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 ...
Another major difference is that 'A lady drinking alone in a room' suggests a widow, meaning it was a man who was murdered (also 'they smoked HIM out, took HIM off in chains) The 1827 Red Barn Murder was the finacee and single mother of two, Maria Marten
Another major difference is that 'A lady drinking alone in a room' suggests a widow, meaning it was a man who was murdered (also 'they smoked HIM out, took HIM off in chains) The 1827 Red Barn Murder was the finacee and single mother of two, Maria Marten
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 ...
Another major difference is that 'A lady drinking alone in a room' suggests a widow, meaning it was a man who was murdered (also 'they smoked HIM out, took HIM off in chains) The 1827 Red Barn Murder was the finacee and single mother of two, Maria Marten
Another major difference is that 'A lady drinking alone in a room' suggests a widow, meaning it was a man who was murdered (also 'they smoked HIM out, took HIM off in chains) The 1827 Red Barn Murder was the finacee and single mother of two, Maria Marten