[Intro] [1980s gothic hair metal, 118 BPM driving 4/4 arena groove, roaring Marshall tube-overdrive guitars with wah-wah accents, heavy pumping bass and thunderous drums, massive gated reverb, sustained feedback] [Bluesy crying guitar lead with deep bends, screaming pinch harmonics and twin-guitar harmonies cutting through an eerie wind] [Verse 1] Old flat bottom boat scraping on the clay Chasing down the twilight where the dead logs lay Mosquitoes thick as smoke, the cypress branches lean Darkest stretch of water that I've ever seen! Whispers on the current, shadows in the gloom Drifting down the river to a mossy tomb! [Pre-Chorus] Copper bell clanging from an unmapped shore Felt a cold heavy draft through an open door Something in the timber got a wicked hold on me Pulling like an anchor to the bottom of the sea! [Chorus] Hear the reeds whisper, feel the water chill! Shadow on the levee standing stone cold still! Rattle the shallows, dig into the mud! Got a dark water fever running through my blood! [Piercing high-register falsetto scream, dive bomb with whammy bar vibrato] [Verse 2] Rusted tire iron lying on the floor Black mud on the latch of an iron door Saw a silhouette dancing in a ring of fire Singing with the devil in a crown of wire! Eyes in the cypress, burning white and cold The bayou wants the silver and the soul you sold! [Pre-Chorus] Copper bell clanging from an unmapped shore Felt a cold heavy draft through an open door Something in the timber got a wicked hold on me Pulling like an anchor to the bottom of the sea! [Chorus] Hear the reeds whisper, feel the water chill! Shadow on the levee standing stone cold still! Rattle the shallows, dig into the mud! Got a dark water fever running through my blood! [Guitar Solo] [Thunderous gated arena beat, heavy driving bassline] [Slow bluesy bend opening into fast neoclassic sweeps and screaming pinch harmonics] [Wah-wah cries into soaring dual-guitar harmonies, wild whammy bar dive bombs and feedback shrieks] [Chorus] Hear the reeds whisper, feel the water chill! Shadow on the levee standing stone cold still! Rattle the shallows, dig into the mud! Got a dark water fever running through my blood! [Outro] Dark water fever! Drown in the black! [Screaming vocal high note sustained over heavy stadium guitar chords, ending on a massive gated crash and howling amp feedback]
