[Intro] [doorbell, two short rings, porch wind] [children, sweet and close] Trick or treat Trick or treat [music box, one wrong note] [narrator, calm] Bowl's on the table. Porch light's on. Smile for the costumes. Don't look too long. [Verse 1] [footsteps, paper bags] Little ghost, little cat, little bones in a sheet First knock of the evening, the easy repeat I kneel with the bowl, they don't reach, they just stand One bag already heavier than a child's hand [wrapper crinkle] "Just chocolate," I tell them. The ghost shakes his head "We don't take the sweet till we know who we fed." [Pre-Chorus] [whisper] Count the costumes. Count again. One little shadow came late with them. [Chorus] [children's choir, sweet then snarling] [organ stab] Trick or treat, trick or treat Something in the bag has got a heartbeat Haywire, haywire, porch light dies Don't say thank you. Don't meet their eyes Trick or treat, wrong street, wrong night If they knock twice, you're the treat they came to find [Verse 2] [streetlamps clicking off, one by one] They point down the block where the porches go black Every light that was laughing is not coming back A widow's door open, a pumpkin still grin No bowl on the step, and no person within [distant door slam] The cat says, "She offered. She laughed at the game. We left her a wrapper. The wrapper had her name." [Verse 3] [music box, slower] [photo set on the hall table] I laugh like a host. I play the good part A skeleton hand sets a picture on my heart It's my hallway. It's my coat on the hook It's my face on a wrapper they already took The cat pulls her mask and the mask doesn't end There's my smile on the mouth of a friend [sudden silence] [jump-scare hit, door slam] [Chorus] [full, haunted hall] Trick or treat, trick or treat Something in the bag has got a heartbeat Haywire, haywire, porch light dies Don't say thank you. Don't meet their eyes Trick or treat, wrong street, wrong night If they knock twice, you're the treat they came to find [Verse 4] [candy rolling across wood] I step back. The bowl tips. The candy crawls down Little red wrappers writing my name on the ground They sing through the letterbox, polite as a prayer "One house left on the block, and you're standing right there" [chain rattle] I reach for the lock. The lock's on the outside The porch light clicks on. I am on the porch side [wind, bag held open in front of him] [Bridge] [spoken, almost no music] [doorbell, from behind him] Who is it? [children, inside his house] Trick or treat. [narrator, small] I didn't knock. [beat] Keep the bag open. [Verse 5] [low drone, narrator cracking] They open the door like they live in the hall My coat on a child who is not short at all He tips the last sweet to the dark of my mouth It tastes like a year I can't quite talk about [children humming the music-box tune] "Last Halloween, mister. You opened too wide. We saved you a piece. Step in. Come inside." The street takes my hand. The bag takes my name And the porch light stays on for the next one who came [Chorus] [gang of small voices, inside and outside] Trick or treat, trick or treat Open the bag if you want to see me Haywire, haywire, hold out your hand The last piece of candy still knows your name Trick or treat, wrong street, wrong night Smile for the costumes. Step into the light [Outro] [music box alone] [wrapper crinkle, then a bite] [children, fading down the street] Thank you. [doorbell, one ring, nobody there] [sudden silence]
