Title: Don’t Sleep in Black Hollow [Verse 1] They said, don’t take the ridge road When the fog rolls off the creek Don’t light a lamp in that old cabin Don’t lay your head to sleep But the rain was coming sideways And my truck was sinking down So I kicked that door wide open In a dead and empty town There was ash inside the fireplace There was mud across the floor There was something carved above the bed: “You won’t wake the way you were” I laughed like I was fearless Pulled my coat up to my chin Then I heard her humming softly From the room I’d just walked in [Pre-Chorus] I knew that tune I knew that sound I buried it years ago But the walls leaned close And the lantern died And the floorboards whispered low [Chorus] Don’t sleep in Black Hollow Don’t close your eyes in there The dead don’t stay in the graveyard They get tangled in your hair They’ll call you by the name You used before your heart turned cold They’ll make you face the one you lost And every lie you told Run while the moon is high Run before the rooster crows Don’t sleep in Black Hollow Where the guilt in a man grows [Verse 2] I woke up in my childhood With my daddy at the door He was younger than I remembered But his boots still shook the floor He said, son, you got a darkness You keep feeding like a flame Then his face turned into hers And she started saying my name She wore the dress from that last summer The one she wore the night she left Said, you didn’t pull the trigger But you let me bleed to death I ran out through the kitchen But the porch led back inside Every window showed me standing On the night I let love die [Pre-Chorus] I tried to pray But my tongue turned black And fell like coal from my mouth Then her hand came through the mirror And the whole damn house cried out [Chorus] Don’t sleep in Black Hollow Don’t close your eyes in there The dead don’t stay in the graveyard They get tangled in your hair They’ll call you by the name You used before your heart turned cold They’ll make you face the one you lost And every lie you told Run while the moon is high Run before the rooster crows Don’t sleep in Black Hollow Where the guilt in a man grows [Verse 3] I woke again beside the fire With the morning at the glass I thanked the Lord I’d made it through And swore the night had passed Then I saw her in the doorway With rainwater on her dress She said, you keep waking deeper Every time you confess The ceiling started spinning The nails backed from the boards The cabin breathed like something That had never been alive before I grabbed the latch, I pulled the handle Saw my truck beneath the tree Then I saw myself still sleeping With her kneeling over me [Build] No No, no That ain’t me That can’t be me [Breakdown] WAKE UP! WAKE UP! GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY SOUL! WAKE UP! WAKE UP! I PAID FOR WHAT I STOLE! She said, “Pain ain’t payment If you keep it locked below You can hide it from the living But the dead already know” WAKE UP! WAKE UP! THE WALLS ARE CLOSING IN! I clawed through the floor And fell right back To the night it all began [Bridge] She was crying by the river I was too proud to turn around She called my name for mercy I let silence be the sound All these years I blamed the mountain Blamed the rain and blamed the road But the truth came through that cabin Like a hand around my throat I didn’t lose her to the darkness I didn’t lose her to the cold I lost her when she needed love And I gave her none to hold [Final Chorus] Don’t sleep in Black Hollow Don’t close your eyes in there The ones you failed to love enough Are waiting everywhere They’ll call you by the name You used before your soul turned cold They’ll drag the truth out by its roots From the dirt beneath your bones Run while the moon is high Run, but there ain’t nowhere to go Once you sleep in Black Hollow Black Hollow follows you home Don’t sleep in Black Hollow Don’t close your eyes in there I’ve been waking up forever And she’s still standing there [Outro] The rain stopped in the morning They found my truck beneath the tree Found one set of tracks to the cabin And none that ever leave Some nights when the fog comes rising Folks hear a lost man scream “Wake up… wake up…” From somewhere underneath a dream
