In a small town down on the highway to coast
Factories and churches laid on dusty gravel roads
This is where they first met
Such a long time ago
Young lovers, wet behind the ears
Foolish and unguarded, falling blindly without fear
Skipping school and hopping fences
Making love down by the pier
Love like elements react
Constellations in the black
The lights from the chemical plant
Burn bright in the night like an old kerosene lamp
From a car parked by the ocean
What a vision to behold
The lights from the chemical plant
She says my heart is like an orphan
And your words are like home
I do not deserve such kindness
Keeps me warm down to my bones
You bear some strange familiar likeness
To a man I feel I know
As if to keep each other safe
They spent the night locked in embrace
And the lights from the chemical plant
Burn bright in the night like an old kerosene lamp
When all else seemed unstable
Like a watchtower, they were there
The lights from the chemical plant
All the years passed by them both not so unkindly
And whenever things got rough, the pain they'd share
But no matter when death comes it is untimely
As she sat next to him, and she tried hard to prepare
Hoping you still see them
Through the window, if you look they are still there
Open up your eyes just once more, darling
'Cause without you I know I just can't bear
The lights from the chemical plant
Burn bright in the night like an old kerosene lamp
I was sure they'd always be there
And then one day they were gone
The lights from the chemical plant