Lanterns Over Starry Horizons

Lyrics

Verse 1 Since I was young there was a blue city Burning past the western pines Some nights it sat above the ridgeline Some nights it vanished with the light I watched it through the summer thunder I watched it through the winter glass And every year the world grew wider Every road kept pulling past The old maps tore along the rivers The old signs rusted in the rain And every answer I was given Opened into something strange There was a signal in the starlight There was a knocking in my chest Like heaven had a hidden doorway And I had not found it yet Pre-Chorus So I kept moving I kept moving With my lantern in the wind Chorus (choir) Streetlights turned to constellations The whole earth rolled under me Every horizon I was chasing Moved a little out of reach And somewhere past the blacktop Past the fields and broken beams I heard the stars say keep on moving There is more than you have seen So I held my lantern higher And ran through the in-between Verse 2 I crossed a forest made of mirrors Where the trees all whispered low And every face inside the branches Was someone I might come to know I climbed the mountains old as memory I heard them mutter in their sleep They said the road does not get shorter But the soul grows wider in the deep I saw oceans breathing silver I saw storms build far away I met strangers carrying embers From a fire they could not name And the farther that I wandered The less alone the darkness seemed Like every lost and restless creature Had been following the same dream Pre-Chorus So we kept moving We kept moving With our lanterns in the wind Chorus (choir rising) Streetlights turned to constellations The whole earth rolled under me Every horizon I was chasing Moved a little out of reach And somewhere past the blacktop Past the fields and broken beams I heard the stars say keep on moving There is more than you have seen So we held our lanterns higher And ran through the in-between Post-Chorus The lights ahead The lights ahead Blue fire on the edge of night The lights ahead The lights ahead Still calling from the other side Verse 3 Years went by beneath the starlight And the city never stayed Still I found it in the campfires And the debts that kindness paid I found it in an empty station In the laughter after rain In old photographs of people Whose names I almost knew again I found it in the eyes of wanderers Who had walked until they changed Not less hungry for the distance Only less afraid of strange Then one night beneath the satellites With my shadow stretched behind I saw the city flicker closer Every time I chose to climb Bridge Maybe it was never waiting At the ending of the map Maybe every road that took me Left a little light attached Maybe all the distant beacons All the stars and all the signs Were not there to end the hunger But to teach the dark to shine Maybe home is not a harbor Maybe home is not a wall Maybe home is what awakens When you answer to the call And I heard it getting louder Not above me but within Like a choir made of travelers Like a world about to begin Choir Build Beyond the hills Beyond the sea Beyond the world that I can see Beyond the dark Beyond the fear The signal’s growing stronger here Beyond the years Beyond the known No wandering heart walks alone Beyond the stars Beyond the sky There is another sunrise Final Chorus (full choir) Streetlights turned to constellations And the stars fell into line Like a million burning pilgrims Leaving signals in the sky For a moment I saw the city Not ahead but rising free From the dust beneath our footsteps From the fire inside of me And the stars sang keep on moving There is more than you have seen The horizon is not ending It is learning how to breathe So we held our lanterns higher And walked into the unseen Outro The road went on past every border Past every name I used to know The mountains faded into morning The oceans disappeared below But far beyond the final answer Past tomorrow’s open door The blue city kept on burning Not less distant than before Still calling Still changing Still becoming The lights ahead The lights ahead The lights ahead And I followed