[Verse 1: Guttural sludge-metal male lead, guttural, slow and heavy] My father closed the gates on Alder Bend He said the water was a kinder end Some of them would not pack, would not leave They sat on their steps in their Sunday sleeves Sixty years of quiet, forty feet of lake Sixty years I kept it, never once awake Then the rain went missing, August into fall And the lake got thinner, and I saw it all [Pre-Hook: Guttural sludge-metal male lead, guttural, rising] First the steeple, black against the sky Then the roofs like turtles coming up to dry [Hook: Guttural sludge-metal male lead, guttural roar, full weight] Down where the steeple sleeps, keep them under Hold the gates and hold the dark and hold the thunder Mud on my steps and a knock at my door Keep them under, keep them under, forty feet and more [Verse 2: Guttural sludge-metal male lead, guttural, colder] Main Street showed in the middle of the week Mailboxes standing with their flags still weak Fishermen came out with their cameras and their beer Took a hundred pictures, then they left in fear Halloween evening, and the moon came full Something on the boat ramp, slow and dull Footprints wet on the concrete, pointing to my hill Not a single footprint pointing down, not one, and still [Pre-Hook: Guttural sludge-metal male lead, guttural, rising] First the steeple, black against the sky Then the roofs like turtles coming up to dry [Hook: Guttural sludge-metal male lead, guttural roar, full weight] Down where the steeple sleeps, keep them under Hold the gates and hold the dark and hold the thunder Mud on my steps and a knock at my door Keep them under, keep them under, forty feet and more [Bridge: Guttural sludge-metal male lead, street-name roll call, one crushing hit per name] Mill Street, up from the mud Chapel Street, black with the flood Water Street, the name came true Grange Road, and they're coming through [Verse 3: Guttural sludge-metal male lead, guttural, the climb] I did not answer, I took the back stair Up to the upper dam in the cold night air Seven iron wheels and my father's key Turned all seven open, then I let it be Heard the valley swallow, heard the steeple go Heard the knocking stop, and the water flow Dawn on the lake and the lake was whole Forty feet of quiet and a keeper's soul [Final Hook: Guttural sludge-metal male lead, guttural roar, full weight] Down where the steeple sleeps, keep them under Hold the gates and hold the dark and hold the thunder Mud on my steps and a knock at my door Keep them under, keep them under, forty feet and more [End]
