Lighthouse & Sunshine âą Odyssey of Men
"Noise, noise, noise â everywhere. People everywhere. Now I can also hear churchbells. More People. I must leave this boat. This is not my freedom. I donât know what I dreamed of back home by the creek, but it is not this. I must talk to Samuel and Cain. Samuel will understand. Not sure about Cain. I do not look forward to this conversation with Cain. He will blow up. He loves this boat. This is Cainâs paradise. And my hellâŠ" - Elijah
Old faithful, slowly rolling down the river Red eyes, heavy hearts and heavy heads Down the river, rolling down the river Sound of church bells, slowly carried by the wind Those bells are ringing, like angelâs voices in my ears Up the river, stirring up the river Down the stairs, into his dark and empty cabin Those damn bells, do Cain nothing good at all Cain loves whiskey, whiskey women and wit Knees of Samuel, hit deck hard his hands fold Those bells, were like Sirenâs sweet song This life is empty, let me leave the river Elijah, packs his gun and his blanket Bells were sounds, sounds of too many men Leave all men, leave all mankind Three men shaking hands, eyes meet eyes in understanding Every man must make his mistakes Every man must feel his hurt Every man must shed his tears Every man must find his answers Old faithful, slowly rolling down the river There is nothing, nothing new under the sun No there is nothing, new under the sun
Inspiration for the song: Sunshine (Leendert): This song is my absolute favourite on the album. The music and the vocals I've written for this song, feels for me like some of my best work. With a capo on the 4th fret, the melancholic chords and the soft voice, it really captures the written lyrics by Lighthouse. I love the picking in this song and how the music highlights the sadness in the lyrics. When I sing this song in church when we practise there, I almost can't concentrate because of the beauty of this piece. It captures a pivotal moment in the story and I couldn't be happier with this song. Lighthouse (Lars): I love this song. It is about three brothers, but it could also be about one person. Our personalities have many threads, and we take many paths. That is what this song is about. The first lines of the text describe a situation many of us have experienced: waking up with a heavy head and heart after a long night. For me, it also always included thoughts of all the stupid things I had done or said, or all the things I should have done. The next verse is a memory from my life back home from a vacation in Thailand. I lived in Thailand for a year and a half and enjoyed it. On the vacation back home, I suddenly heard church bells from the church where I was baptized. I must have heard those bells a thousand times before, but I had never actually listened to them. It was a new experience for me. I had to leave my birthplace to truly love it and the memories I had there. Before leaving home, home had felt like a prison. Suddenly, it felt like a sanctuary. My life has taken these three paths of the brothers in the song at different times. I have lived a life much like Cainâs at times. At other times, I was quite unhappy and felt lost. I tried to find peace in religion and even considered converting to Catholicism and becoming a monk. Religion was like the Sirenâs song to me, and I had to tie myself to the mast of my ship to stay rational and not just jump overboard to end the turmoil in my heart and head. There is also some Elijah in me. I love being alone, but I have also experienced loneliness, and that is not pleasant. I love the following part deeply because it is something every man and woman must go through in life: Every man must make his mistakes Every man must feel his hurt Every man must shed his tears Every man must find his answers It has always been like that for mankind. There is nothing new under the sun, as stated in the book of Ecclesiastes in the Old Testament.