Murder in the Red Barn

Many people are quick to assume this song is about the actual Red Barn Murder, the very publicized and sensational case of William Corder's murder of his fiancee Maria Marten and burying her remains in the red brick barn of his father in Suffolk England in 1827

Tom Waits may have been inspired by the original account, especially considering the case was purportedly solved by the fiancee's stepmother's recurring dream of the body buried in the red barn, which would surely be tantalizing to Tom Waits' sense of dark and disturbing supernatural present throughout this album. Or possibly the phrase 'Murder in the Red Barn' has become such a colloquialism since the case was so absorbed into popular culture, that it was simply this phrase that served as a jumping off point for Tom Wait's own story to emerge

However the song has nothing to do with the 1827 Red Barn Murder, there is no mention of any details related to the case, which I think Tom Waits would have alluded to if he wanted to continue to build on the tradition of the Red Barn Murder mythology. On the contrary he provides an incredibly rich picture complete with many details and clues of a decidedly more contemporary (at least 20th C) and very different, though equally captivating story of his own.

'Roadkill' and 'Fridges' wouldn't have been have been around until a full century after the Red Barn Murder The flavour of the entire song is decidely Americana, not English, specifically Southern Americana, with references to 'possums', 'Manzanita', and the character names like 'Cal' and 'Blind Bob the Coon' References to a bloodstained axe (Maria Marten was killed with a gun and buried whole)

The many specific details, including 'Chenoweth's place', the named characters tell me that Waits is talking about a very real place and time and event, unrelated to the original Red Barn Murder except in sharing the image of a red barn (also the original red barn was so-called from a red brick roof, I would assume the red barn in Tom Wait's stroy comes from the common red enamel paint used in the 20th C farm industry for weatherproofing)

Additionally, the story Wait's builds is of a decidely different nature - it alludes to a conspiracy of multiple people "they surrounded the house, smoked him out, took him off in chains", gives an amazing insight the culture of rural America where everyone knows everyone, handle their 'business' internally amongst themselves, and have a code of secrecy and many unspoken rules beneath the veneer of simple country life. I always suspected the song could allude to a racist lynching, though I think that the victim could equally have been targetted by the community for any other reason ("covet thy neighbour's house or covet thy neighbour's wife") so maybe just somebody with a bit more wealth or status that became the envy of others, of course if this person also happened to be black in the racist south that would be an additional reason why "no-one's asking questions ..."

So that's my rant, this song is pure genius of macabre storytelling, and I felt I needed to set the records straight for those who are saying it is about the 1827 Red Barn Murder ...

A fine example of the Tom Waits blues, or folk macabre.

Suprisingly few comments on this work of genius. I can sympathise with those who don't want to analyse the story, or every line, but a line like "...for some, murder is the only door through which they enter life" has serious Waitsian depth. I agree that it was likely Cal, killing for love of the lady drinking alone in her room. The question becomes, who is Cal? A jealous husband? A farmhand turned man of the house? There's not enough info on him to tell. And Tom must have wanted it that way. Tom can do anything, and in a way nobody else ever could.

Once again, Waits expertly paints a vivid picture with his words, one of darkness and grime, but it is with his tone that he conveys a clear message. All these images of murder and deceit, and Waits sings it like it’s a tired tale. Throughout the lyrics we also get hints at racial inequality and class discrimination. I reckon the song is ultimately about human culture; how we are all forced to kill a living thing to survive, whether we like it or not, but how we have control of our actions. It’s indolence that leads to depravity. While the story seems to take place in a corrupt farming area, I think the barn really represents the entire world.

This guy-- he's a freakin genius. I love this song. Don't wanna analyze it.

There's not much to analyze. This song is based on a murder that took place in England. Someone was murdered, and the corpse was hidden in the barn. Another person claimed to have had a vision of the body's location or something, and that's how they found it.

I can't listen to this song in the dark.

@Phweemaggot: Well, it is more interesting than that, right? For one, I like how suspicions are different based on class. They immediately assume that it could be one of the drifters living under the fridge, but no one considers Cal who suddenly has a scar and bloody axe! Also, the idea of murder being a cyclical occurrence like different types of roadkill is certainly worth thinking about.

I always thought this song was meant to describe several generations of murders between two familes, just a cycle of vengeance and forbidden love and class, maybe race, conflict. I see it as taking place over a hundred years or so, like three generations.