The Tallow Vigil

[Intro]
[Verse]
Salt-crusted stone on the floor
Locked is the heavy oak door
Three hundred winters have passed
Shadows on the tall mast
Guttering tallow burns low
Where did the great fleet go?
[Chorus]
O, bring the white sails back
Across the water so black
Fog-muffled bells ring out
Echoing a ghostly shout
I hold the silver flame
Calling every lost name
[Verse]
Crumhorns moan in the hall
Writing on the damp wall
Madrigals drift on the breeze
Born from the frozen seas
Virginal keys click and chime
Outside the circle of time
[Hook]
Wait for the tide
Nowhere to hide
Ghostly and wide
[Bridge]
Cloisters are empty and cold
Stories remain half-told
Theorbo strings snap in the air
Dust on the spiral stair
The wick is a dying spark
Drowning inside the dark
[Chorus]
O, bring the white sails back
Across the water so black
Fog-muffled bells ring out
Echoing a ghostly shout
I hold the silver flame
Calling every lost name
[Post-Chorus]
The fleet never came
Only the flame
Only the shame
[Verse]
Lute notes fall like the rain
Numbing the ancient pain
The organ pipes start to wheeze
Lost in the salty breeze
I am the keeper of light
Lost in the endless night
[Outro]