The Lantern - Duet

[Intro] [Bansuri flute alone] [Verse 1] I keep a lantern in the window So the rooms don't feel so wide Not for me to find my way back Just so no one sees inside I have learned to paint the weather On a face that holds the rain Draw the sun in all the places Where the clouds are giving way I'm the one who finds the punchline When the silence gets too long Not because the world is funny Just because you need the song [Pre-Hook] And if you ever wondered why I never let the room go quiet Why I fill the air before the question forms It isn't that the sun is always shining where I'm standing It's that you are the reason there is warmth [Hook] I'm not laughing 'cause I'm happy I'm just lighting up the hall So you never have to wonder If the darkness is your fault It was here before you found me It'll stay when no one's home But with you the weight is different With you I'm not as alone With you I'm not as alone [Verse 2] There's a garden that I tend to In the hours before dawn Where the flowers only open When they think that everyone is gone I don't bring you there on purpose Not because I don't trust the soil Just because the blooms are heavy And I don't want you to recoil So I bring you what is easy Bring you laughter, bring you light Bring you everything that floats Above the current underneath the night [Pre-Hook] And if you ever wondered why I never let the room go quiet Why I fill the air before the question forms It isn't that the sun is always shining where I'm standing It's that you are the reason there is warmth [Hook] I'm not laughing 'cause I'm happy I'm just lighting up the hall So you never have to wonder If the darkness is your fault It was here before you found me It'll stay when no one's home But with you the weight is different With you I'm not as alone With you I'm not as alone [Bridge] Don't mistake the joke for armor Don't mistake the smile for strength I have carried this a long time I have carried it the length Of every room you've ever known me in Every table every door And I would carry it a thousand years To keep it off your floor Because you are the reason I come back to the surface You are the reason I remember air You didn't cause the water I am swimming in But you are why I bother swimming there [Final Hook] I'm not laughing 'cause I'm happy I'm just lighting up the hall So you never have to carry What was never yours to haul It was here before the morning It'll be here after too But the reason that I'm breathing Is the room when it holds you The room when it holds you The room... When it holds you