The Witch in the Wood
[Experimental Instrumental Intro] (Music box Harp arpeggios Celesta Soft piano Glockenspiel Flute Light violin Reversed piano Detuned music box Low cello drone Minor-key violins Metallic ambience Sub-bass rumble) [Verse 1] Cold wind crawling through the pines Father’s lantern slowly dies Two small shadows down the trail Where the starving forests wail Breadcrumbs falling through the frost Every step a child is lost Branches whisper through the night Something watching out of sight [Pre-Chorus] Empty stomachs, hollow cries The forest listens… never lies Branches creak like brittle bones Echoing their starving moans Footsteps fading in the cold Every shadow watching close Hungry woods and endless night Guide the children out of sight. [Chorus] Hansel…... Gretel…..... Don’t look back The woods are closing round your tracks Candy walls and sugared lies Hide the hunger in her eyes Hansel….... Gretel…..... Hear her call Sweetest voice beyond the wall Every fairy tale they spun Ends with bones beneath the sun [Interlude] [Verse 2] Through the mist a lantern glowed At the end of hunger’s road Windows dripping golden light Honeyed shadows in the night Sugar walls and gingerbread But the smell of something dead In the oven’s crimson glow Children’s laughter long ago [Pre-Chorus] Crooked fingers, velvet grin “Little darlings…......" "Come on in…....” Candles trembling in the gloom Sweet decay inside the room Sugared walls and honeyed breath Hiding whispers sharp as death Golden light on hollow skin “Little children….....". "come on in…” [Chorus] Hansel…...... Gretel…....... Don’t look back The woods are closing round your tracks Candy walls and sugared lies Hide the hunger in her eyes Hansel….... Gretel…..... Hear her call Sweetest voice beyond the wall Every fairy tale they spun Ends with bones beneath the sun [Bridge] (slow, sinister) Iron door and glowing flame Children whispering their names Ash and sugar in the air Tiny footsteps everywhere Little hearts begin to pound When the witch turns slowly round [Breakdown] (Female spoken vocals) “Closer now…....." "I cannot see…....” “Come and stand…...." "Right next to me…... ” Iron door and glowing flame Softly whispering their names “Just a step…....." "A little more…..... ” Ash and heat across the floor But the oven roared alive And the witch began to scream Fire swallowing velvet lies Smoke devouring every dream Claws against the iron frame Shrieks that cracked the sugared walls Children running through the dark While the furnace learned to crawl. But the oven roared alive And the witch began to scream [Final Chorus] Hansel…..... Gretel…...... RUN TONIGHT! Through the forest black as night Smoke and fire behind your breath You have walked through living death Hansel…..... Gretel…....... Hear them call From the ashes on the wall Every fairy tale you read Was a story born from greed [Outro] And deep within the silent wood… Where the sugared cottage burned… The ashes never cooled. Sometimes the wind will carry laughter… Sometimes the trees begin to creak… And somewhere in the darkened forest… A hungry voice still whispers— “Little children…....." :Come to me........” [Instrumental]
