[Intro: crickets, friends laughing] Double dog Go on [Hook: male lead, friends chant the first words] (Double dog!) Triple dog, go on in the house Flashlight shakin' like it's tryna get out Everybody laughin' till the porch light went out Double dog dare, now I can't back out [Verse 1: fast, nervous bravado] Fifteen with a pillowcase and a mouth full of nerve Pockets full of candy corn and a rep to preserve Whole crew on the curb with their masks on their heads Eggin' me on 'cause I said I don't believe in the dead House at the end of Ashby where the mail don't go Lawn ain't been cut since my mama was a kid, so Everybody got a story 'bout a cousin of a cousin Saw a candle in the window when the power wasn't runnin' [Flow switch: clipped, scared whisper] Gate. Squeak. Step. Creak. Porch sags soft like it's tryna breathe Door's unlocked. Course it's unlocked. That's the worst part, man. Who the fuck don't lock? [Hook: male lead, friends chant the first words] (Double dog!) Triple dog, go on in the house Flashlight shakin' like it's tryna get out Everybody laughin' till the porch light went out Double dog dare, now I can't back out [Verse 2: half-time, distorted bass, choir hums from upstairs] Inside smells like pennies and a birthday cake Wallpaper peelin' in the shape of a face Hallway longer than the house is from the street Dust on everything except a path for two feet Table set for one with a candle burnin' low Tea in a cup still steamin'. How the hell it know? Pictures on the mantel of the kids who came before Every one of 'em holdin' my flashlight by the door And the humming from upstairs is a tune that I know Mama hums it doin' dishes when the radio's low Hummed it every night I couldn't sleep when I was small So how the fuck it get in here? How it get inside these walls? [Beat Switch: drums slam back double, friends chant outside, muffled] (Double dog! Double dog!) They still chantin' out there (Triple dog! Triple dog!) But it's thinner, like the air Every time I turn around, the door's a little farther Every time I yell their names, the humming hums a little harder [Verse 3: triple-time panic] Flashlight flicker, gettin' quicker, I'm a sinner and a kid and a liar with a pillowcase of sugar and I'm sorry, I'm sorry, let me go Window's painted over, every knob is turnin' over, every board is gettin' closer, somethin' on the staircase comin' slow I don't wanna be a picture, I don't wanna be a frame I don't wanna be the story that the next kid gotta name [Bridge: whispered, the humming stops when he stops] I stop. It stops. I breathe. It breathes. I run. It [Final Hook: choir hums under, chant warped] (Double dog!) Triple dog, go on in the house Flashlight shakin' like it's tryna get out Everybody laughin' till the porch light went out Double dog dare, now I can't get out [Outro: a whisper from the stairs, then hard cut] Baby, come here Who's there? Come
