Murder in the Red Barn

Album: Bone Machine (1992)
Play Video
  • There was a murder in the red barn, a murder in the red barn

    The trees are bending over and the cows are lying down
    The autumn's taking over, you can hear the Buckshot hounds
    The watchman said to Reba the loon
    Was it pale at Manzanita, was it Blind Bob the coon?
    Pin it on a drifter they sleep beneath the bridge
    One plays the violin and sleeps inside a fridge
    There was a murder in the red barn, murder in the red barn

    Someone's crying in the woods, someone's burying all his clothes
    Now Slam the Crank from Wheezer slept outside last night and froze
    Roadkill has its seasons just like anything
    There's possums in the autumn and there's farm cats in the spring
    There was a murder in the red barn, a murder in the red barn

    Now thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house or covet they neighbor's wife
    But for some murder is the only door through which they enter life

    Well, they surrounded the house, they smoked him out, took him off in chains
    They sky runed black and bruised and we had months of heavy rains
    Now, the ravens nest in the rotted roof of Chenoweth's old place
    And no one's asking Cal about that scar upon his face
    'Cause there's nothin' strange about an axe with bloodstains in barn,
    There's always some killin' you got to do around the farm
    A murder in the red barn, murder in the red barn

    The woods will never tell what sleeps beneath the trees
    Or what's buried 'neath a rock or hiding in the leaves
    'Cause roadkill has it's seasons just like anything
    It's possums in the autumn and it's farm cats in the spring
    A murder in the red barn, a murder in the red barn

    Now, a lady can't do nothin' without folks' tongues waggin'
    Is this blood on the tree or is it autumn's red blaze?
    When the ground' soft for diggin' and the rain will bring all this gloom
    There's nothing wrong with a lady drinking alone in her room
    But there was a murder in the red barn, a murder in the red barn

    There was a murder in the red barn, a murder in the red barn Writer/s: KATHLEEN BRENNAN, THOMAS ALAN WAITS
    Publisher: JALMA MUSIC
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 1

  • Eric M from Vanc BcIn a great many of Wait's tales, differing interpretations are common. With this dirty, uncut gem, the story begins with the sound of what must be rusty bedsprings...the repeated images of trauma might lead one to consider that the murder is of one unborn, in the red barn of a womb. Dark, incisive genius.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Danny Kortchmar

Danny KortchmarSongwriter Interviews

Danny played guitar on Sweet Baby James, Tapestry, and Running On Empty. He also co-wrote many hit songs, including "Dirty Laundry," "Sunset Grill" and "Tender Is The Night."

Randy Newman

Randy NewmanSongwriting Legends

Newman makes it look easy these days, but in this 1974 interview, he reveals the paranoia and pressures that made him yearn for his old 9-5 job.

Loreena McKennitt

Loreena McKennittSongwriter Interviews

The Celtic music maker Loreena McKennitt on finding musical inspiration, the "New Age" label, and working on the movie Tinker Bell.

Lace the Music: How LSD Changed Popular Music

Lace the Music: How LSD Changed Popular MusicSong Writing

Starting in Virginia City, Nevada and rippling out to the Haight-Ashbury, LSD reshaped popular music.

Jackie DeShannon - "Put a Little Love in Your Heart"

Jackie DeShannon - "Put a Little Love in Your Heart"They're Playing My Song

It wasn't her biggest hit as a songwriter (that would be "Bette Davis Eyes"), but "Put a Little Love in Your Heart" had a family connection for Jackie.

What Musicians Are Related to Other Musicians?

What Musicians Are Related to Other Musicians?Song Writing

A big list of musical marriages and family relations ranging from the simple to the truly dysfunctional.