[Intro] [Music box and crooked piano] You said the river kept our secrets. It gave them back in velvet bags. [Verse 1] Your red umbrella leaned against the door, wet leaves tracked across the kitchen floor. You poured my tea and called me your good luck, then kissed my cheek with sugar on your thumb. The carnival was closing down the lane, one paper moon still turning in the rain. You held my hand as if the night were kind; I felt your pulse go wandering from mine. [Pre-Chorus] Come close, my darling, tell me what you see. The painted grin is slipping off of me. [Chorus] Hold me where the black reeds bend, call me yours until the ribbons end. Round and round, the old wheels sway; I’d follow your laugh through the flooded midway. Hold me while the crooked bells ring, let the pale choir hum our little thing. If love’s a game with a loaded start, deal me your name and keep my heart. [Drop] Hey—ha, sweet one, don’t let go! Hey—ha, down where the cattails grow! [Verse 2] Your pocket held a ticket, torn in two, my half still smells like clove and cheap perfume. We watched the ferris wheel forget the sky, while moths made halos where the bulbs had died. You said, “By morning, we’ll be far from here.” I heard the tender tremble in your fear. So I wore your borrowed coat against the cold, and kept the last warm promise that you told. [Pre-Chorus] Come close, my darling, count the missing lights. I know your footsteps by their crooked time. [Chorus] Hold me where the black reeds bend, call me yours until the ribbons end. Round and round, the old wheels sway; I’d follow your laugh through the flooded midway. Hold me while the crooked bells ring, let the pale choir hum our little thing. If love’s a game with a loaded start, deal me your name and keep my heart. [Instrumental Break] [Crooked piano, Latin guitar, low choir chant] [Bridge] [Low throat-sung harmony] Stay till the water takes the signs. Stay till the crows forget the line. [Female lead] I don’t need saving, just your sleeve, a little truth I can believe. [Final Chorus] Hold me where the black reeds bend, call me yours until the ribbons end. Round and round, the old wheels sway; I’d follow your laugh through the flooded midway. Hold me while the crooked bells ring, let the pale choir hum our little thing. If love’s a game with a loaded start, deal me your name— [Choir] Keep her heart. [Outro] The red umbrella’s still by the door. The river knows what we were for.
