at too great a cost. The stars still burn, the harbor’s wide, But home’s a grave beneath the tide.
