Salt in the Well

[Intro] (Dusty vinyl crackle. A loud, ominous D-minor sub-bass pulses under a stiff, sampled breakbeat where the snare hits a microsecond late. A detuned toy keyboard plays a three-note motif while a lone melodica echoes off into a long dub delay.) [Verse 1] (Low, gravelly, dry chest voice — slurred, half-mumbled, almost bored) Left the faucet running in the downstairs sink… (dub delay: sink… sink…) Sitting in the dark trying not to think. Saw a spider crawling on the kitchen wall, Waiting for the plaster or the house to fall. Short string strokes—sawing violas—punctuating the lines. Got a couple pennies in a broken shoe, Counting up the things I never meant to do. (Low melodica breath) [Pre-Chorus] (Stiff programmed beat continues; close-miked cellos saw aggressive, out-of-tune accents) I saw the light turn red… I put my head back down in bed… [Chorus] (Vocal shifts to strained, half-yelped delivery, slurred sloppy doubling) There’s salt in the well! Yeah, you’re ringing the bell! Holding onto water that you’re trying to sell! Oh, salt in the well! [Verse 2] (Dub-hop beat returns; vinyl noise louder; toy keyboard warbles) Found a silver dollar in the sofa seam… Woke up in the middle of a plastic dream. Telephone ringing with a dead-tone hum, Waiting for the kingdom or the ghost to come. (Violas saw hard twice) You put your shadow on my coat again… (dub delay: again… gain…) [Chorus] (Strained, half-yelped hook) There’s salt in the well! Yeah, you’re ringing the bell! Holding onto water that you’re trying to sell! Oh, salt in the well! [Style Transition — 2:30 Mark] (The electronic beat snaps off. Room mics catch a sharp count-in: "One, two, three, GO!" Blown-out garage drums kick in with a loose, heavy 4/4 beat slightly behind on the fills. A fuzzy, mid-forward double-tracked guitar riff slams in over a thick, melodic bassline and a buried, shaking tambourine.) [Verse 3 - Rap Crossover Guest Feature] (High-energy, dry, fast-paced rap delivery over raw analog psych-blues rock) Look, stepped through the frame with my boots in the mud, Trading cheap talk for a bucket of blood! Got the amp turned up to a ten-point-five, Just a dead man trying to feel half-alive! Catch the wire, cut the line, running through the stop sign, Paying for the copper while you’re picking at the goldmine! You want a miracle? Pay the fee! Ain't a single thing down here guaranteed! Drop the needle on the track, no turning back, We’re riding this engine right off of the track! [Outro - Full Garage Rock Explosion] (Jangly overdriven chords, thick bass, and half-shouted room gang chants) (Gang Chant) SALT IN THE WELL! (Gang Chant) RINGING THE BELL! (Lead voice yelps over blown-out drum fills) Yeah, riding it down! Riding it down! (Fuzzy guitar riff bends out of tune into wild amp feedback, ending on a thumping bass hit)