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One Red Rose Lyrics
The rain came down
On the tin roof
Hardly
A sound was left
From the birthday party
The kitchen light
Fell asleep
On the bedroom floor
Me and her were talking softer
Than all the time
Before I lost her
Picture sat on top
Of the chest of drawers
Chorus:
One red rose
In the Bible
Pressed between
The Holy alphabet
Probably wouldn't believe you
If you told me
But what I never knew
I never will forget
Rainy nites
Get dark real early
Her dress was soft
And her hair was curly
We danced around the table
To the old banjo
Rainy nites
Were made for lovers
We lay there still
Beneath the covers
And I ain't never felt
Like that before
Chorus:
On the tin roof
Hardly
A sound was left
From the birthday party
The kitchen light
Fell asleep
On the bedroom floor
Me and her were talking softer
Than all the time
Before I lost her
Picture sat on top
Of the chest of drawers
One red rose
In the Bible
Pressed between
The Holy alphabet
Probably wouldn't believe you
If you told me
But what I never knew
I never will forget
Get dark real early
Her dress was soft
And her hair was curly
We danced around the table
To the old banjo
Rainy nites
Were made for lovers
We lay there still
Beneath the covers
And I ain't never felt
Like that before
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This is one of my favourite jp songs. I'd like to know what people make of the rose pressed in the bible. Did the singer find it after his love left him?
As I understand it, the singer is visiting his ex for a birthday party for one of their kids. After the party, the two of them are alone and, as sometimes happens, they have sex (but it is not a recommencement of their relationship). In any event, sometime during the evening (likely before they have sex), the singer discovers a red rose pressed in his ex's Bible, which he understands to be a momento from some love that his ex lost (but not him). During their love-making, the ex's passion is nothing like he ever experienced when they were together, but he understands that her passion is not for him (the singer), but rather, is a manifestation of her passion for whomever the pressed red rose represents for his ex.
To elborate on the above somewhat, it is important to distinguish between the song's inspiration, and the story actually being told in the song. JP's liner notes explain that the situation that inspired him (in part) was something he experienced as a kid:
To elborate on the above somewhat, it is important to distinguish between the song's inspiration, and the story actually being told in the song. JP's liner notes explain that the situation that inspired him (in part) was something he experienced as a kid:
"I stayed overnight at my cousin Charlie Bill's. It was the back of a general store in Paradise. There was a tin roof and a wonderful thunderstorm going on above and around us." "We were telling ghost stories and staying up late, and there was a curtain separating the bedroom from the mature adults' kitchen. Our light was...
"I stayed overnight at my cousin Charlie Bill's. It was the back of a general store in Paradise. There was a tin roof and a wonderful thunderstorm going on above and around us." "We were telling ghost stories and staying up late, and there was a curtain separating the bedroom from the mature adults' kitchen. Our light was off. Thus, their 'kitchen light fell asleep on the bedroom floor', I was nine."
In the song, he is on the other side of the curtain, having an experience with his ex.
Prine added that "One Red Rose" was about an overnight stay with his cousin Charlie Bill. "It was the back of a general store in Paradise. There was a tin roof and a wonderful thunderstorm going on above and around us. We were telling ghost stories and staying up late, and there was a curtain separating the bedroom from the mature adults' kitchen. Our light was off. Thus, their 'kitchen light fell asleep on the bedroom floor.' I was nine."
The line- The kitchen light fell asleep on the bedroom floor\nalways bugged me, I decided it was actually\n \nThe rain came down on the tin roof\nHardly a sound was left from the birthday party\nThe kids and I fell asleep on the bedroom floor.\n\nI consider it a requiem for a dead wife.\nThe other verses mentioniong her were a dream sequence and then memories.\n\nthe red rose was in his Bible, signifying his lost love.\nThe birthday party was the first one after she had passed.\nListening to the organ music and the structure, it sounds like a funeral dirge to me. That\'s just how I play it and sing it.\nIt makes more sense than a light going to sleep.