[Intro] [Instrumental — Balkan brass and fiddle, urgent and building] [Verse 1] Something is wrong beneath my skin I feel it moving, pushing out from within My fingers crack, my knuckles split and spread Something wooden growing through instead The bones are changing shape inside my hand I watch and cannot move and cannot understand It does not hurt the way that pain should hurt It tears and grinds and forces through the dirt [Pre-Chorus] What is happening to me What is this becoming I cannot stop it I cannot stop it [Chorus] [Balkan brass erupts] The branches push through flesh and open wide I feel every fiber splitting from inside The blood runs down and hardens into bark Something is growing me into the dark [Verse 2] My feet have found the ground and will not leave I feel the soil breathing through my feet The tendons stretch and anchor into earth My legs are roots now, heavy with their worth I try to scream but bark has found my throat My arms are reaching upward like a coat Of wood and vein and something dark and old And I am still inside it, still and cold [Pre-Chorus] What is happening to me What is this becoming I cannot stop it I cannot stop it [Chorus] The branches push through flesh and open wide I feel every fiber splitting from inside The blood runs down and hardens into bark Something is growing me into the dark [Bridge] [Music drops to single fiddle — slow and mournful] And then the quiet Not death Not sleep I feel the wind across what I have become I feel the sun on bark that once was skin I feel a dog against my roots I feel a child's knife carving into me I feel the seasons turning without asking I feel the leaves I grow and lose and grow I feel everything And I cannot leave And I cannot speak And I cannot stop feeling [Final Chorus — slower, heavier] The branches push through what I used to be I feel every root that holds me here for free The blood long hardened, bark where skin had been And I am still awake And I have always been [Outro] [Brass fades, single low fiddle note holds] A leaf falls I feel it go [Silence] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A Balkan Folk horror piece told entirely from inside the mind of a person transforming involuntarily into a tree — the splintering of bones, the branches forcing through skin, the roots anchoring feet into earth. There is no explanation, no cause, no cure. The horror is not the transformation itself but what comes after: the mind never leaves. Fully a tree, the narrator still feels everything — wind, sun, a dog against the roots, a child carving into the bark, leaves falling one by one. Conscious, trapped, and feeling everything forever. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Bingo Board — 2026 [A1] GoGo × Shame [B1] Klezmer × Thirst [C1] Mongolian Throat Singing × Entropy [D1] Instrumental Only × Aerobics [E1] Native American Flute × Democracy [F1] Hopera × Mushroom / Fungi [A2] Rap × Nature [B2] Delta Blues × Dark Ages [C2] Grand Country × Uplifting [D2] Motown × Awakening [E2] Surf Rock × Surrealism [F2] Accordion × Train Hopping [A3] Chap Hop × Muscle Flex [B3] Witch House × Shed Your Burden [C3] Ska × Conflict [D3] Cyberpunk × Transmittable [E3] Groove Metal × Gnomes [F3] Wonky × Ice Cream [A4] Yacht Rock × Love [B4] Screamo × Bubblegum [C4] Fado Phonk × Africa Language [D4] Electronic Dance × 42 [E4] R&B Funk × Banana Split [F4] Skweee × Dating [A5] Lo-fi Indie Pop × Cheating Death [B5] Krautgaze Drone Rock × Heartbreak [C5] Balkan Folk × Transformation [D5] NeoFolk × Hardship [E5] Classical Music × Bird [F5] Alternative Rock × Courage [A6] Harpsichord Symphonic Metal × Faith [B6] Vocal Only / Acapella × Hope [C6] Ballad × Seduction [D6] Psychedelic Newgrass × Philosophy [E6] Yodeling × High Fantasy [F6] Punkrock × Awkward Fathers ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ © 2026 Ande Records Lyrics by Ande All rights reserved. https://ande-records.se/
