[INTRO — almost silent, deep layered whisper] I was here before the door. Before the music. Before the goblin remembered what he was waiting for. You call me shadow. [soft laugh] That's adorable. [ONE LOW KICK] I call it Home. [VERSE 1] I live beneath the warehouse, where the old foundations crack, where the roots forget the daylight and the dark forgets the black. I stretch beneath the dancers, I curl around their feet, I wake up when the bass comes down and fall asleep between the beats. The goblin thinks he found this place. The fairy thinks she chose it. The witches think they summoned me. I let them keep their history. [PRE-CHORUS] I don't need a body. I don't need a name. Give me something moving and I'll teach it how to sway. [BUILD] The lights go— I grow. The bass goes— I breathe. Someone starts to lose themselves— I slip beneath their feet. [DROP] [CHORUS] I'm the something in the shadows, dancing with the beat. Under every wicked little body, moving underneath. You think you're moving through me— darling, that's so sweet. I'm the something in the shadows. Come closer. Feel me underneath. [POST-CHORUS — whispered creature voices] Under. Under. Underneath. [VERSE 2] I watched the fairy drinking, silver glitter on her skin, stealing kisses from the darkness just to see what she could win. I watched the goblin waiting, pretending not to care, counting every stranger that came stumbling through the stair. Then she walked in. Human. Almost. I felt her shadow tremble before she even knew my name. She carried years of daylight like a coat she couldn't shed. But underneath— [WHISPER] I knew. [PRE-CHORUS 2] The goblin saw a stranger. The fairy saw a game. I saw something underneath her trying to remember its own shape. [BEAT CUT] She stepped onto the dance floor. I stepped onto hers. [DROP] [CHORUS] I'm the something in the shadows, dancing with the beat. Under every wicked little body, moving underneath. You think you're moving through me— darling, that's so sweet. I'm the something in the shadows. Come closer. Feel me underneath. [BREAKDOWN — sparse] The ceiling disappeared. I pulled it back. The moon came through. I let it in. The floor grew wider. I stretched it thin. The walls began to breathe. [PAUSE] That was me. The goblin laughed. The fairies flew. The witches raised their glasses. And nobody asked who moved the room. I liked them better that way. [LOW WHISPER] Dancing. Not thinking. [BUILD] The human looked down. Her shadow looked back. She froze. I didn't. I waved. [PAUSE] Her shadow waved back. [DROP] [VERSE 3 — rhythmic spoken] I don't want your worship. I don't want your fear. I want your little heartbeat when the bass gets near. I want the witch's laughter. The goblin's crooked grin. The fairy stealing sins, Washing it down with gin. I want the bodies moving until nobody knows where the music ends and the creature goes. I don't haunt. I don't chase. I simply wait beneath the place. [BUILD — layered voices] Three little knocks. One old song. One lost friend. One night gone wrong. Three little knocks. The door swings wide. Something ancient steps inside. [DROP] [FINAL CHORUS] I'm the something in the shadows, dancing with the beat. I've been underneath you since you walked in off the street. You thought you found the doorway. You thought you chose to stay. But darling— I've been dancing with you since before you knew my name. I'm the something in the shadows. The shape beneath the light. The thing that makes the floor move when the moon is shining bright. You can call me what you want to. Monster. Ghost. Mistake. [WHISPER] But every time the bass comes back— you move the way I make. [FINAL DROP] [CALL & RESPONSE — increasingly distorted] WHO'S THERE? [SHADOW] Me. WHO'S THERE? Me. WHO'S UNDERNEATH? Me. WHO MADE THE FLOOR MOVE? [LAUGH] Me. [OUTRO — fading, intimate] The goblin found his friend. The fairy found another drink. The witches found the moon. The humans found the brink. And me? I found something better. [PAUSE] A room full of creatures finally dancing like they belong. [VERY QUIET] Come back next century. I'll be here. [FINAL WHISPER] Underneath.
