9 Meanings
Add Yours
Follow
Share
Q&A
Red at Night Lyrics
I was born in a town where the rivers flow free.
On a January night when the cold winds freeze.
I got an Irish name and an injury.
Got a blessing and a curse cast down on me.
Ain't nobody got the blues like me.
Ain't nobody got the blues like me.
It was a blood red sky on the morning tide.
It was a cold wind blowing when I left that night.
And the warning bells rang, all right, all right.
I shoulda stayed home with you that night.
Ain't nobody played the fool like I.
Ain't nobody played the fool like I.
Well things got bad, and things got worse.
Half like a blessing, half like a curse.
These blessings so hard to see sometimes,
Got a little clearer 'bout dusk last night.
Ain't nobody got a blessing like mine.
Ain't nobody got a blessing like mine.
It's a red sky night and it's quite alright.
It's a red sky night and I'm doing just fine.
It's a red sky night and it's quite alright.
It's a red sky night and I'm doing just fine.
It's a red sky night and I'm doing alright.
It's a red sky night and I'm doing just fine.
On a January night when the cold winds freeze.
I got an Irish name and an injury.
Got a blessing and a curse cast down on me.
Ain't nobody got the blues like me.
Ain't nobody got the blues like me.
It was a cold wind blowing when I left that night.
And the warning bells rang, all right, all right.
I shoulda stayed home with you that night.
Ain't nobody played the fool like I.
Ain't nobody played the fool like I.
Half like a blessing, half like a curse.
These blessings so hard to see sometimes,
Got a little clearer 'bout dusk last night.
Ain't nobody got a blessing like mine.
Ain't nobody got a blessing like mine.
It's a red sky night and I'm doing just fine.
It's a red sky night and I'm doing just fine.
It's a red sky night and I'm doing just fine.
Song Info
Submitted by
voit On Jun 26, 2007
More The Gaslight Anthem
The '59 Sound
I'da Called You Woody, Joe
Here's Looking at You, Kid
Great Expectations
Old White Lincoln
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
Amazing song... aside from the vague meaning here; a blessing in disguise. I think this about a more specific story; infidelity that begins a relationship with the assailant that touches closer to true love than the relationship with the victim.
Amazing song. I would kill for them to record an acoustic album.
To me this song is all about recognizing your blessings despite the curses.
One correction on the lyrics: "This blessing's so hard to see sometimes, got a little clearer 'bout dusk last night."
Listening to this song now for the 8th time(yay for play count).
Reminds me of "Young Goodman Brown" by Nathaniel Hawthorne.
This sounds like a tribute or even a loose cover of Woody Guthrie's "Way Over Yonder in the Minor Key" (as performed by Wilco and Billy Bragg).
Wonderful, tender song.
Definitely a Woody Guthrie/Wilco/Billy Bragg tribute, with a reference to CCR's "Lodi" thrown in, to boot: "things got bad and things got worse."
Just picked up on this -- this is a fairly positive song, the title coming from an old sailors' phrase: "Red sky at night, sailor's delight; red sky in morning, sailor's warning." It talks about how the sky was red in the morning (an ominous sign that the seas will be rough), but now things are looking up.
Yep, "red at night, sailor's delight" is an old maritime saying indicating safe seas ahead to travel.
This song is about leaving. It's a goodbye infused with the usual Jersey boardwalk imagery.
I think it's the narrator thinking about his life before his impending doom. Maybe his ship capsized and as he's drowning, he's thinking all the lyrics. The last thing he thinks about was that beautiful red sky at night and how he felt before bad weather.
The blessing and curse is being a fisherman, and how he wishes he stayed home with his girl that night.