The Lighthouse's Tale

"The Lighthouse's Tale"
Single by Nickel Creek from the album Nickel Creek
Released	2001
Format	CD
Recorded	???
Genre	Progressive bluegrass
Length	5:01
Label	Sugar Hill
Writer	Adam McKenzie Chris Thile
Producer	Alison Krauss
Nickel Creek singles chronology
"When You Come Back Down" (2001) "The Lighthouse's Tale" (2001) "Reasons Why" (2002)

The Lighthouse's Tale was the second single by progressive bluegrass band Nickel Creek from their self titled debut album.

Track listing

1. The Lighthouse's Tale (Radio Edit)
2. The Fox (Live)
3. Let It Fall (Live)
4. The Lighthouse's Tale (Music Video)

Personnel

• Chris Thile - Mandolin, Lead Vocals
• Sara Watkins - Violin
• Sean Watkins - Guitar, Harmony Vocals
• Scott Thile - Acoustic Bass

Single details

The Lighthouse's Tale was written by Adam McKenzie & Chris Thile. At five minutes and one second, it is the longest single ever released by Nickel Creek. A sequel to the song, The Lighthouse's Tale, Part 2, was played by Nickel Creek at several of their concerts, but not released with the single. A music video for the song was released with the single, and featured footage of the band at various locations. These include many location near water, such as a lighthouse (nubble Light York Maine) by the ocean, a bridge over a small river, and a mountainside lake. The lighthouse in the video is the Cape Neddick Light, near York, Maine. ^[1]

Synopsis

The Lighthouse's Tale is about a lighthouse, the keeper, and his fiancée. The lighthouse serves as a narrator to tell how the keeper was going to marry a beautiful woman who had to sail in a fierce storm. She doesn't make the journey. The next day, the lighthouse "watched as he [the keeper] buried her in the sand. And then he climbed my tower, and off of the edge of me he ran." The lighthouse concludes by saying "and though I am empty, I still warn the sailors on their way". The haunting lyrics that keep repeating are "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" A critic for the Houston Chronicle said in an article regarding the release of Why Should the Fire Die? that Nickel Creek once "sung sweetly about foxes and lighthouses",however, two thirds of the characters in The Lighthouse's Tale die.^[2]

References