[The Haunted Hotel] [Intro - low fiddle drone, distant floor creaks, slow acoustic guitar] There’s a hotel in Eureka Springs Where the dead don’t always leave Where the walls remember everything And the night don’t let you sleep I’ve taken that ghost tour twice before Heard the stories after dark Michael, Theodora, little Breckie And every ghost that left its mark [Verse 1] They took us underneath the hotel To the old morgue down below Showed us that enormous refrigerator And asked who wanted to go So we climbed inside that heavy box And laughed to hide our fear They shut the door for just a few minutes And the silence felt too near When they opened up the door We all came stumbling out I thought the worst was over Then the hotel proved me wrong without a doubt [Chorus] Ting went the metal Knock went the wall Creeeeak went the floorboards Bounce went the ball Meow down the hallway Cherry smoke in the air I came to spend one night But I couldn’t sleep in there Ting, knock, creak, bounce, meow I can still hear it now The Crescent Hotel was wide awake While the whole town slept sound [Verse 2] They gave me one big iron key The kind that feels a hundred years old I turned it in that ancient lock And stepped into the cold I crawled beneath the covers And tried to settle down Then something made a little ting And three slow knocks rang out The floorboards gave a long low creak From underneath my bed And I started thinking about Every word the tour guide said We pulled out our phones Hit re-cord and let them run If the hotel had something to say We wanted proof of every one [Verse 3] Then I heard a little bouncing ball Coming down the stairs Bounce… bounce… bounce… But nobody was there They’d told us about young Breckie And the little boy they say Still wanders through the Crescent With a ball he likes to play Somewhere down the hallway I heard a lonely little meow They say a ghost cat haunts this place And I think I heard it now It wandered through the darkness Like it knew these halls by heart One little meow, then silence Like it vanished in the dark [Verse 4] Then came the smell of cherry pipe smoke Hanging heavy in the air No cigarette, no ashtray No smoker anywhere They’d told us about Doctor Ellis And the cherry pipe he’d smoke I lay there in the darkness When that sweet scent arose I couldn’t see a single thing But I knew I wasn’t dreaming Every time I closed my eyes That old hotel kept breathing [Bridge - stripped down, almost spoken] Maybe it was old pipes Maybe it was settling wood Maybe every sound had an explanation Just like the skeptics said it should But I’ve still got the recording And you can hear it if you want Metal ringing in the darkness Knocking when nobody knocked [Final Chorus] Ting went the metal Knock went the wall Creeeeak went the floorboards Bounce went the ball Meow down the hallway Cherry smoke in the air I came to spend one night But I couldn’t sleep in there Ting, knock, creak, bounce, meow I can still hear it now The Crescent Hotel was wide awake While the whole town slept sound [Outro - stripped down, acoustic guitar and low fiddle] I’ve taken that ghost tour twice I’d probably take it again I’ll listen to the stories I’ll laugh with all my friends But hand me that iron key And point me upstairs I’ll smile and hand it back And say, “I’ll sleep elsewhere.”
