[Intro — fingerpicked guitar, low fiddle drone] [Verse 1 — solo female lead] They ground the red earth, mixed with oil, And brushed the boards one fall. A little house above the road, With laurel round the wall. It learned the sound of boots at dusk, The kettle’s morning song. It kept the winter from their beds And held them safe and warm. [Refrain — women’s harmony] Oh, the house still calls them by their names, The thing below calls back. When the cold rain runs down from the ridge, Red tears seep through the cracks. [Verse 2 — solo lead] It loved the hands that mended it, The firelight on the floor, The children racing through the rooms, The mother at the door. Then something crossed the threshold One night without a sound. The lamp burned blue, the hearth went cold, And fear came settling down. [Refrain — women’s harmony, low response] Oh, the house still calls them by their names, The thing below calls back. When the cold rain runs down from the ridge, Red tears seep through the cracks. [Verse 3 — lead with quiet echo] By dawn, the road was quiet, The door swung open in the wind. The table stood, the cups were set, But no one answered in. No neighbor saw what entered, No neighbor saw it leave. But something kept the lower room, And something learned to grieve. [Bridge — call and response] Lead: One waits beside the staircase. Group: It weeps for those it knew. Lead: One moves beneath the floorboards. Group: And keeps the grieving through. [Verse 4 — solo lead, fiddle rising softly] Now people say, on moonless nights, Two shadows cross the pane: One reaches toward the upper rooms, One draws it back again. They say the house can cry red tears, Though no one’s seen them fall. The house still loves the ones it lost, And cannot leave them all. [Final refrain — full female harmony] Oh, the house still calls them by their names, The thing below calls back. One spirit cries for what it loved, One holds it in the black. When the cold rain runs down from the ridge, Red tears seep through the cracks. [Outro — lead alone, fading] The house still calls them by their names… The thing below calls back.
