[Start] [Intro] There’s a place beyond the hollow Where the morning never stays And an old woman keeps a lantern For the souls that lose their way [Verse 1] I buried my boy on a cold November day Watched the last shovel turn the red clay gray Three men rode out past the county line And left me with a stone and a name beside mine I walked through the briars where the black creek bends Past a house where the dirt road ends An old woman opened before I could knock Said, “I know why you’ve come, and I know what you’ve lost” [Pre-Chorus] She laid three bones on a weathered board Said, “You can call for justice, but you’ll answer to more” I said, “Name your price, I’ll pay what you ask” She turned down the lantern and lifted her mask [Chorus] There’s a debt beneath the hollow There’s a shadow in the clay You can send it after sorrow But you cannot turn away Oh, the debt beneath the hollow When the black roots start to rise Every name you give the darkness Takes a little of your life [Electric Guitar Solo] [Verse 2] She led me to a field where the dead trees lean Where the earth was split and the moss hung green Said, “Dig where the old church bell fell down And bring me what the roots have wrapped around” I found a crooked bone and a rusted ring And a little black box tied up with string She whispered words that the wind carried low Then something underneath began to grow [Chorus] There’s a debt beneath the hollow There’s a shadow in the clay You can send it after sorrow But you cannot turn away Oh, the debt beneath the hollow When the black roots start to rise Every name you give the darkness Takes a little of your life [Verse 3] The first man fell where the river ran deep I saw it happen in a fevered sleep The second cried out from a house on the hill And I felt his terror like a winter chill The third man stood where my boy once played And I saw his little daughter in the shade She reached for his hand as the darkness came And I heard my own son calling out my name [Bridge] [Electric Guitar Solo] [Female] You asked the earth to answer You asked the dead to rise Now every step that creature takes Is walking through your life [Male] Then take my name And leave that child Let the morning find her Let her see the sky [Verse 4] I went back alone where the black roots grow With the rusted ring and the box below The old witch stood with her lantern high Said, “There’s one last debt, and it’s yours tonight” I gave her the names and the ring I wore Laid my hands on the cold earth floor And somewhere far off, the screaming ceased As the hollow swallowed the thing I’d released [Final Chorus] There’s a debt beneath the hollow There’s a shadow in the clay I sent it after sorrow And I nearly lost my way Oh, the debt beneath the hollow Where the black roots intertwine I gave the darkness back its hunger And I left my name behind [Outro] There’s a place beyond the hollow Where the morning never stays And an old woman keeps a lantern For the souls that lose their way [Hard Stop] [End]
