The stories behind Keep the Lantern Turning

• Keep the Lantern Turning Is About Being Ready Alone at the Edge of the Map — A tender chamber-folk ballad follows a solitary coastal caretaker who has to be ready for the farthest, latest call with no backup nearby.

Lyrics

Beyond the headland where the soft grass bends

A white lamp turns above the harbor wall

She keeps the night for strangers and for friends

One patient's suite to watch the waters all

Inside the clinic, by the windowpane, a quiet repair

bench holds its careful light.

She checks each dial and seals each cable plane, so fragile

hands can trust the room at night.

Keep the lantern turning, keep the small hearts brave.

There are miles of water between every wave.

When the call comes rising from the farthest bay

Help will be ready

Help will be ready

Ready for the need of the day

The incoming supply boats cross the gray

With boxes marked in ink and canvas tie

She counts the gulls and logs the parts away

While gulls wheel low above the changing tide

And maintenance wreckers every day is known

Every worn out bearing,

every tested lead She runs the careful testing

on her own And leaves no doubt beside a life in

need

The villages pass and the tall ships

roll

Let winter drive its iron

reign

A faithful hand can make a home

of one warm room beside the plane

keep the lantern turning, keep the small

hearts brave There are miles of water between every wave

When the call comes arising from the farthest bay

Help will be ready,

help will be ready

Ready for the need of the day

Raise every voice now from the pier to the foam

The light is a promise that reaches them home

Though the coast is wide and the dark holds sway

Help will be ready

Help will be ready

Ready when needed,

ready today

The lighthouse beam moves softly through the

rain

And her quiet bench waits by the glass

again