This song was written by Joel Mason, an artist from Minnesota currently living in Montreal and working on his PHD on the subjects of performance and racialization.  He is a highly prolific writer, musician and educator who performs in a group called The Mighty River with cellist Joel Gorrie based in Montreal (themightyriver.ca). 
 
This song has the distinction of being the inspiration for the title of our first collection of spiritual songs.  This refrain itself is evocative for those of us who have come and gone and come back again - searching for the essence of spiritual music.  This light does indeed linger.  And though it looks and sounds different after all the years and miles, it feels quite familiar.  “This Light” seems to capture the intriguing, difficult and exciting work of collecting and recording so-called ‘spiritual songs that have universal appeal’.   What are we searching for?  What is that essence in a song that can make us stop and reflect and meditate and be nourished?  “Deep in our dust, we’re chasing the birth and the dying in us”.  A lot of it is about an emotional connection, and comes down to that feeling of transcendence that the artist is able to evoke in the listener.  That is why for me, that simple phrase alone warrants some reflection and meditation. 
 
The lyric unfolds as a relentless series of similes and metaphors, as though the writer is attempting to examine something inscrutable from all possible angles.  “ Like the last chance that I get, and the last one after that.  Like a hand reaching out, and the sleepless eyes of doubt.  Like the sea that hides beneath the ice.   Like when you and I both tried.”   The listener is drawn into the quest.  And the odd verse timing (going back and forth from 12/8 to 9 time) contributes to making everything feel uncertain, even a little desperate.
 
But then the song climbs, deliberately, with three strong chords and a familiar 6/8 groove into that evocative meditation: This Light Lingers, This Light Lingers On.    The chorus lets us pause from the barrage of thoughts and questions.   It elevates – and like a grand old gospel song, it compels the listener to sing along. 

-Andrew

"This Light" (lyrics)
by The Mighty River
 
like a drunk at last call
like the moment before you fall
this light is lingering in me

like the words never said
or the memory of the dead
this light is lingering in you

i'm a poet in the rain
or i'm a teenage midnight train
i'm the remnant that survived
or i'm that bee in its hive

deep in our dust
this light lingers
this light lingers on

like the last chance that i get
or the last one after that
this light is lingering in you

like the hands reaching out
or the sleepless eyes of doubt
this light is lingering in me

i'm the memory of war
or i'm forgotten buried ore
i'm that stain that won't wash
or i'm those love letters you never lost

deep in our dust
we're chasing the birth and the dying in us
deep in our dust
this light lingers
this light lingers on

like the scar after the scalpel sings
like the wound that revolution brings
like the sea that hides beneath the ice
like when you and i both tried

deep in our dust
we're chasing the birth and the dying in us
deep in our dust
this light lingers
this light lingers
this light lingers on

This Light Lingers
by The Mighty River
written by Joel Mason (c) 2012, 2017 Acre Alley