Murder In The Red Barn

Waits said in a 1999 interview with Mojo magazine that his favorite line in this song is, "There's always some killing you gotta do around the farm."

This song was written after Waits moved into the country for the first time in his recording career.

In the first verse, the phrase "Pin it on a drifter" refers to charging a homeless person with the crime, possibly to avoid investigating the murder further. Could hint at small-town police laziness or corruption.