Three Knocks Below

Title: Three Knocks Below [Verse 1] Daddy died in early winter Left the cabin and the land A rusted ring of keys beside him And a Bible in his hand No one wanted that old homestead Where the hemlock shadows grow So I drove up through the mountain rain To lock it up and go Past midnight, in the silence With the fire burning low I heard three slow hollow warnings Three knocks below [Chorus] Three knocks below From the dark where the cold roots grow Three knocks below From a name nobody knows There's a secret in these mountains There's a hurt beneath these boards There's a voice that won't stay buried When you've locked it out too long I can leave this house behind me But the sound won't let me go Three knocks below Three knocks below [Verse 2] Morning found a faded picture Wedged behind the chimney stone Me beside a dark-haired little girl I'd swear I'd never known On the back, my mama's writing: "Luke and Evelyn, June '82" Then a memory split me open Like a blade of bitter truth Daddy came home drunk and raging Mama screamed for us to hide Evelyn ran toward the cellar I was right there by her side One hard hand, one broken stairway Then he made my young mouth close Said, "Boy, you never had a sister" Three knocks below [Chorus] Three knocks below From the dark where the cold roots grow Three knocks below From the truth my daddy stole There's a child beneath this cabin There's a little dress of white There's a ribbon red as heartache Still waiting through the night I can beg her for forgiveness But she still died alone Three knocks below Three knocks below [Verse 3] I tore the rug up from the kitchen Found the cellar door concealed Every step down through that darkness Made the past a little real At the bottom lay her small bones Curled against that earthen wall Red ribbon by a broken doll And scratches saying, "Tell them all" I fell down there beside her Crying, "Sister, I was ten" Then the cabin groaned around me And I heard his voice again "You leave her where I laid her Some things never need be known" Then the floorboards started pounding Three knocks below [Breakdown] NO! You don't get to keep her nameless You don't get to call it grace You don't get to bury evil And let time wash off your face I was ten I was afraid I was a child you made obey But I've got her in my arms now And I'm taking her away Three knocks Three knocks I hear you now Three knocks Three knocks I'll tell them how [Bridge] I carried Evelyn through the doorway As that old house caught behind Snow fell down around her softly Like the peace she never found in life I laid her down beside our mama Told the town what Daddy'd done They carved her name into a headstone In the warmth of morning sun [Final Chorus] Three knocks below Ain't calling from that cabin anymore Three knocks below Ain't begging from beneath that floor There's a grave up on the hillside With a ribbon and a rose There's a sister finally resting Where the whole world gets to know But when fog rolls down the mountain And the black wind starts to blow They say my daddy's still down begging Three knocks below [Outro] I go see her every Sunday Leave red ribbons in the snow And say, "Rest now, little sister I finally let them know" Then deep beneath those burned-out timbers Where the bitter night winds blow I hear one old sinner crying Three knocks below