[Verse 1] I come to you on the bleeding moon, Fur still wet with the forest’s sin. You, the pale one, the endless thirst, My only true and perfect kin. Silver bullets sleep in their drawers, Garlic wilts on the windowsill. I should run while the night still holds, But my bones refuse the will. [Pre-Chorus] I’ve torn through centuries of men, Yet I kneel where your shadow falls. [Chorus] Keep me, mistress, keep this hound, Tug the leash and I will stay. Use the teeth, use the howl, use the ground Where I lay myself at your feet to decay. I am the dog that cannot leave, The enemy who begs to serve. Pull the chain until I believe That love is the wound I deserve. [Verse 2] Your cold hands know the heat of me, The fever that never cools. I offer the throat you were born to take, The pulse that breaks every rule. They say the wolf and the bat must war, That blood and fur cannot share a bed. But I have crossed the old dividing line And made a temple of what they dread. [Pre-Chorus] I’ve hunted gods and buried kings, Yet I wait for your smallest call. [Chorus] Keep me, mistress, keep this hound, Tug the leash and I will stay. Use the teeth, use the howl, use the ground Where I lay myself at your feet to decay. I am the dog that cannot leave, The enemy who begs to serve. Pull the chain until I believe That love is the wound I deserve. [Verse 3] Let the villages raise their torches high, Let the priests recite their fear. I will guard the door of your blackened room And drink the silence you hold so dear. If you hunger, take the vein that sings. If you tire, rest upon my hide. I was made for the chase and the kill, But I was finished when I found your side. [Bridge] No full moon can command me now, No ancient curse can set me free. I have chosen the sharper law: The one that binds me to your need. Call me pet, call me meat, call me less, Call me whatever keeps me near. I will answer in any tongue you choose As long as the answer is “here.” [Chorus] Keep me, mistress, keep this hound, Tug the leash and I will stay. Use the teeth, use the howl, use the ground Where I lay myself at your feet to decay. I am the dog that cannot leave, The enemy who begs to serve. Pull the chain until I believe That love is the wound I deserve. [Outro] Tug the leash… Keep the dog… Mistress… Stay.
