10 Meanings
Add Yours
Follow
Share
Q&A
Don't Go Into That Barn Lyrics
Don't go into that barn, yea
Don't go into that barn, yea
Black cellophane sky at midnite
Big blue moon with three gold rings
I called Champion to the window
And I pointed up above the trees
That's where I heard my name in a scream
Coming from the woods, out there
I let my dog run off the chain
I locked my door real good with a chair
Don't go into that barn, yea
Don't go into that barn, yea
Everett Lee broke loose again
Its worse than the time before
Cause he's high on potato and tulip wine
Fermented in the muddy rain of course
A drunken wail a drunk train
Blew through the birdless trees
Oh, you're alone alright
Your alone alright
How did I know
How did I know
Don't go into that barn, yea
Don't go into that barn, yea
An old black tree
Scratching up the sky
With boney, claw like fingers
A rusty black rake
Digging up the turnips
Of a muddy cold grey day
Shiny tooth talons
Coiled for grabbing a stranger
Happening by
And the day when home early
And the sun sank down into
The much of a deep dead sky
Don't go into that barn, yea
Don't go into that barn, yea
Bank since Saginaw Calinda was born
It's been cotton, soybeans, tobacco and corn
Behind the porticoed house of a
Long dead farm
They found the falling down timbers
Of a spooky old barn
Out there like a slave ship
Upside down
Wrecked beneath the waves of a rain
When the river is low
They find old bones and
When they plow they always
Dig up chains
Don't go into that barn, yea
Don't go into that barn, yea
Did you bury your fire?
Yes sir
Did you cover your tracks?
Yes sir
Did you bring your knife?
Yes sir
Did they see your face?
No sir
Did the Moon see you?
No sir
DId you go cross the river?
Yes sir
Did you fix your rake?
Yes sir
Did you stay down wind?
Yes sir
Did you hide your gun?
Yes sir
Did you smuggle your rum?
Yes sir
How did I know
How did I know
How did I know
Don't go into that barn, yea
Don't go into that barn, yea
Don't forget that I warned you
Don't go into that barn, yea
Don't go into that barn, yea
Don't go into that barn, yea
No shirt no coat
Put me on a flat boat
Dover, down to Covington
Covington to Louisville
Louisville to Henderson
Henderson to Smithland
Smithland to Memphis
Down to Vicksburg to
Natchez put me on a
Flat boat Dover Dam
To Covington, Covington to
Louisville, Louisville to
Henderson....
Don't go into that barn, yea
Big blue moon with three gold rings
I called Champion to the window
And I pointed up above the trees
That's where I heard my name in a scream
Coming from the woods, out there
I let my dog run off the chain
I locked my door real good with a chair
Don't go into that barn, yea
Its worse than the time before
Cause he's high on potato and tulip wine
Fermented in the muddy rain of course
A drunken wail a drunk train
Blew through the birdless trees
Oh, you're alone alright
Your alone alright
How did I know
How did I know
Don't go into that barn, yea
Scratching up the sky
With boney, claw like fingers
A rusty black rake
Digging up the turnips
Of a muddy cold grey day
Shiny tooth talons
Coiled for grabbing a stranger
Happening by
And the day when home early
And the sun sank down into
The much of a deep dead sky
Don't go into that barn, yea
It's been cotton, soybeans, tobacco and corn
Behind the porticoed house of a
Long dead farm
They found the falling down timbers
Of a spooky old barn
Out there like a slave ship
Upside down
Wrecked beneath the waves of a rain
When the river is low
They find old bones and
When they plow they always
Dig up chains
Don't go into that barn, yea
Yes sir
Did you cover your tracks?
Yes sir
Did you bring your knife?
Yes sir
Did they see your face?
No sir
Did the Moon see you?
No sir
DId you go cross the river?
Yes sir
Did you fix your rake?
Yes sir
Did you stay down wind?
Yes sir
Did you hide your gun?
Yes sir
Did you smuggle your rum?
Yes sir
How did I know
How did I know
How did I know
Don't go into that barn, yea
Don't forget that I warned you
Don't go into that barn, yea
Don't go into that barn, yea
Don't go into that barn, yea
No shirt no coat
Put me on a flat boat
Dover, down to Covington
Covington to Louisville
Louisville to Henderson
Henderson to Smithland
Smithland to Memphis
Down to Vicksburg to
Natchez put me on a
Flat boat Dover Dam
To Covington, Covington to
Louisville, Louisville to
Henderson....
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
Based on this: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/2003-May/002763.html
I believe it should be "Wrecked beneath the waves of grain", although lyrics sites vary (although a dedicated Tom Waits site favoured "grain").
I hope it is, as it is my favourite line in the song.
"Out there like a slave ship upside down(6) Wrecked beneath the waves of grain When the river is low they find old bones"
Flipping the whole scene upside down is genius and seeing the grain on the ground as the surface of the water is genius. Shouldn't be surprised I suppose. I seem like every time I listen to a Tom Waits album I find new piece of brilliant poetry to be in awe of.
There's some errors in there and the one that stands out the most is one of my favorite lines.. you have it as "Did the Mom see you?" which should be "did the moon see you?"
Also, it sounds more like "Holler: "I Know" Rather than "How did I know."
As for the meaning... it sounds like it's about Slave ships to me. "Upside down barn" reference especially makes it sound like a boat rather than a literal barn.
Sorry, the "moon" thing was a typo and I fixed it. Thanks. But it's definitely "how'd I know," That's what it says in the insert anyway.
I'm not sure about it being about slavery, or I'm not sure about it being JUST about slavery. (I think the line about slave ships would be awkward in the song if it was, seeing the rest is so sideways about it.) The feel I get from the whole song is burying secrets, frightening secrets. Denying they exist. Considering this is the way some Americans relate to slavery, I think the two themes merge beautifully in this song.
Well it does have to do with slaves, but i'm almost positive that it dosn't ever take place on a slave ship; the story that is. The line about the ship is describing the barn, the barn appears like the hull of a capsized slave ship. And the final lines of the song are about taking a raft down the mississippi and ohio rivers. I get the suspicion that the main character like Yaqqai said is hiding a secret. And he is using a slave as a spy or henchman to do his bidding, or to find out whats going on. There is some tretchory afoot, but i'm not sure who is causing it. The narrator, or the "they" brought up in the interagation between the narator and his slave.
Reminds me a bit of Murder in the Red Barn. Maybe a sequel?
not a slave ship-LIKE a slave ship, a simile. A slave or other southerner at the time would/could see a barn as such. I think it's about a slave or other vagabond who committed a murder. I doubt it would be a slave. It seems the protagonist is floating down the ohio river to the Mississippi, then (hopefully) to the gulf of mexico; I think a slave would be better off going North, although they could go to New Orleans, maybe from there to Carribbean/Africa/West?
The original article was being lost to time, so I made an account just to preserve it:
http://pastebin.com/F5ZntWA9
This article is the clear inspiration for the song -- there are even specific quotes and phrases that are in both the article and the song, like "a slave-ship turned upside-down".
The song's about a secret and gruesome slave jail an old plantation owner had concealed inside his barn. It's mostly destroyed, little more than fallen-down timbers, but its dark history remains.
The source should be New York Times May 6 2003 Title: In a Barn, a Piece of Slavery's Hidden Past Author: Patricia Leigh Brown