[Verse 1 - Orbit Begins] The whole sky wheels round me like water, a millstone hung high in the blue. Orion pulls winter behind him. The Scorpion burns summer through. The Queen and the Bear trade the darkness, keeping the old seasons clear-- fine clocks, every one of them, sailor, but clocks never tell you where to steer. [Chorus - Fixed Light] I can't come down to you, sailor-- that's how you know I stay true. Any light that brightens to beckon was hung by a hand wanting you. So out on the celestial sea, trust what stays distant and free. Steer by what no web can touch. Keep one eye on me. [Verse 2 - Distant Metal] When the Seven Sisters rise at evening, it's sowing or harvest once more. The Dipper pours northward till morning-- follow its lip to my door. Whatever the parlor lamps promise, however the silk swears it's spring, Orion still shoulders the winter. No web gets a vote in the thing. [Chorus - Wider Space] I can't come down to you, sailor-- that's how you know I stay true. Any light that brightens to beckon was hung by a hand wanting you. So out on the celestial sea, trust what stays distant and free. Steer by what no web can touch. Keep one eye on me. [Bridge - No Rescue] I can give you north, not harbor. I can hold, not choose your shore. I won't reach down through the darkness. A bearing cannot promise more. The distance is the loving. [Verse 3 - Tonal Center Holds] My cousin walks nearer than I do, the one close light I can trust. She waxes and wanes without bargaining, counting the months as she must. When she comes full on the hedgerow, the rigging turns silver and plain. She doesn't cut any thread, sailor-- she shows you the shape of the chain. But mind every lamp on the porch rail that brightens the closer you fly: a far light stays fixed through your turning; a near lure goes sliding by. A star at your shoulder flies straight lines. A lamp at your shoulder flies rings. [Final Chorus - Horizon Opens] I still can't come down to you, sailor-- that's why my bearing runs deep. Any light laid low for your landing was lit by a hand, not the deep. So out on the celestial sea, when the near lights disagree, steer by what no web can touch. Keep one eye on me. [Coda - Voice And Fixed Drone] I held through your grandmothers' crossings. I'll hold when your children take wing. When you're lost beyond maps and all knowing, face the dark. Find the light that won't swing.
