[Intro – whispered] Once upon a midnight dreary… Hear that? That ain't the beat… That's a heartbeat. Edgar Allan Flow. [Verse 1] They said I lost my mind in the dead of night But my senses sharp like a blade in the light Old man's eye had a cold blue glare Like a pale moon stare through the midnight air Seven nights I crept through the chamber slow Lantern cracked just enough for a glow Silence thick like dust in the hall Every heartbeat echo through the wall Step by step where the floorboards groan Truth get heavy when you're all alone You say it's madness, maybe it's so But the rhythm of guilt got a tell-tale flow [Pre-Chorus] Tick… tock… hear the pulse below Like a drum in the dark where the secrets go Tried to bury the sound but the truth still grow Every lie got a tell-tale flow [Chorus] Hear that beat in the wood below That's the sound of a tell-tale flow Every sin that a man might show Still pound in the dark down low Hear that thump when the silence grow That's the truth that the floorboards know Buried deep but the rhythm still grow That's the sound of a tell-tale flow [Verse 2] Morning knock at the chamber door Three men stand with a badge and lore Said they heard a cry in the night before I smiled wide said “Nothing more” Pulled up chairs where the secret lay Talked real calm while the minutes sway But the pulse underneath start beating again Like a drum in the skull of a guilty man Boom… boom… louder than breath Like a hammer ringing the sound of death They heard nothing, I swear that's fact But the louder it grew the more I cracked [Bridge] Tick… tock… hear it pound in the grain Truth ain't quiet when it lives in the brain Thought I buried every trace of the scene But the heart still rap from beneath the beam [Final Chorus] Hear that beat in the wood below That's the sound of a tell-tale flow Every lie that a man might show Still pound in the dark down low Hear that thump when the silence grow That's the truth that the floorboards know Buried deep but the rhythm still grow That's the sound of a tell-tale flow [Outro – whispered] Mad? No… Just honest. Because the heart… always tells.
