[Intro] Midnight at the county cemetery Fog hanging low between the stones They pay me good to walk these grounds But some nights I swear I ain't alone [Verse 1] Got a shotgun in the truck And a flashlight in my hand Forty acres of dead men And a fence around the land Most nights nothing happens Just the crickets and the rain But three nights back I heard a voice Calling out my name I checked the eastern corner Where the oldest headstones stand There wasn't anybody there Just footprints in the sand Then I heard it underneath me Soft as a baby's cry: “Eddie... Eddie... Why'd you let me die?” [Verse 2] I froze beneath the cedar tree Couldn't make myself move Then the ground began to tremble And the old stones started to move I knew that voice from somewhere But I couldn't place the sound Until I saw the date engraved On a weather-beaten stone It was my father's name Though he'd been dead fifteen years And underneath his epitaph Were words that brought me here: “You know what happened, Eddie. You know what you did. You buried more than secrets When you buried this.” [Chorus] Welcome to the graveyard shift Where the dead don't sleep at night They've got stories in their bones And they're bringing them to light Welcome to the graveyard shift Ain't nobody here to save you You can run until the sunrise But the dead already know you [Verse 3] Then every grave began to whisper Every voice became a crowd Some were crying Some were laughing Some were screaming out loud They told me about the money They told me about the lies They told me about the people I had watched disappear Then one voice rose above them And it sounded just like mine: “You thought nobody saw you That night beside the mine.” I remembered what I'd buried I remembered where it lay And suddenly the cemetery Didn't seem so far away [Chorus] Welcome to the graveyard shift Where the dead don't sleep at night They've got stories in their bones And they're bringing them to light Welcome to the graveyard shift Ain't nobody here to save you You can run until the sunrise But the dead already know you [Bridge] I drove toward the gate But the gate wasn't there Just rows and rows of headstones Stretching everywhere I tried the radio But all I heard was static Then a voice came through the speaker: “Eddie, don't you panic.” The flashlight flickered twice Then the darkness swallowed me And something started knocking From beneath the oak tree [Breakdown] Three knocks. Then four. Then five. I dug beneath the roots Till my fingers hit a box Inside was an old photograph And a rusted watch The photograph showed six men Standing beside the mine Five of them were buried here And one was still alive. [Final Chorus] Welcome to the graveyard shift Now I finally understand The dead don't want revenge They just want the truth above the ground Welcome to the graveyard shift Hear that knocking in the dirt I've spent half my life hiding Now the dead are making sure it hurts Welcome to the graveyard shift Morning never comes around 'Cause every road I take tonight Just leads me underground [Outro] They found my truck at sunrise Parked beside the cemetery gate The driver's door was open But Eddie wasn't in his seat And beneath the oldest cedar Where the grass had never grown There was one fresh patch of earth With a brand-new headstone It read: “EDWARD HAYES NIGHT WATCHMAN HE FINALLY TOLD THE TRUTH.”
