It looks like Stompin' Tom has given this ballad some extra pathetic punch by adding a "framing story" consisting of 2 verses at the beginning and one at the end:


TINY RED LIGHT
As recorded by Stompin' Tom Connors on "The Roads of Life"

1. Oh, come see the lighthouse way up on the hill,
Built by a man with a pledge to fulfill.
He promised to work both by day and by night,
In just an old shack with his tiny red light.

2. And from that old lamp he made models for sale,
And to ev'ry buyer he told a sad tale:
How he promised to pay for the beacon so bright
With the money he'd make from each tiny red light.

3. His story began when his wife she once said:
"Bring out the lamp; there's a storm overhead."
Her little girl ran with an eager delight,
And she placed in the window the tiny red light.

4. But her father from fishing came home wet and cold,
Angry and cross that his fish were not sold.
He said that the oil it must do for the night,
And he took from the window the tiny red light.

5. "O father, dear father, don't take it away!
It may guide some sailors far out on the bay."
And if he had've known what would happen that night,
He'd have left in the window the tiny red light.

6. Early next mornin' came a knock on the door.
A sailor stood pointing far out on the shore.
With tears in his eyes, he told the sad tale,
How three tiny ships had gone down in the gale.

7. "We followed your tiny red light," said the man,
"Till it vanished from sight; on the rock our ships ran.
Many were drowned on the billows last night
That might have been saved by your tiny red light."

8. And now there's a lighthouse way up on the hill,
And we thank the old man for the pledge he fulfilled,
And to pay for the oil in his beacon tonight,
Here, sir, could you purchase one tiny red light?

To pay for the oil in his beacon tonight,
Here, sir, could you purchase one tiny red light?