"The Lighthouse's Tale" as written by and Chris Thile Adam Mckenzie....
I am a lighthouse, worn by the weather and the waves.
I keep my lamp lit, to warn the sailors on their way.
I'll tell a story, paint you a picture from my past.
I was so happy, but joy in this life seldom lasts.
I had a keeper, he helped me warn the ships at sea.
We had grown closer, 'till his joy meant everything to me.
And he was to marry, a girl who shone with beauty and light.
And they loved each other,
And with me watched the sunsets into night.
And the waves crashing around me, the sand slips out to sea.
And the winds that blow remind me,
Of what has been, and what can never be.
She'd had to leave us, my keeper he prayed for a safe return.
But when the night came,
The weather to a raging storm had turned.
He watched her ship fight,
But in vain against the wild and terrible wind.
In me so helpless, as dashed against the rock she met her end.
And the waves crashing around me, the sand slips out to sea.
And the winds that blow remind me,
Of what has been, and what can never be.
Then on the next day, my keeper found her washed up on the shore.
He kissed her cold face,
That they'd be together soon he'd swore.
I saw him crying, watched as he buried her in the sand.
And then he climbed my tower, and off of the edge of me he ran.
And the waves crashing around me, the sand slips out to sea.
And the winds that blow remind me,
Of what has been, and what can never be.
I am a lighthouse, worn by the weather and the waves.
And though I am empty, I still warn the sailors on their way.
I keep my lamp lit, to warn the sailors on their way.
I'll tell a story, paint you a picture from my past.
I was so happy, but joy in this life seldom lasts.
I had a keeper, he helped me warn the ships at sea.
We had grown closer, 'till his joy meant everything to me.
And he was to marry, a girl who shone with beauty and light.
And they loved each other,
And with me watched the sunsets into night.
And the waves crashing around me, the sand slips out to sea.
And the winds that blow remind me,
Of what has been, and what can never be.
She'd had to leave us, my keeper he prayed for a safe return.
But when the night came,
The weather to a raging storm had turned.
He watched her ship fight,
But in vain against the wild and terrible wind.
In me so helpless, as dashed against the rock she met her end.
And the waves crashing around me, the sand slips out to sea.
And the winds that blow remind me,
Of what has been, and what can never be.
Then on the next day, my keeper found her washed up on the shore.
He kissed her cold face,
That they'd be together soon he'd swore.
I saw him crying, watched as he buried her in the sand.
And then he climbed my tower, and off of the edge of me he ran.
And the waves crashing around me, the sand slips out to sea.
And the winds that blow remind me,
Of what has been, and what can never be.
I am a lighthouse, worn by the weather and the waves.
And though I am empty, I still warn the sailors on their way.
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The lighthouse is telling us this story about his keeper who loses his wife and then kills himself to be with her. And obviously the lighthouse misses them both. That's the obvious part.
Here's the deeper part(I think anyway):
It is the lighthouse's job to warn the ships at sea of the rocks. It is also it's job to be shelter for the keeper. And this lighthouse "failed"(for lack of a better word) at it's job on both fronts. Even though it warned the ship the wife was on, it still was dashed against the very rocks it warned others about.
Instead of being a safe shelter, he became a plank for the keeper who ran off his edge.
So even though the lighthouse tried to do everything right, he still lost the keeper and his wife. Then every night he is reminded of how he lost them because of the weather.
By the end of the song, he is empty and alone, warning sailors of the rocks that devastated his joy. It is as if he can help others, but not himself.
This song is about love, pain, and loss. The fear of being alone got the best of the keeper, and he wanted to be with her again, so he killed himself.
A beautiful song... It's one of the songs I play every morning on the way to school to clear my mind.
Hero and Leander is a Greek myth. Hero was a priestess of Aphrodite who dwelled in a tower in Sestos, at the edge of the Hellespont. Leander, a young man from Abydos, on the other side of the strait, fell in love with her, and he would swim every night across the Hellespont to be with her. Hero would light a lamp every night at the top of her tower, to guide his way.
Succumbing to Leander's soft words, and to his argument that Aphrodite, as goddess of love, would scorn the worship of a virgin, Hero allowed him to make love to her. But one stormy winter night, the waves tossed Leander in the sea and the breezes blew out Hero's light, and Leander lost his way (but some say he thought Hero had let the light go out and he just gave up), and was drowned. Hero had fallen asleep and was certain that it was her fault the light went out and thus threw herself from a tower in grief and died as well.
Pretty good comparison I think.
b
it caught my breath