Lyrics
There's a tower cut from island stone Where the eastern weather rolls And the sea comes hard from empty miles To break below the shoals
Before the sun has found the coast Before the gulls take flight There's a lantern turning over Gabo Keeping watch into the night
Men have climbed those winding stairs With salt upon their hands Trimmed the flame and watched the glass For ships beyond the land
Through summer calm and winter rain Through nights no moon could show Someone kept that fire alive On the island down below
Shine on, light of Gabo Across the darkened sea Past the granite and the breakers Where the Tasman waters breathe
Let the wind come hard against you Let the black night have its say There's a light still turning on Gabo Till the breaking of the day
Little penguins leave the water When the evening loses blue Little penguins leave the water When the evening loses blue
Shearwaters return in thousands To the old ground that they knew On the rocks the fur seals gather Whales move north and south offshore
And the island keeps its rhythms As it kept them long before
There were children on this island There were voices in these rooms Boots beside the keeper's doorway Gardens fighting salt and wind
Before the wire crossed the channel Letters travelled with the boats Weather chose when news could reach them Out beyond the mainland coast
Shine on, light of Gabo Across the darkened sea Past the granite and the breakers Where the Tasman waters breathe
Let the wind come hard against you Let the black night have its say There's a light still turning on Gabo Till the breaking of the day
Then the southerly comes roaring And the clean horizon's gone Rain runs sideways down the windows Night arrives before the dawn
There are no soft edges out here No pretending sea is kind Only stone and steel and judgement And a beam that sweeps the blind
Somewhere out beyond the island There's a deck beneath the spray Someone searching through the darkness For one light to mark the way
Shine on, light of Gabo Across the darkened sea Past the granite and the breakers Where the Tasman waters breathe
Let the wind come hard against you Let the black night have its say There's a light still turning on Gabo Till the breaking of the day
The keepers change The ships move on The old names fade away
The keepers change The ships move on The old names fade away
But stone remembers weather And the sea remembers spray
And every generation Standing where the others stood Looks east into that emptiness And understands they should
Morning comes across the water Gold along the granite wall Penguins sleeping in their burrows Sea-eagles riding over all
No applause and no announcement Just another night gone by And the lighthouse pale in daylight And the lighthouse pale in daylight Underneath the waking sky
Shine on, light of Gabo Across the endless sea For the sailor and the keeper For the lives we'll never see
Through the fog and through the thunder Through the years that fall away Keep your light still turning, Gabo Till the breaking of the day
Keep your light still turning, Gabo Till the breaking of the day
When the last star leaves the water And the eastern sky turns grey There's a light still turning on Gabo...
Till the breaking of the day