Embedded Files
ALSO KNOWN AS
Illumination Night
Legacy
ARTIST(S)
Unknown
GENRE
Folk Rock
YEAR
1980s
OP
windowstosky
BOUNTY
SEARCH DURATION
28 September 2019 - Present
LIGHT THE LANTERNS
Light The Lanterns is the placeholder name for an unidentified folk rock song found on a cassette tape
HISTORY
The song was first posted to Youtube on 28 September 2019 by user windowstosky. They claimed they had found it on a cassette tape in the Los Angeles area labelled "Demo - Listen Today", in the mid 1980s.
In 2020, the original upload was set to private and the OP said they are no longer interested in the search, due to harassment from trolls.
The song tells the story of Martha's Vineyard’s annual Grand Illumination, an event where thousands of paper lanterns light up the night in a celebrated tradition. Despite its detailed references to the island, somehow no local organizations or historical societies recognise the song. In the chorus, the lyrics mention the iconic "gingerbread houses" in Oak Bluffs, a landmark beloved by island visitors. This detail suggests the song’s creators may have been American.
LINKS
LEADS
CURRENT
N/A
DEBUNKED
N/A
LYRICS (INTERPRETED)
VERSE 1
She was born on a magic island
There's a certain mythology
I was already on the outside
I wanted to be what I wanted to be
She took me to illumination night
To pass on a legacy
CHORUS
Crazy ladies in gingerbread houses
Light the lanterns for the shipwrecked sailors
Celebrate the homecoming
Celebrate the moment when
The will to live collides with love
Lights the lanterns everyone
And pray that the rain won't come
VERSE 2
She left me with Grace the next year
She went away, I don't know where
Grace got drunk at a Chinese restaurant
So all I saw were the lights extinguishing
I'm going back on illumination night
To see if I can light the lights
(CHORUS) x2
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