[verse 1] Where the streetlights choke on smoke and ash, A rind splits wide with a furnace flash. Scab-scarred crown, stalk thorns for a helm, It rises slow to claim the realm. Tar-sweet breath, a lantern maw, Vine-hook fingers, rusted claw. Windows pray, sirens drown, Footsteps vanish underground. [pre-chorus] [whispered:] Don’t look back… don’t say its name (Hollow King… Hollow King…) [chorus] All hail the Hollow King— (Praise the Hollow King) Pumpkin heart of suffering. Eyes like furnaces of fall, Heaving smoke that smothers all. When that ember laughter rings, (Run from the Hollow King) Run—before the briar stings. All hail the Hollow King… The gourd that ate the town. [verse 2] Pitted hide from a thousand fights, Meteor seeds hatch midnight bites— Little mouths with candle glow, Skitter, gnaw, then burrow low. Church ropes twist in strangled vines, Clocks bleed minutes, stall the chimes. Graves exhale a copper tune, Children hush beneath the moon. [pre-chorus] Don’t breathe loud… don’t speak its name (Hollow King… Hollow King…) [chorus] All hail the Hollow King— (Praise the Hollow King) Harvest crowned and hungering. Vines for whips and roots for chains, Drag the living through the drains. When the ground begins to ring, (Hide from the Hollow King) Hide—while gutter echoes sing. All hail the Hollow King… The gourd that ate the town. [bridge] Some say lightning birthed its core, Others swear it crawled from war— Fed on lies and hungry ground, Watered where our oaths were drowned. Kneel or flee, it makes no sound— Only heat and hollow crown. [breakdown] [whispered:] …hollow… hollow… king… (Hollow King… Hollow King…) [chorus – final] All hail the Hollow King— (Praise the Hollow King) Smoke-veiled, patient, circling. If you feel the basement breathe, Bar the doors with bone and wreath. When the last streetlight falls down, He will carve you into crown. All hail the Hollow King… The gourd that ate the town. [end]
