Twenty-One Below

Instrumental Intro - Church Bells and a Broken Vault Door

Mm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm

Verse 1

I counted them all one cold December

Twenty-one names in the ledger

Each one a whisper from the other side

Every one a secret that the night could not hide

The first one fell on a paper trail

Second one got lost on the mail

Third one sang a song that was never true

Fourth one asked if I'd forgive him too

Pre-Chorus

Twenty-one below and the pipes all shake

Twenty-one below in the morning's ache

I keep the log like a faithful man

Counting what I never can

Chorus

Twenty-one below

Twenty-one below

The frost writes its own kind of hello

Twenty-one below

Twenty-one below

Down in the frost where the cold things go

Verse 2

Number five was a foreman from the mill

Number six kept a ledger and a will

Number seven preached on Sunday bright

Number eight went quiet in the night

Nine had a daughter with a brass bell

Ten knew a story he never told well

Eleven wrote letters to the moon

Twelve came early and left too soon

Pre-Chorus

Twenty-one below and the windows fog

Twenty-one below like the dog of god

I hold the names in my shaking hand

Writing what I understand

Chorus

Twenty-one below

Twenty-one below

The frost writes its own kind of hello

Twenty-one below

Twenty-one below

Down in the frost where the cold things go

Bridge

Thirteen was a lighthouse keeper's son

Fourteen was the winter's only one

Fifteen kept his lantern trimmed and bright

Sixteen walked off in the pale moonlight

Seventeen was the coal man's name

Eighteen played the piano without shame

Nineteen, twenty, came all in a row

Twenty-one I let my own hands know

Chorus

Twenty-one below

Twenty-one below

The frost writes its own kind of hello

Twenty-one below

Twenty-one below

The coldest saints are the ones that glow

Outro

Mm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm

Twenty-one

Twenty-one

Below