Water's Getting Warmer

[INTRO — humid bayou night | insects, frogs, distant water | slow dirty 12-bar minor Voodoo Blues] [ES-335 — 1–♭3–4–♭5–5–6 | lazy bends, major 6 replacing ♭7] [RESONATOR — distant metallic answer | ♭5→5→6 | sustain 6] Verse 1 [LOW WEATHERED BARITONE — lazy, behind beat] I'd been dreaming black stone cities Three nights running, maybe four, Stairs that climbed beneath the water, Windows opening like doors. Woke up tasting something salty, Though the Gulf was miles away, So I took the boat out after dark— Still can't tell you why today. [INSECTS gradually thin] Moon hung yellow through the cypress, Spanish moss hung dead and still, Then every frog along the water... [PAUSE] Stopped. [RESONATOR — FIRST CONTAMINATION: quiet ♭2→1 scrape] Verse 2 Tide came crawling up the bayou With the wind blowing the other way, Water black as old molasses Climbed where it had never stayed. Saw a gator leave the channel— Never seen that old thing run. Crawled straight past me through the sawgrass Like the Devil had a gun. [ES-335 — normal Voodoo ♭5→5→6] Then I smelled the open ocean Where no ocean ought to be— Salt and mud and something older... [RESONATOR — ♭2→1] Coming inland after me. Chorus [HEAVY restrained groove | resonator more prominent] The water's getting warmer, And the tide is running wrong, Ain't heard a frog in twenty minutes, Ain't heard a cricket sing a song. Yellow moon above the cypress, Black moon trembling underneath— And the one that's in the heavens [ONE BAR 7/8 — geometry slips] Ain't where its reflection ought to be. [RETURN 4/4 | RESONATOR — ♭2→1 → ♭5→5→6] Verse 3 Found a fire beside the channel, Ashes warm but no one there, Little idol sitting upright Like somebody left it in my care. Squatting thing upon a stone throne, Folded wings against its side, Claws beneath an awful likeness Of a face no face could hide. [STRIP TO BASS + RESONATOR] I reached down— [RESONATOR — low ♭2 scrape] Then pulled away. That little thing was wet. Hadn't rained in seven days. [BEAT] I wish that I'd left then. Instrumental — The Call [RESONATOR FEATURE — NORMAL VOODOO 1–♭3–4–♭5–5–6 begins breaking down | ♭2 repeatedly intrudes | low metallic slides, scraping bottleneck, long ♭5→5→6 bends] [ES-335 attempts original Voodoo motif | RESONATOR answers with ♭2 contamination] [ONE BAR 5/4 → 4/4 | ONE BAR 7/8 → 4/4 | groove recovers each time] Verse 4 Channel turned behind the cypress Where I know it cannot turn, Shore looked twenty yards beside me— Took half an hour to reach that fern. Then something moved beyond the treeline. Thought another cypress swayed. But stars went missing one by one... As something stood up in their way. [DRUMS STOP] A claw curled round a cypress. Narrow wings eclipsed the moon. Feelers moved where something like a face— [PAUSE] Should've been. [RESONATOR — violent ♭2→1 scrape] I stopped looking soon. Bridge [FREE-TIME FEEL | LOW E drone | contaminated scale dominates] I'd heard a name inside those dreams. Didn't know I knew it then. Something older than our oldest fear Was saying it again. R'lyeh... [RESONATOR — ♭2] Black stone... [♭5] Deep water... [5→6] Then two ancient eyes looked down— [ALL SOUND DROPS] And knew me just the same. Final Chorus [4/4 RETURNS but harmony remains contaminated | ♭2 now persistent] The water's getting warmer, And the tide is running wrong, Now I hear something beneath it Humming underneath the song. No moon left above the cypress. No stars left I could name. Just something rising from the water— And something calling mine. [RESONATOR — ♭2→1 → ♭5→5→6 | long screaming sustain] Outro [DAWN — ordinary insects and frogs gradually return | modern quiet bayou ambience] Found my boat at daylight Grounded fifty miles inland. No idea how I got there. Salt dried white upon my hands. Now I dream about that water. Every night I hear my name. Every night I walk a little farther— Every night... [RESONATOR — very quiet ♭2] It does the same. [LONG PAUSE] Somewhere down along the coastline... Something dreams of me. [RESONATOR — contaminated phrase ♭2→1→♭5→5→6] [LOW WHISPER] The water's getting warmer. [MAJOR 6 sustains against minor tonic | faint ♭2 resonance underneath | NO RESOLUTION]