"The Lighthouse's Tale" is a song by

progressive bluegrass Bluegrass music is a genre of American roots music that developed in the 1940s in the Appalachian region of the United States. The genre derives its name from the band Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys. Like mainstream country music, it lar ...

band

Nickel Creek Nickel Creek (formerly known as the Nickel Creek Band) is an American bluegrass band consisting of Chris Thile (mandolin), and siblings Sara Watkins (fiddle) and Sean Watkins (guitar). Formed in 1989 in Southern California, they released six alb ...

, taken from their debut album, ''

'', released in 2001.

Single details

"The Lighthouse's Tale" was written by Adam McKenzie &

Chris Thile Christopher Scott Thile (; born February 20, 1981) is an American mandolinist, singer, songwriter, composer, and radio personality, best known for his work in the progressive acoustic trio Nickel Creek and the acoustic folk and progressive blue ...

. 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 A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for the song was released with the single and featured footage of the band at various locations. These include many locations near water, such as a lighthouse 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 York is a town in York County, Maine, United States, near the southern tip of the state. The population in the 2020 census was 13,723. Situated beside the Atlantic Ocean on the Gulf of Maine, York is a well-known summer resort town. It is home ...

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 survive the journey. The next day, the lighthouse "watched as he

he keeper He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...

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 of the chorus 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 The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With it ...

said in an article regarding the release of ''

Why Should the Fire Die? ''Why Should The Fire Die?'' is the third major album release and fifth album overall by progressive acoustic trio Nickel Creek. The album was released on Sugar Hill on August 9, 2005, in the United States, and on August 8 in the United Kingdom. ...

'' that Nickel Creek once "sung sweetly about foxes and lighthouses," however, two thirds of the characters in "The Lighthouse's Tale" die.Why Should the Fire Die? by Nickel Creek , Chron.com - Houston Chronicle
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Track listing

#"The Lighthouse's Tale" (Radio Edit) #"The Fox" (Live) #"Let It Fall" (Live) #"The Lighthouse's Tale" (Music Video)

Personnel

- Mandolin, Lead Vocals *

Sara Watkins Sara Ullrika Watkins (born June 8, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter and fiddler. Watkins debuted in 1989 as the fiddler of Nickel Creek, the progressive bluegrass group she formed with her brother Sean and mandolinist Chris Thile. In addi ...

- Violin, Harmony Vocals *

Sean Watkins Sean Charles Watkins (born February 18, 1977) is a guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. He is a member of the contemporary folk band Nickel Creek, the duo Fiction Family and the supergroup Works Progress Administration. He is the brother of Sara ...

- Guitar, Harmony Vocals *Scott Thile - Acoustic Bass

Chart performance

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lighthouses Tale, The Nickel Creek songs 2001 singles 1999 songs Songs written by Chris Thile Songs about suicide