Murder In The Red Barn

There was a murder in the red barn
Murder in the red barn

The trees are bending over
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
Or Blind Bob the raccoon?
Pin it on a drifter
They sleep beneath the bridge
One plays the violin
And sleeps in 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
Road kill has it's seasons
Just like anything
It's possums in the autumn
And it's farm cats in the spring
There was a murder in the red barn,
Murder in the red barn


Now thou salt not covet thy neighbors house
Or covet thy neighbours wife
But for some Murder is the only door thru which they enter life


Now they surrounded the house
They smoked him out
They took him off in chains
The sky turned black and bruised
And we had months of heavy rains
Now the ravens nest in the rotted roof


Of Chenoweth's old place
And noone's asking Cal
About a scar upon his face
'Cause there's nothin' strange
About an axe with bloodstains in the barn,
There's always some killin'
You got to do around the farm
A murder in the red barn
Murder in the red barn


Now the woods will never tell
What sleeps beneath the trees
Or what's buried 'neath a rock
Or hiding in hte leaves
'Cause road kills 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 that blood on the tree
Or is it autumn's red blaze
When the ground's soft for diggin'
And the rain will bring all his 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

Tom Waits: Vocal, Drums
Larry Taylor: Upricht Bass
Joe Marquez: Banjo