Songfacts®:

• Robbie Robertson worked on his Sinematic album at the same time as he was writing the score for the gangster movie The Irishman. "I Hear You Paint Houses" is the name of the book that the film was based on. The work is titled after a phrase that mobsters use when hiring a hit man – to paint houses is the splattering of blood.
• The song is a duet with Robertson's friend Van Morrison. He told Uncut magazine how he hooked up with the Irish singer:
  
  "Van Morrison was in Los Angeles, and we usually get together when he's in town; he's a dear old friend. I went back to my studio and played the song for him. Then next thing I knew, he had a microphone in front of him, I showed him the words. He just nodded and said, 'alright. Let's go!' So we sang a duet. It was a fun, instant crazy collaboration."