There is a tight black promise in a dead man’s eyes
And it echoes through his ribcage, and this promise tells no lies
As his panicked breath departed I was clutched in his embrace
And I knew the man had given me this promise in his place

I wrapped my plans for the past in a sheet from his bed
And I called the walls to witness all the savage words he’d said
I took the red paint brush from the red paint pot
And I marked the red letter on the dead man’s gut

CHORUS
Red red letter
Red red letter
Red red letter
Letter red

You know there used to be a light outside the silent gates of hell
And a keeper of the light, and of the gates, and of the bell
But the keeper’s left the gate, and the light has burned away
And now the measure of a man is just the money he can pay.

I’ve seen, I’ve seen what a boy shouldn’t see
But the reason I’m still looking is the promise made to me
If I choose the wrong blade or kiss the wrong hand
I wear the black promise like a black armband