On Dead Man's Hill

The first time I saw her, she was hitching a ride,
She was alone on the shoulder, it was freezing outside.
Well, I pulled the car over and I said, "Hop in,"
How was I s'posed to know what I was gonna begin?
Here's a bit of advice, boy, take it as you will:
You won't ever meet the love of your life at night on Dead Man's Hill.

She was pretty as a picture of a summer's day,
I said, "Honey, where you headin'?", and she said "Your way."
How was I supposed to know that she could never go home?
She was the sort of sweet you'd never figure had to roam.
Here's a bit of advice, boy, take it as you will:
You won't ever meet the love of your life at night on Dead Man's Hill.

I used to date a girlie name of Emmaline,
She was probably the sweetest thing you've ever seen,
But she didn't know the proper ways to misbehave,
Guess there's some classes you can only pass beyond the grave.
Here's a bit of advice, boy, take it as you will:
You'd best go lookin' for the love of your life at night on Dead Man's Hill.

My baby doesn't do much when the sun is high;
If you try to dial her number, well, she won't reply,
She'll take candy from a stranger with no second thought;
There's not all that much can hurt you when the farm's been bought.
Here's a bit of advice, boy, take it as you will:
You'd best go lookin' for the love of your life at night on Dead Man's Hill.

My baby's never gonna graduate high school, it's ancient history to her,
And she's never gonna be the pretty little thing that my mama would prefer.
But does giving up on getting old mean that she's giving up the chance
To get the things every teenage heart desires -- a little boy and ghoul romance?

So when sunset shuts the doors of day I start my car,
She's a coffin and a crypt away, and that's too far.
When I pull up beside her and say, "Wanna a ride?"
Well, I know it doesn't matter that my baby died.
Here's a bit of advice, boy, take it as you will:
You just might find you've met the love of your life at night on Dead Man's Hill.

I don't put much stock in sunlight or in what folks say,
It doesn't matter if my ghost-girl's just a myth by day.
My baby's never gone to Heaven, wouldn't if she could,
She likes to mix her nice with naughty, likes to shake it good.
Here's a bit of advice, boy, take it as you will:
You just might find you've met the love of your life at night on Dead Man's Hill.

She was a little too bad for Heaven, she was a little too good for Hell.
They wouldn't light the 'Vacancy' sign for any of the things that were hers to sell.
Well, if the afterlife won't have her, she can still be an angel to me,
She'll be my after-midnight graveyard girl for all eternity.
She'll be my after-midnight graveyard girl for all eternity.
And one day, when my brakes give out, I know she'll stand by me.
She'll be my after-midnight graveyard girl for all eternity.

Written on: 2007-10-02. Seanan McGuire