"Lighthouse Man" recorded live on 88.1 WVPE's "The Back Porch". The song was originally recorded on Riely's second studio album A Dream or Two which is available for sale at cdbaby.

There's a darkroom in the lighthouse where my wife and I now live
I only take the pictures that the outside world will give
Mostly shots of ships at sea and seagulls on the shore
I sell 'em at the shop in town, the tourists cry for more

I drive an '82 Suburban, I got a bad dog in the yard
I cut back on the bourbon since the contract with the guard
I keep that light a-burnin' I'm a-greasin' every cog
Dust to dawn it must be on, and all day when there's fog

Well I'm a complex citizen but I got fairly simple tastes
Most times you can find us just a hangin' 'round the place
TV on the satellite, that thing it works just fine
118 channels, but I mostly watch channel nine

Tuesday nights the wife goes out to Ernie's with her friends
Leaves me time for makin' prints and fixin' odds and ends
Sometimes I get wonderin' if that gal might be too free
But Wednesday mornin' when I wake up, she's always lyin' with me

Sometimes after sunrise I climb up in the tower
I like the way the light plays in that early mornin' hour
Wind starts waves a-shimmerin', a freighter's slippin' by
I wonder if that crew can feel my telephoto eye

Shorebirds tiptoe neatly through their breakfast tidal pool
Pickin' crabs from rocks and weeds and minnows from the school
24 exposures and I thank my feathered friends
Salute my sea-borne buddies, I'm the crazy lighthouse man

Riely O'Connor © 2006. BMI All Rights Reserved.

Close Window