[Intro: the crows go quiet, a reversed cymbal swells] [Woman's voice from the treeline, soft, sung] Come on down, baby, coffee's on [Hook: male lead, whispered and hard, breakbeat hits] Sounds like her. Sounds just like her. But she's six miles home Got her laugh, got her cough, got the song we slow-danced to wrong [Woman's voice, sung] Come on down, baby Don't you climb. Don't you answer. Hold still till the dark is gone [Verse 1: low whisper, half-time] Ladder stand on the ridge, twenty feet up, frost on the rail Thermos in my lap, and the dark so thick it's got a smell Granddaddy hunted this ridge sixty years, and he only gave one rule "Woods talk 'fore the sun, boy, they ain't talkin'. They're learnin' you" Then the treeline started hummin'. Nan. The little crack she gets on the high part Our song from the union hall, and she always misses the start Cupped the phone under my coat. A text from her. Four fifty-three "Coffee's on. Be safe. Love you." Then who's singin' under me? [Hook] Sounds like her. Sounds just like her. But she's six miles home Got her laugh, got her cough, got the song we slow-danced to wrong [Woman's voice, sung] Come on down, baby Don't you climb. Don't you answer. Hold still till the dark is gone [Verse 2: tighter, breakbeat chops harder] Then it coughed. Her cough. The smoker's cough she quit when we were wed Then it laughed her laugh, the one she does when I come late to bed Ten yards. Five. Dry leaves everywhere, and not a single crunch Every crow on the ridge shut up at once like somebody told 'em hush [Flow switch: double-time, panic under his breath] Don't look, don't move, don't breathe, don't answer, keep your thumb off the light It's at the ladder, and it ain't climbin'. It don't have to climb. It's got the night Thirty-one years I know that voice, and that fuckin' voice knows me Knows the song, knows the crack, knows the name she calls me in her sleep [Beat Switch: all drops but the drone and her voice, right under the stand] [Woman's voice, sung, close] Come on down, baby. Don't you wanna see? [Male lead, a breath] No [A man's voice from below, flat, the lead's own voice] Come on down, baby [The breakbeat slams back, half-time] That's me. My voice. The way I say it to her in the hall It ain't learned her from the woods. It been learnin' us. Through the wall [Verse 3: half-time, sunrise] Sun came up like a lid comin' off. Nothin' at the ladder but frost Drove six miles home with the heater off, just to feel what I almost lost Kitchen light on. Coffee on. Nan at the stove with her back to me Hummin' our song. Missed the start. Hit the crack. Then she turned so I could see And she smiled, and her mouth made the words that the woods had learned [Final Hook: whispered, no drums on the last line] [Woman's voice, sung] Come on in, baby, coffee's on Sounds like her. Sounds just like her. And I'm home Got her laugh, got her cough, got the song we slow-danced to wrong [Male lead, a whisper] Nan? Is that you? Tell me the dark is gone [End]
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