[Chorus]
The hounds are running in the alley-way below
Underlining all her sins

[Verse 1]
Across the alley
There is a rented room
There is a girl
I watch, I watch her
Yellow cotton curtains
The tiles are black and white
Why are you home early?
Is this another one, another one of those nights?

[Verse 2]
Straighten up the lilacs
Straighten up your hair
Over to the mirror
What do you see there?
You know why he is living
On a separate street away from you
Usually you can forget
Ah, but tonight the hounds they get
Tonight the hounds they get to you

[Chorus]
The hounds are running in the alley-way below
Underline all her sins (Oh)
[Verse 3]
Magnets in the mirror
Usually you croon
But tonight you are no beauty
In your rented room
He knows why he is living
On a separate street away from you
Usually he can forget
But tonight the hounds they get
Tonight the hounds they get to him

[Bridge]
The mirror shows a man in a chair
She sees him sway
He's falling to the floor
And his lines, they crack away
Who is this man?
You know him, you know him, you know him
His being is your being
His scent is on your skin
His mind is on your mind
And his breathing is your breathing
So she goes to her own chair
I see her sway
She's falling to the floor
And her lines they crack away
She shatters on the tiles
Like the mirror that she shatters
Like the mirror that she shadows
[Verse 4]
The street it's night it's dark
I cannot see too well
But a fog descended on her room
That much I can tell
And every drop of water
Drew salts across her soul, Lord
Every bead of water
Made those beaded bodies roll
The beaded bodies roll
The beaded bodies roll

[Verse 5]
A cat stopped by to listen
'Til her breathing ceased to toil
And on a separate street
The man he ceased to moil
Yellow dawn is yellowing
Now I can see the girl
Now I can see her face
On the tiles I see her curled

[Verse 6]
Breeze—it blows the curtains
Across the wayward tiles
Over the sleeping ones
On separate streets—I have to smile
They still will not understand
Why they awaken so new
But their sleep was close to holy
My darlings
We're watching over you
We're watching over you
We're watching over you
[Verse 7]
Across the alley
There is a rented room
And there is a girl
I watch, I watch her
I watch, I watch her
We watch, we watch her

[Outro]
I wrote this song for Anna Siberry, my aunt, who was just like sunshine to see her. And as soon as she'd recognize you, her eyes would light up and she'd come towards you with her arms out. She was so beautiful, and she made you feel so good. And then I named myself after her shortly after that.