[Verse 1]
She got boots like church bells
Ringing down a backstreet dream
Black lace
Black lipstick
And a martyr’s little moonbeam
Saints on her fingers
Skulls on her sleeves
Candles in the daylight
Smoke in the leaves
She said
“I’m born of desert thunder
But my storms don’t ever sleep”
So she traded sand for spruce bark
And secrets buried deep
Found a trail where the birch bark peels
Where the sky hangs heavy and the dark feels real
[Chorus]
Johanna in the northern trees
Mexican goth on the midnight breeze
Whispers in the branches
Bargains on her knees
She breaks her demons
In the Norwegian freeze
Johanna in the northern trees
[Verse 2]
She walks like a courtroom verdict
Every step a yes-or-no
Crows hold congress on the treetops
Jury in a ring of snow
She carves old prayers in a stranger’s tongue
On a stone by the river where the cold’s sharp young
Her shadows rise
All teeth and tar
Talking in her father’s voice
She lights a match
Says “Listen close—
You don’t get to make my choice”
Snowflakes land on her eyeliner wings
Turn to steam when the black heart sings
[Chorus]
Johanna in the northern trees
Mexican goth on the midnight breeze
Whispers in the branches
Bargains on her knees
She breaks her demons
In the Norwegian freeze
Johanna in the northern trees
[Bridge]
[Band drops to a slow
Churning groove]
She says
“I am not your graveyard
I’m the storm that digs you out” (hey!)
Every root
Each frozen grave
Hears her laugh and hears her shout
“From Tenochtitlán to Valhalla’s door
I’m the patron saint of never anymore”
[Chorus]
Johanna in the northern trees
Mexican goth on the midnight breeze
Laughing while the darkness falls down to its knees
She burned her demons
In the Norwegian freeze
Yeah
Johanna in the northern trees (oh yeah)