Something Singing Under the Floor

[Intro] At three in the morning The house held its breath A note in the timber A sound under steps [Verse 1] I heard it through the boards Soft as a mouth through a wall Not a cry Not a word Just a tune I almost knew The dust on the stair rail Lifted like skin And every nail head shivered When the humming came in I put my ear down To the dark in the grain And something underneath me Sang my name without a name [Verse 2] The basement door was swollen The handle was cold I had a bad little candle And a shadow to hold The air down there remembered What the upstairs forgot Old paint Wet stone A string pulled taut I should have turned back When the light bent low But the song had a shape Like a hand below [Hook] There is something singing under the floor Something I have heard before Low and sweet Close and sore There is something singing under the floor And it doesn’t want the door It wants me to hear it more [Bridge] One board breathed One nail rose The room went thin The warm went cold I said no I said stay But the song climbed up Anyway [Final Hook] There is something singing under the floor Something I have been before Low and sweet At my door There is something singing under the floor But it isn’t under anymore It’s in the hall It’s at my door [Outro] At four in the morning The house learned the tune The floor stayed quiet The walls sang too [End]