Beads and Bad Omens

[Verse 1]
Purple mask
Crooked grin
Feathers stuck in the gutter again
Palm cards spread on a barrel top
Old woman laughs at the bones you drop
[Pre-Chorus]
Smoke in the alley curls like a question
Wind chimes made of rust and glass
You feel your luck start shifting sideways
When you cross that line at last
[Chorus]
Welcome to the French Quarter
Where the beads hang heavy like a curse on your neck
Where the saints walk drunk through the water
And the dead keep time with the band on the deck (oh)
Step in close
Let the shadows sort ya
You’re baptized strange in the back-street border
Welcome
Welcome to the French Quarter
[Verse 2]
King cake crumbs on a painted floor
Trumpet wails through a busted door
Wax-dipped skull in a window grin
Whispers cling like perfume to your skin
[Pre-Chorus]
Lanterns bleed that sick green halo
Throws rain down from the crooked floats
Someone writes your name in chalk dust
On the back of your black coat
[Chorus]
Welcome to the French Quarter
Where the beads hang heavy like a curse on your neck
Where the saints walk drunk through the water
And the dead keep time with the band on the deck (yeah)
Step in close
Let the shadows sort ya
You’re baptized strange in the back-street border
Welcome
Welcome to the French Quarter
[Bridge]
Laugh too loud and the masks turn toward you
Blink too slow and the spell slips through
Kiss that coin
Let the river decide
If you walk back out or you just stay tied
[Chorus]
Welcome to the French Quarter
Where the beads hang heavy like a curse on your neck
Where the saints walk drunk through the water
And the dead keep time with the band on the deck
Step in close
Let the shadows sort ya
You’re baptized strange in the back-street border
Welcome
Welcome to the French Quarter (hey)

rock, Swampy goth rock with menacing tom-heavy drums, chorus-drenched baritone guitars, and a sludgy bass that drags like a parade in slow motion. Male vocals, half snarl half chant, with ghostly gang shouts on the hook; verses stay tight and tense, chorus explodes with wide reverb and octave-doubled lines. Organ stabs and distant crowd noise sneak in like haunted carnival rides, with a brief feedback-drenched breakdown before the final chorus.