"The Lighthouse's Tale" by Nickel Creek is, as the title suggests, from the perspective of a lighthouse. The intent I gathered from the song is that even though many things change or go away, some things are constant and serve as guidance for others. The lighthouse begins and ends its tale by talking of warning sailors but by the end that becomes more significant because you discover there is no longer a keeper to help. The lighthouse stands alone.
Emotional appeal is very prevalent throughout the song. It begins happy, yet it is set up in such a way that you know it won't end happy. The lighthouse tells of its keeper with whom it grows closer "'til his joy meant everything to me," as it says. Then the keeper is to marry a beautiful girl but she has to go somewhere by ship first. The ship wrecks in a storm and the keeper finds the girl's body on the shore. There is a connotation of life after death when the keeper promises they'll be together soon as he buries her, then climbs the lighthouse's tower and throws himself off. Through all this and the waves crashing, the sand being carried out to sea, the lighthouse remains constant to "warn the sailors on their way."
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Great song. And you're right, a lot of emotion in it.
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