There was once a path in the woods, ‘‘tis what the natives say A place you should not venture, should you ever lose your way There’s a path for the harvest moon, and one that’s best in blue But beware yourself the wolf moon, lest you know what’s good for you
There lived an old woman, an ashen cabin wrought with many curses When her boy was slain by wolves, she recited bible verses And though god chose not to listen, as she begged him for salvation The devil heard her sermon, and offered reparations
“Present your boy to the first full moon and bathe him in its light Then lay him down upon the path and leave him for the night You’ll have your boy back in your arms by dawn the very latest And by my act you will see that god is the only sadist
Though there will be times when the debt must be returned There are always little consequences, lessons to be learned On each full moon your boy will become a ferocious raging beast He’ll reap for me another soul for every man’s a feast”
The devil kept his promise and her boy he did well rise And come the next full moon she saw the devil tells no lies Before each full moon ever-after she’d chain him in the wood He’d cry and scream and curse her soul as she did what she could
Until it was the old woman was bitten by the devil as a snake He had not received his souls for his debt she did foresake The tree with all its claw marks would stand alone next new moon And the people of these lands would know horror all too soon
They say the devil watched as the monster ripped into its mother Her soul the first to go, before he sought about another The devil took the mother’s soul in his arms and waltzed her out the door In his strife with god he let the beast set straight the score
If you look upon the somber rock where the earth and moon collide To the west, and stay down low for its best that you should hide You’ll see the devil dancing with his lovely maiden fair While her son hunts in the forest for those that don’t beware