[Intro] (wind howls, door creaks, then — brass stab! bassline walks in, bongos rolling, spooky organ chuckles underneath) [Chant Verse] Hollow Oak! Hollow Oak! Plays the strings till the dead awoke! Pumpkin light! Candle flame! Ezra Moore is his name! (his name!) [Deadpan Narrator] (over grooving bass and horn swells) Listens to... The cornfield hum... When the smoke rolls out, The shadows come... (shadows come!) [Chant Verse] Halloween! Forty-two! Sugar's scarce but the ghosts come through! Penny pails! Rationed treats! Skeletons walk the streets! (the streets!) [Deadpan Narrator] Werewolves shimmy... Down the lane... Goblins bob for... Apples in the rain... (rain sound effect, sax honks) [Instrumental Break] (surf guitar twangs the melody, sax honks, bongos go wild, theremin wails like a wolf) [Chant Verse] Kids sneak out! Past the fence! Dare each other — no offense! Up the hill! Through the corn! Something's playing... a second horn! (a second horn!) [Deadpan Narrator] Ezra sits there... Porch light low... Strummin' slow for... Those below... (those below!) [Bridge — half-time, organ and standup bass only, spooky and quiet] (sung low, almost a lullaby) One candle burnin' on the sill, Waitin' for a soldier... over the hill, Letters stopped in... The month of May... (horns swell back in, big build!) But boots keep marchin' home... anyway! [Chant Verse] Khaki ghost! Soldier son! Two banjos joined as one! (as one!) Copper coins! In the pail! The cornfield sings his trail! (his trail!) [Instrumental Break] (full big band goes feral — brass fanfare, guitar stabs, bongo avalanche, theremin duets with a ghostly slide whistle) [Deadpan Narrator] Can he play... For those gone west? Ezra's song Won't let him rest... (won't let him rest!) [Final Chant] Hollow Oak! Hollow Oak! Keeps the vows that the old man spoke! Candle dies! Bassline stops! Train whistle... (whistle blares) ...and the cornfield... DROPS! (hard stop — one last organ chuckle in the silence) [End]
