[Intro] [Heavy melodic bassline] [Tribal toms enter beneath shimmering, delayed guitar] [Wordless female vocal: low, distant, rising] Ah-ah-ah... Ah-ah-ah-AHH! [Verse 1] [Low straight-tone delivery; clipped, theatrical phrasing] Four in the morning— Lavender blue Back to the garden Back... back to you Past the willow Bent like a mourner Past the marble angel Watching from the corner Down you went In wedding white Flowers at your throat Eyes closed tight One handful fell Then another—then two They buried my darling... But they buried me too. [Pre-Chorus] [Voice rises sharply; toms become increasingly insistent] Dig—dig— Fingers in the ground Dig—dig— Do you hear that sound? A little voice A little plea Underneath— Underneath— Calling me! [Chorus] [Tempo surges; vocal leaps upward] I’M DIGGING HER UP! Digging her up! Up! Up! Kiss the tears from the dying rose Follow the water wherever it goes Oh-oh-oh, don't you know? Death said: NO. I said: NO! NO! NO! You don't get to keep her. I’m digging her up! [Verse 2] [Returns low; bass carries the melody] Wedding white Gone pearly gray Rain got in While I stayed away Silver little locket Cold on your chest My face inside it Pressed to your breast Pretty fingers Curled beneath Flowers gone brittle Around the wreath Twenty-three— Twenty-three— Always twenty-three While the years Keep feeding Feeding Feeding... On me. [Pre-Chorus] [Breathy beginning, increasingly frantic] Was that you? Under the ground? Was that you Making that little sound? Maybe grief Has learned your tongue Maybe my darling Is still... So young. [Chorus] [Explosive tribal drums] I’M DIGGING HER UP! Digging her up! Up! Up! Kiss the tears from the dying rose Follow the water wherever it goes Oh-oh-oh, don't you know? Death said: NO. I said: NO! NO! NO! You don't get to keep her. I’m digging her up! [Bridge] [Half-time] [Hollow snare; floor toms circle beneath dissonant guitar] Your name— Cut into stone. My name— Left all alone. Your year ends there Mine carries on Tick—tick—tick— Something is wrong. I remember the fever The sheets The rain Your little hand Going limp again Your mouth moved once— Come closer. Closer. Closer... [Female Whisper] “Don’t leave me alone.” [Male Whisper] Never. [Instrumental Break] [Melodic bass takes lead] [Jagged guitar answers in dissonant bursts] [Tribal drums gradually accelerate] [Wordless Female Vocal] Ah-ah... Ah-ah-ah... AH-AH-AHH! [Guitar Solo] [Sustained bends, flanger, analog delay] [Notes become increasingly dissonant and frantic] [Final Chorus] [Highest vocal register; desperate, commanding] I’M DIGGING HER UP! Digging her up! Up! Up! My hands are bleeding around that rose Down, down, down where nobody goes Oh-oh-oh, now I know— Death said: NO. I said: GIVE HER BACK! Twenty-three Forever young Still beneath Where our song was sung You took her breath You took her years But you— DON’T— GET— HER! I’m digging her up! [Outro] [Tempo abruptly collapses] [Bass and distant floor tom only] There... There you are. Wedding white. Silver chain. My photograph Against your heart again. Twenty-three... Still twenty-three. [Long silence] I heard you calling. Didn't I? [Very faint Female Whisper] “You came back...” [Low vocal, almost spoken] Again... Again... Again... I always do. [Single bass note] [Delayed guitar trails into silence]
