[Intro: Arrangement: swamp insects, amp hum, chain drag, one bent resonator note, floor tom heartbeat] [Spoken low, dry] The water's rising. God is just a shadow on the wall. [Verse 1: Vocal: close-mic baritone, dry, hostile | grit:55, Arrangement: sparse triplet crawl, negative space, low stomp on beat 1] They keep barking 'bout my numbered goddamn days Like they can scrub the dirt off a grave That preacher pressed a cold cross to my fucking face While he was breaking every holy law He wants to drag my soul straight down to hell But I’m already cold inside my chest. [Pre-Chorus: Vocal: rising strain, tighter breath | grit:65, Arrangement: more tom motion, tension tightening, vocal pressure climbing] The church bell’s ringing so no fucking sleep The river’s rising and the mud is deep My hands are shaking, and the air is wet I haven't even started failing yet. [Chorus: Silence: 1 bar dead air, Arrangement: broad backbeat, full band entries, widest guitar decay, Vocal: cracked howl, wide open vowels | grit:75] Yeah, I’m a piece of shit and I stay true To every rotten thing I put you through I stay true to my fucking wicked ways Until the floodwater drowns us all. [Verse 2: Vocal: meaner articulation, more scrape | grit:60, Arrangement: return to spine riff, slightly nastier attack, extra turnaround fills] I talk slick and I talk low and I talk dirty Found your ring in the sink at seven-thirty I let the pretty girls do the evil goddamn work Then I watch 'em pray in the shadow of the church My eyes are bloodshot and the room still stinks I’m pouring gasoline in all their drinks. [Bridge: Vocal: half-spoken low mutter, total emotional rupture | grit:70, Arrangement: strip to floor tom pulse, bass drone, scrape noise] I know the Lord wants me to change this mess But I like the way the whiskey hits my chest I’m hooked on the trouble and the motel shame The black water already took my name I don’t want the cure, I want the fucking fall I want the mold to take over the wall. [Final Chorus: Arrangement: fullest weight, harder root entries, longest sustains, Vocal: strongest stack, most exposed damage | grit:85] Yeah, I’m a piece of shit and I stay true To every rotten thing I put you through I stay true to my fucking wicked ways Until the floodwater drowns us all. [Outro: Vocal: dying rasp, trailing off | grit:25, Arrangement: collapse back to root drone, descending slide fall, unresolved] The reaper is on his way. Still breathing. Still fucking here. [Sudden digital silence]
