The Lighthouse Daughter

I.

Born the only daughter of a farmer

I could never work that rocky plain

So I found myself a husband I could fend for

I took Matilda Winter as my name

Did what he asked, came when he called

I never really loved that man at all

Helped him raise his sons and work his mill

But I came to live my life for Monday mornings

And climbing to a lighthouse on a hill

II.

I delivered flour to the keeper

He kept the light above the Hooper Strait

And Mondays at the wet end of the walkway

The keeper’s daughter Georgia held the gate

Never said a word, she took me by the hand

Didn’t take long for me to understand

Guess I finally found what I was looking for

The keeper kept his eye on the North Atlantic

You know he never saw the trouble on the shore

(CH)

I fell for the lighthouse daughter

Before I put my foot in the water

I didn’t know what my poor heart was for

I fell for the lighthouse daughter

Praise to the waves, the waves that brought her

These same waves that wash me from her shore

III.

I remember Georgia in the lamproom

Polishing the storm panes in her dress

Rowing her two brothers to the schoolhouse

I spent that summer trying to love her less

Milller’s at the mill and his wife’s not home

It didn’t take long for his thoughts to roam

It led him to the lighthouse and her gate

Well he tore me from the arms of Georgia Norwood

And he threw me form the cliffs at Hooper Strait

(CH)

Where I fell for the lighthouse daughter

Before I put my foot in the water

I didn’t know what my poor heart was for

I fell for the lighthouse daughter

Praise to the waves, the waves that brought her

These same waves that wash me from her shore

IV.

It used to be a bonfire on a hillside

Before my father’s people built the tower

Before Commander Norwood lit the lantern

Before my Georgia baked the miller’s flour

Oh the ocean looks so peaceful from the lighthouse

You can hardly see the shoal beneath the swell

You can only hear the roar of the North Atlantic

You know you’ll never hear the tale I have to tell

(CH)

‘Cause I fell for the lighthouse daughter

Before I put my foot in the water

I didn’t know what my poor heart was for

I fell for the lighthouse daughter

Praise to the waves, the waves that brought her

These same waves that wash me from her shore