He steps out on the cedar plank
Where the heavy river water sank
The salt air tastes like rusted tin
Where the muddy currents always spin
Oh, the lantern glows a golden hue
Turning every shade of velvet blue
Watching where the slow water flows
Only the old river keeper knows
The cypress knees are jagged stone
He stands on the wooden porch alone
The humidity is thick and sweet
Where the swamp and the shoreline meet
He remembers how the oil burned
Every lesson that the weather learned
The wind would howl a jagged song
While the midnight hours drifted long
Oh, the lantern glows a golden hue
Turning every shade of velvet blue
Watching where the slow water flows
Only the old river keeper knows
The trumpet plays a lonely low note
Like a drifting, weathered wooden boat
He breathes the musk of the damp ground
Where the only peace is finally found
The porch swing creaks a steady beat
Cooling down the humid summer heat
He looks out at the darkening shore
Knowing he won't leave this place no more
Oh, the lantern glows a golden hue
Turning every shade of velvet blue
Watching where the slow water flows
Only the old river keeper knows
Slow water flows.
Just a golden hue.
The light stays true.
