[Intro – distant analogue hum, almost whispered] There was a light before the morning Where no light should have been Small as a star behind the mountain Waiting at the edge of the scene [Verse 1] I changed the lens, I changed the camera I blamed the silver and the grain But every picture held the same thing A little fire without a name Above the roofs Behind the trees Inside the rooms It followed me [Pre-Chorus] No one could see it No one believed But photographs remember What the living cannot see [Chorus] Strange light Before the sun How long have you known me? How long have I run? Strange light Silver and gold You were there in every picture Before I was old enough to know [Verse 2] I found a box beneath the staircase My childhood sleeping in a drawer Summer dresses, birthday candles Faces I don’t see anymore And in the corner Small and white There you were That strange light Closer in every year Brighter beside my face As if something far away Was slowly learning my shape [Pre-Chorus] My mother said There was one day The whole sky darkened And I walked away Nine missing minutes No footprints home When they found me in the field I wasn’t alone [Chorus] Strange light Before the sun How long have you known me? What have I become? Strange light Silver and gold You were there in every picture Waiting for me to know [Instrumental – warm analogue arpeggio, tremolo guitar, distant strings] [Bridge – intimate, nearly spoken] I remember now The black sun The quiet field My mother’s voice So far away And something shining Above the hill I wasn’t frightened I knew it [Reveal – drums disappear] Tonight the plates developed Without my hands One by one My whole life appeared Four years old Seven Sixteen Twenty-three And every time You were nearer Until the final picture There I stood Beneath the open dome And beside me Someone made of light [Pause] She had my face [Final Chorus – restrained, luminous] Strange light Now I understand You were never coming toward me I was coming where you are Strange light Beautiful and cold You were there before my memory You will be there when I go Strange light Don’t disappear I’ve spent my whole life finding you Without knowing you were here [Outro – female vocal almost a cappella] There were never two suns Only one And something Calling me home
